Ed Sheeran's duet with Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh is delighting Mumbai and lighting up social media in India

CNN
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British singer Ed Sheeran wowed the stage in Mumbai with Diljit Dosanjh over the weekend as the duo sang the Indian artist's song “Lover” in Punjabi, a duet that instantly lit up. India Social media.

Both artists posted videos of their performances on Instagram, amid huge cheers from the audience when Sheeran invited his singing partner to the stage.

“I got to come out @diljitdosanjh tonight in Mumbai and sing in Punjabi for the first time. Had a great time in India, more to come!” Sheeran Written in A mail.

Singer and actor Dosanjh, 40, is one of the biggest South Asian artists worldwide and has played a major role in putting Punjabi music on the international map. He made history in 2023 as the first Punjabi artist to perform at Coachella.

Over the past 15 years, Sheeran has gone from releasing his own records and playing in small bars in London to one of the best-selling songwriters in modern pop music. He's in the middle of his massive two-and-a-half-year-long “Mathematics” world tour.

More than 50,000 concert-goers packed the Mahalaxmi Racecourse to watch Dosanjh's surprise appearance, as the Indian star fired up the crowd and Sheeran played acoustic guitar and sang parts of the chorus.

“We had no idea Diljit would be here, it felt like the moon had fallen,” a fan said. video Summary published by the Indian Star.

“I'm still processing what just happened here, and I will never forget this night,” one party attendee said.

Spotify India commented on a video posted by Sheeran, saying: “We see fire on that stage,” referring to one of the British star’s songs.

Indian fans and celebrities on social media praised Dosanjh for making Sheeran sing in Hindi.

Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan described it as “global domination”, in a comment on Dosanjh's Instagram video.

“I was standing in the audience and screaming like a fan girl. This was the multiverse event that no one saw coming,” commented comedian Sahil Bhola.

“Hats off to Diljit,” another user wrote. “This guy literally blew up the Punjabi music scene giving rise to other artistes [sing] In Punjabi waiting for their cooperation.

Dosanjh has collaborated with other English-speaking singers and last year released the bilingual song “Hass Hass” with Sia, the Australian-born artist behind the songs “Chandelier” and “Elastic Heart.”

Fans are hoping for more international crossovers with the Indian artist, with one person commenting, “First Sia, now Ed, Diljit will make everyone sing in Punjabi.”

India has 23 official languages, including English, and is home to hundreds of other mother languages.

Punjabi is native to the Punjab region of India, as well as neighboring Pakistan. Worldwide, there are more than 100 million Punjabi speakers in the South Asian subcontinent and diaspora communities.

During the concert, Sheeran also thanked fans for braving long hours of traffic to get to the event.

The roads leading to the sprawling 225-acre venue — the equivalent of about 170 American football fields — were packed with cars about five hours before the party began at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, according to CNN staffers who attended the party.

Traffic was so bad that some fans abandoned their cars and walked the final 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) to the entrances.

“I know India is a big place but everyone here at the party is not necessarily from Mumbai. People have come a long way to be here today. People have taken trains, planes, driven, had kids. I know a lot of things drive you to a Saturday night,” Sheeran said. with me”.

“This is just the beginning,” he added, promising to return to India.