Pop star Ed Sheeran has celebrated his copyright infringement case win by performing on top of a car in the streets of New York.
The English songwriter surprised streetwalkers strolling around SoHo in New York by jumping on top of a vehicle with his guitar and belting out a tune.
"Can I sing you one song before I go?" he asked fans, before serenading them with his hit Boat.
People gathered around the vehicle holding their phones in the air trying to capture every moment as the roof the car he was standing on slowly caved inward.
He later shared footage of the stunt on Instagram, writing: "Standing on a Volvo in New York outside the pop up x."
Last week, a jury concluded Thursday that Sheeran didn't steal key components of Marvin Gaye’s classic 1970s tune Let’s Get It On when he created his hit song Thinking Out Loud.
As the New York jury answered the single question of whether Sheeran proved he didn't infringe upon the copyright in the affirmative, the English singer briefly put his hands over his face in relief before standing and hugging his lawyer.
The verdict came after a two-week trial that featured a courtroom performance by Sheeran as the singer insisted, sometimes angrily, that the trial was a threat to all musicians who create their own music.
Sheeran sat with his legal team throughout the trial, defending himself against the lawsuit by the heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, who created the 1973 soul classic with Gaye.
They said Thinking Out Loud had so many similarities to Let's Get It On that it violated the song's copyright protection.
At the trial's start, attorney Ben Crump told jurors on behalf of the Townsend heirs that Sheeran himself sometimes performed the two songs together.
The jury saw video of a concert in Switzerland in which Sheeran can be heard segueing on stage between Let's Get It On and Thinking Out Loud. Crump said that was “smoking gun” proof he stole from the famous tune.
When Sheeran testified, he repeatedly picked up a guitar resting behind him on the witness stand to demonstrate how he seamlessly creates “mashups” of songs during concerts to “spice it up a bit” for his sizeable crowds.
The English pop star's cheerful attitude on display under questioning from his attorney, Ilene Farkas, all but vanished under cross-examination.
“When you write songs, somebody comes after you,” Sheeran said during his testimony as he explained that the case was being closely watched by others in the industry.
He insisted that he stole nothing from Let's Get it On when he wrote his tune.
Townsend's heirs said in their lawsuit that Thinking Out Loud had "striking similarities” and “overt common elements” that made it obvious that it had copied Let's Get It On, a song that has been featured in numerous films and commercials and scored hundreds of millions of streams spins and radio plays in the past half-century.
Sheeran's song, which came out in 2014, was a hit, winning a Grammy for Song of the Year. His lawyers argued that the songs shared versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression freely available to all songwriters.
It comes amid news Sheeran is set put his new album on full display with the help of Apple Music.
The music streaming service announced Friday that Sheeran will kick off the second season of Apple Music Live on May 10. The British pop star performed his fifth studio album “Subtract” for the first time at Eventim Apollo in London.
Sheeran hit the stage in a pre-recorded show alongside a 12-piece band that includes The National’s Aaron Dessner, who produced “Subtract,” which releases Friday. The four-time Grammy winner’s performance of his 14-track album will also be streamed on Apple TV+.
Apple Music Live returns after its inaugural season kicked off last year with performances by Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Mary J Blige and Alicia Keys. Other performances include Lil Durk, Luke Combs and Wizkid.
“We’re excited to present this Apple Music Live show, which offers an utterly unique perspective into how one of the world’s most popular musicians is dealing with some of the heaviest traumas imaginable,” said Apple Music 1 host Matt Wilkinson. “It’s an emotional, soul-searching ride — but also extremely fulfilling.”
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