Justin Bieber is set to perform in Delhi this October, almost five years after his last concert in 2017, and fans across the nation have been buzzing with this news. As we wait for ticket sales to begin and the singer’s performance in the capital city, here’s a throwback to the times some of the top international artistes performed in India. By Anushka Goel
International artistes who have headlined concerts in India
Justin Bieber
The Baby hitmaker had desi crowds swooning to his music once before as well. Bieber performed at a concert back in December 2017, as part of his ‘Purpose’ tour, which had fans from across the country fly down to the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, to witness the artist sing live.
Ed Sheeran
2017 was a great year for Indian music fans, as another popular international artist took to the stage and belted out his hit tracks. Perfect singer Ed Sheeran donned a blue kurta and took to the stage in November 2017 and made crowds feel the romance with his popular tracks. What also grabbed headlines was the Bollywood party that was thrown in his honour, complete with the who’s who of ths industry in attendance!
Metallica
Metallica’s maiden India concert happened over a decade ago, in 2011. The band performed live in Bengaluru and had the crowds dance away to their heavy metal tracks in the IT city.
U2
U2 performed at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on December 15, 2019. Celebrating the band’s final performance of their ‘Joshua Tree 2019’ tour, the concert was special because this was probably the last time in the foreseeable future that the band would play their hit album straight through.
Cigarettes After Sex
American dream pop, shoegaze, and ambient pop band Cigarettes After Sex has performed in India multiple times, making crowds go crazy for their music. Their first performance was at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender in Pune back in 2017, where they were the headlining act, and in July 2019, they performed twice in Mumbai, at the Royal Opera House.
Katy Perry
One of the biggest pop stars in America (and the world), Katy Perry has visited India multiple times. She is also among the international artistes to have performed here, when she visited in 2019 for the One Plus Music Festival and had crowds dancing to Firework and Roar, among her other hits.
Dua Lipa
Also a part of the One Plus Music Festival right before the pandemic hit, Dua Lipa enthralled audiences with her performances in Mumbai. Unlike Perry, this was Lipa’s first gig in India, that, too, in the city of dreams!
Wiz Khalifa
The Grammy-nominated rapper and singer performed at Sunburn Arena in 2019, headlining a show at the Jio Gardens in Mumbai. The rapper also performed in Noida before the much-popular Mumbai concert, beginning his shows in the country and having audiences groove to his music.
Coldplay
For their maiden show in India, Coldplay headlined a concert for Global Citizen, who, through their Global Poverty Project, organised the Global Citizen Festival in India. What’s more, tickets to the event headlined by these international artistes were free – those who came had to do good deeds to ‘earn’ their entry passes!
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique is probably what you’ve grown up listening to, and his tracks such as Hero are the ones you associated with the ideas of romance. Given his massive fan following in the country, it’s no wonder that Iglesias has performed in India multiple times – in 2004 and in 2012, where he made the crowds go wild with his music!
(Hero and Featured Image: Courtesy of Shutterstock)
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