Ed Sheeran performs at a surprise pop-up concert in New Orleans on March 15, 2025. Photo:
Ed Sheeran debuted a brand new song and surprised fans in New Orleans with a pop-up performance!
The 34-year-old Grammy winner stepped out of a black SUV in the city’s historic French Quarter sporting a tie-dyed tee and blue pants at about 11 a.m. local time on Saturday, March 15, per CBS affiliate 4WWL. He carried a portable amp and mic, and was soon joined by The Soul Rebels brass band — who recently accompanied Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl halftime show.
Sheeran then proceeded to sing his new single “Azizam” to an unsuspecting crowd backed by the ensemble.
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The singer told the crowd that this was the first time he had ever performed the song live, per local news site
“We’re gonna do one song here – we’re filming a bit of content – and then we’re going to do a parade and walk down and play some songs, if you want to come with us,” Sheeran announced to the seated crowd, according to the outlet.
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“I’ve got a new song coming in a couple weeks that no one’s heard. This will be the first time it’s ever been played live. We’ll play it once now and then we’ll walk down, play some songs that you know, and I’ll play this song again,” he continued.
Sheeran shared a video of the performance on Instagram which featured him rolling his amp down a narrow city street among a growing crowd.
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“Playing some new music today on the streets of New Orleans with @thesoulrebels thanks to everyone who turned up!” Sheeran captioned the post.
This isn’t Sheeran’s first impromptu performance of the week: He brought down the house in Nashville during a surprise pop-up at the bar Tootsie’s, where he performed a slew of his biggest hits along with a few covers like Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”
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The singer also attempted a surprise street concert in Bengaluru, India on Feb. 9, but local authorities quickly shut it down.
After fan-captured video footage was shared on social media showing the incident, the singer posted a message on his Instagram Stories assuring his followers it’s “all good” as he explained his perspective on what happened.
“We had permission to busk btw, hence us playing in that exact spot, was planned out before, it wasn’t just us randomly turning up,” he wrote.
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“All good though,” he continued, adding, ‘See ya at the show tonight x.’ “
The “Shape of You” singer is expected to release his eighth studio album, entitled Play, later this year, per Billboard. His last studio album, Autumn Variations, debuted in 2023.