Ed Sheeran thrills schoolkids with surprise gig

Ed Sheeran has thrilled schoolkids in New Zealand after appearing at three schools to give surprise concerts to hundreds of ecstatic young fans.

Ed Sheeran has thrilled schoolkids in New Zealand after he appeared at three middle schools to give surprise performances to hundreds of ecstatic young fans.

The UK songwriter, 31, made surprise stops at the schools across Auckland on a day off from his packed Australasian tour on Wednesday, appearing in school assembly halls to give students and staff a free concert.

Sheeran stopped off at the Kōwhai Intermediate and Manurewa Intermediate schools, taking to Instagram to share behind-the-scenes snaps of the surprise visits.

Sheeran surprised the young fans with an impromptu gig. Picture: Instagram

“I’m on a day off in Auckland, and I thought I’d give some kids a surprise with a free gig,” he tells the camera, before the footage cuts to a video of Sheeran in a school auditorium in front of hundreds of fans.

“Thought I’d come in and play some songs for you guys and do a speech,” he says in the footage, before breaking into a rendition of his song Perfect.

Sheeran played some of his top hits including Shape Of You and Bad Habits, sharing that the concerts had made for “one of my favourite days in a long time – I’ve enjoyed it so much”.

At his final stop, he invited a teacher to duet Thinking Out Loud. Picture: Instagram

At his final stop, Sheeran even invited a teacher on to the stage to sing a duet of his Grammy-award winning single Thinking Out Loud.

“Spent a day surprising schoolkids in three different schools in Auckland. I had so much fun, couldn’t stop smiling all day. Thank you for having me!” he captioned the video.

Students could be seen stunned and speechless in the crowd when they spotted the internationally renowned artist on stage. They sang along through the performances and gave multiple standing ovations.

“Thank you for coming and performing for us. Your music, just beautiful. I love it,” one student said as he gave the star a hug. “I could listen to you all day.”

The singer said the visits made one of his favourite days on tour. Picture: Instagram

Parents flooded the comment section to tell Sheeran he had made their kid’s day.

“Thank you so so much! I picked up my daughter from Kowhai school today racing to my arms screaming and smiling until her face was going to break! WOW you made their day today – she will never forget this,” one wrote.

“I’m a singing teacher and one of my students came in today absolutely buzzing after you surprised her school with a visit and performance!” another said.

“I’m pretty sure this will be the greatest memory of so many of our Kiwi kids – dream come true! She mentioned you also gave a really inspirational speech. Such a cool human you are. Kia Ora!”

Kids were stunned when the star appeared on the stage. Picture: Instagram

“I guess these kids didn’t just say, ‘Yeah all right,’ when their parents asked how school was today,” another joked.

Sheeran is currently taking his + – = ÷ x Tour, also known as the Mathematics Tour, around Australia and New Zealand.

The four-time Grammy winner will perform two shows at Eden Park in Auckland this weekend.

One fan noted many of the children may have needed the pick-me-up, after Auckland was hit by devastating floods earlier this year.

“Thanks for lighting up the faces of three schools’ worth of kids in Auckland. I bet some of them were impacted by the recent floods so they really need that extra joy right now. You’re the best Ed,” they said.

Originally published as Ed Sheeran thrills schoolkids with surprise gig