Coldplay opening act ‘thought I would die’ after ‘disastrous’ tour performance sparked furious boos from crowd
Indian singer Jasleen Royal has revealed the emotional turmoil she experienced after being booed whilst opening for Coldplay in Mumbai this January.
In her new 17-minute mini-documentary Dare to Dream, released on YouTube on Sunday, Royal offers a behind-the-scenes look at what went wrong during her performance at the DY Patil Stadium.
The documentary features footage from before, during and after the concert, capturing the 33-year-old’s journey from anticipation to devastation.
“There’s a lot of pressure, there’s a lot to prove,” Royal says in the film’s opening.
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Royal made history as the first Indian artist to open for Chris Martin’s band during their Music of the Spheres world tour.
Coldplay was performing in India for the first time in nine years, with three shows in Mumbai from January 18-21.
The concerts sold out in just 13 minutes, with the stadium holding over 45,000 people.
Prior to the Coldplay shows, Royal’s largest audience had been around 30,000 people.
“I think the universe was preparing me for this. The universe is giving me what I’ve asked for, and I need to prepare myself,” she said before the performance.
Royal’s first performance quickly turned disastrous when her in-ear monitors malfunctioned, leaving her unable to hear herself sing.
“What was the problem? Why were my in-ears bursting?” she asked after coming off stage.
A crew member responded: “For the technical part, we are sorry. The creative part, I leave to you.”
The aftermath was emotionally devastating for Royal. “I’ll die. I swear I’ll die. I’m still processing. There’s a lot to process,” she told her support team backstage.
Fans at the show described her performance as a “disaster”.
Despite the initial setback, Royal returned to the stadium the next day for her second planned performance.
This time, the show went off without a hitch, with fans cheering during her performance.
In the documentary, Royal reflects on the second show, acknowledging she’s not perfect but constantly striving to improve.
“But I just want to put on a great show where people have a great experience,” she says.
The successful second performance marked a remarkable turnaround after the technical difficulties that had plagued her debut.
Royal’s onstage incident was ultimately overshadowed by comments made by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin during the Mumbai shows.
At the first performance, Martin, 48, told the crowd: “Thank you for welcoming us even though we are from Great Britain. Thanks for forgiving us despite everything Great Britain did.”
The remarks, referencing British colonialism in India from 1858 until 1947, quickly went viral on social media.
Fans had mixed reactions to Martin’s comments, which he has not publicly addressed since the incident.
The documentary reveals that Royal had set a goal back in 2018 to achieve “international collaborations on the level of Coldplay.” That dream ultimately came true in 2025, when she collaborated with the band on their track WE PRAY.