Ed Sheeran delights fans with surprise appearance at Diljit Dosanjh’s Birmingham show

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Ed Sheeran delighted fans with a surprise performance at Diljit Dosanjh’s Birmingham show on Sunday which was part of the Indian singer’s global Dil-Luminati Tour.

Dosanjh has been on a world tour since early 2024, performing to sold-out crowds across North America, Australia, and New Zealand, with shows lined up in Paris, London, Glasgow, and Amsterdam through September and October.

Sheeran joined Dosanjh on stage to loud applause as the latter introduced him: “Ed Sheeran aa gaya oye (Ed Sheeran has arrived).”

Together, the duo performed a mashup of Sheeran’s hit song “The Shape of You” and Dosanjh’s song “Naina”. Both Dosanjh and Sheeran shared videos on their social media of their performance.

In one of the videos, Dosanjh wrote, “My brother shut down Birmingham, what a night. Love & Respect. Thank You Birmingham Waleya baut pyar (lots of love)”.

Broadcaster BritAsia TV posted a video on X, adding that this performance “carries special significance as it marks a full-circle moment for Dosanjh, who held his first-ever live concert in the city exactly a decade ago with BritAsia TV”.

“The year of Diljiiiiit and the year of Naina,” commented Indian film producer Rhea Kapoor, who produced the Indian film Crew, where the song Naina is from.

Earlier this year in March, Dosanjh joined Ed Sheeran on stage in Mumbai to perform his hit track “Lover”. The 50,000-strong crowd was further excited when Sheeran joined in by singing the lyrics in Punjabi.

Tickets for Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati Tour opened in India earlier this month and sold out within minutes, leaving fans crushed.

“This level of response has never happened in India before, not even for international artists. On the first day of the presale, 8,000-10,000 transactions were made in a single minute. We sold 100,000 tickets within 15 minutes,” tour organiser Janamjai Sehgal from Saregama India told NDTV.

Dosanjh’s popularity has seen massive highs since he first performed on a global stage at Coachella in 2023, and is often credited with putting Punjabi music on the map.

Sheeran was recently accompanied by Thor actor Chris Hemsworth at his concert in Romania on 24 August as part of the Australian actor’s documentary series, Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, in which he takes on various challenges to explore issues people face such as pain, fear and social connection.