Watch Ed Sheeran debut new song during surprise New Orleans street performance

17 March, 2025

Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran debuted a new song during a surprise New Orleans street performance – watch footage of the moment below.

The singer, songwriter and guitarist has been dropping hints with fans about new material of late, and recently confirmed fans can expect a new single in April as well as sharing numerous titles of songs featured on his upcoming album.

On Saturday (March 15), the popstar gave ‘Azizam’ its first live outing in the city’s historic French Quarter. Backed by The Soul Rebels brass band and clutching a heart-shaped balloon. Sheeran drew a huge crowd as he performed the track live for the first time.

Having emerged from a black SUV carrying a portable amp and mic, he told the crowd (via Billboard): “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.”

“I’ve got a new song coming in a couple weeks that no one’s heard,” he continued. “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.” Watch footage of the moment below.

Sheeran later shared a video of the performance on Instagram, thanking “everyone who turned up” for the surprise moment.

It’s the latest in a series of impromptu performances from the ‘Shape Of You’ singer. Earlier in the week, he surprised fans in Nashville by performing an impromptu set of his hits along with a cover of Britney Spears’ ‘…Baby One More Time’.

Back in February however, things didn’t go as smoothly, after videos emerged of police pulling the plug on Sheeran as he performed on a street in Bengaluru, India. He drew a large and enthusiastic crowd, but local authorities intervened due to concerns over performance permissions, though he later clarified that it had been planned in advance.

Meanwhile, Sheeran has previously revealed that as well as ‘Azizam’, a new song called ‘Sapphire’ will be coming out in the coming months. He took to social media to respond to a fan who asked which song of his he should play at his wedding, saying: “Depends when you’re getting married, coz there’s a fair few new options coming soon”.

Ed Sheeran
Sheeran on stage with The Offspring at BottleRock at Napa Valley Expo on May 26, 2024 in Napa, California. CREDIT: Jim Bennett/Getty Images

The hints about new music come as Sheeran ended 2024 by revealing that he had already finished his next record. “It feels like I’m getting back into big pop for the first time in a long time,” he explained of the LP’s sound.

This came after Sheeran said last May that he had made some new material, but was waiting a little longer to share it. He told fans: “I released two records on tour last year and it’s quite a lot being on tour and releasing records. So, I’ve made the new music and I’m just going to sit on it for a bit.”

The forthcoming album will mark his first since 2023’s ‘Autumn Variations’, which marked the follow-up to the hit release ‘-‘ (‘Subtract’). The latter was said to be the final entry into Sheeran’s long-running mathematical-themed series.

“I’m going to make 10 symbol records,” he explained in 2022. “But the next five won’t be maths.”

That same year, Sheeran embarked on his mammoth ‘+–=÷× Tour’ (pronounced the ‘Mathematics Tour’). Continuing those shows into this year, the singer is set to play a run of European shows from May to September 2025 before finishing up the year with performances in Bhutan, India, Qatar and Bahrain.

Although the album supposedly called ‘Play’ will mark his first album since ‘Autumn Variations’, Ed Sheeran has shared new music since then – dropping the festive track called ‘Under The Tree’ from Richard Curtis’ animated Netflix film That Christmas last year.

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