Ed Sheeran has made history as the first international artist to perform in Bhutan.
The Bad Habits hitmaker hailed it a privilege to perform at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu on Friday and praised the ‘incredible’ fans from the South Asian country who had turned out to see him play and made him and his team feel so welcome.
‘Had the honour to be the first ever international artist to play Bhutan last night. what a gig, what a country, what a beautiful place with incredible people. lemme know if i can move there, please and thank you,’ he captioned a video on Instagram, which showed footage from his trip and performance.
The Perfect hitmaker: ‘And also thank you so much for welcoming me and my touring crew, and for every volunteer who helped put on such a historic show. hopefully see you again soon!’
In the video, Ed reflected on how wild it was to be breaking a record.
Standing by the stage set-up, he reflected: ‘It’s mad that this is the first international concert here. I hope that there’s many more to come.’
Ed Sheeran has made history as the first international artist to perform in Bhutan
The 33-year-old singer had been welcomed to the country by King Jigme Khesar and Queen Jetsun Pema.
He added: ‘I went for dinner with the king and queen yesterday and they said, ‘We just want people coming to the country that want to love and respect the country and understand the ideals.’
‘Yeah, I feel super honoured that I was chosen and I can’t wait to play. This is like such my jam.’
The video then cut to footage from the concert, with the ‘Castle on the Hill’ singer telling the audience how proud he felt to perform for them.
He said: ‘I’ve been all around the world, been to some amazing places, but I’ve never done anything like this before.
‘To be able to visit a country like Bhutan, to be able to stand onstage and bring this show here. I can remember playing to an empty room and now I get to play the first international concert in Bhutan — ever.’
Last year, Sheeran was named the most played artist in the United Kingdom for the seventh year.
The father-of-two has topped the same list on seven different occasions, having sold more than 150 million records across the world since his emergence with debut album + in 2011.

The Bad Habits hitmaker hailed it a privilege to perform at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu on Friday and praised the ‘incredible’ fans from the South Asian country who had turned out to see him play and made him and his team feel so welcome

‘Had the honour to be the first ever international artist to play Bhutan last night. what a gig, what a country, what a beautiful place with incredible people. lemme know if i can move there, please and thank you,’ he captioned a video on Instagram, which showed footage from his trip and performance (seen last year)

The Perfect hitmaker: ‘And also thank you so much for welcoming me and my touring crew, and for every volunteer who helped put on such a historic show. hopefully see you again soon!’
While acknowledging his placement, at the time, he said: ‘Thank you for naming me the most played artist for last year.
‘Thank you to my team, not just for me, but for all the other artists you work with – I’m happy that you get this recognition.’
In July, he revealed that he would be taking a break from recording his new album to work on improving funding for music lessons at schools across the country.
The singer has previously donated millions to his old school, Thomas Mills High in Suffolk, after he was contacted by his old teacher about funding cuts in 2018.
‘I started doing that in the county I’m from, and we’ve just now changed to doing it nationwide,’ he said of his fundraising efforts. ”I’m now visiting more high schools that really need music funding and you can see what a difference it makes.’
He continued: ‘I’m not an academic person – in the real world I would be viewed as stupid. But I excelled at music and therefore people think I’m good at something.’