“Even global stars must follow local rules”: Ed Sheeran’s street performance was brought to an abrupt end after Indian police shut it down – but the songwriter says he did have permission to play

Ed Sheeran performing live.

Ed Sheeran went busking in the streets ahead of his concert in the Indian city of Bengaluru last night (February 9), only to have the plug pulled by the police.

Sheeran was playing his 2017 hit, Shape of You – which has amassed over four million Spotify streams since its release – on the city streets before – as captured in fan video footage – the police approached him and unplugged his microphone.