Chris Martin and Ed Sheeran perform a surprise set together at Global Citizen

The Global Citizen Festival 2024 took place in New York’s Central Park on Saturday and alongside performances from Post Malone, Jelly Roll, Doja Cat and Blackpink’s Lisa, the concert featured a surprise acoustic set from Ed Sheeran and Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

The duo performed four songs together, alternating between Coldplay and Sheeran hits: they started with a rendition of Coldplay’s “Yellow” with Sheeran as lead singer, and then turned Sheeran’s “Shape of You” into a duet.

Both artists, acoustic guitars in hand, next teamed up for a rendition of Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” (complete with Martin making monkey noises in homage to Dr. Jane Goodall) before the surprise set – Martin, in attendance Global Citizen, previously only announced as a speaker at Saturday’s event, and Sheeran wasn’t in the lineup at all – ended with a piano version of Sheeran’s “Thinking of You.”

“I want to say how impressed I was all day to see how you were an incredible audience in the most difficult of circumstances,” Martin told the rain-soaked crowd.

“You make our lives so great and thank you for being here in the rain and doing your best. And thank you to our little brother, superstar Ed Sheeran. And thank you to Post Malone for letting us open for him. I hope we get the gig.”

This year’s Global Citizen also featured sets from Raye, Benson Boone and Rauw Alejandro, as well as appearances from host Hugh Jackman, Goodall, Bill Nye, Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and more.