Cop stops live show of Sheeran on Bengaluru street
Ed Sheeran's Bengaluru street performance was stopped by police for lack of permission, though he claimed they had planned to busk.
British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran’s live performance was halted by the Bengaluru police on Sunday citing lack of permission. Sheeran, however, has maintained that he and his team had the permission “to busk” and that they didn’t turn up “randomly” at the spot.
The incident took place at Church Street in Bengaluru on Sunday morning. Videos of the incident quickly gained traction on social media, showing Sheeran announcing, “So, we were gonna play more than one song. But, right now let’s play one song, alright,” before beginning to sing.
Just before the singer could finish the refrain of the song, a policeman stepped in and pulled the cables attached to the microphone and musical instruments.
“They have no permission for this performance. Some people had approached us for permission and we had denied it. They had set some mics and speakers on the road. We got complaints from the public regarding traffic and other congestion. So we stopped them...,” said deputy commissioner of police (central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar.
Sheeran, however, later posted on Instagram: “We had permission to busk, hence us playing in that exact spot, was planned our before, it wasn’t just us randomly turning up. All good though. See ya at the show tonight x (sic).”
Sheeran, currently on a tour of India, has already performed in Hyderabad and Chennai. His brief street performance ahead of the main event generated considerable buzz online.
A four-time Grammy Award winner, Sheeran is known for global hits such as Thinking Out Loud, Perfect, and Castle on the Hill. His India tour, which runs from January 30 to February 15, includes multiple concert stops, with Bengaluru hosting performances at NICE Grounds over the weekend.
