Jonita Gandhi with Ed Sheeran
Jonita Gandhi
When I catch up with Jonita Gandhi (pronounced Joh-NEE-tha GAHN-dhi), it is the day before her song with Ed Sheeran drops. She is London, she explains, turning the camera around to show me the O2 Arena. Nice, I love concerts at the O2, I said. Who was she going to see ?
“Oh, I’ll be performing there actually,” she says casually. “With [Grammy and Oscar-winning musician] AR Rahman.”
Same, Jonita. We have the same life.
Who is Jonita Gandhi?
Hundreds of thousands of people know Jonita Gandhi’s face. Hundreds of millions more know her voice.
The 35-year-old Canadian singer began her journey, like many icons of our day, by posting covers on YouTube from her bedroom.
She’s since recorded over 150 songs across more than 10 languages, collaborated with international acts like The Chainsmokers, Sigala, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and shared stages with everyone from Shawn Mendes to Michael Bublé.
She’s become one of India’s most versatile playback singers while simultaneously building her career as an independent artist; a rare feat in an industry where artists often have to choose one lane or the other.
Now, she’s adding another milestone to her impressive resume: a collaboration with Ed Sheeran on his latest EP Play: The Remixes.
The Moment of Disbelief
Like many significant moments in Gandhi’s career, her initial reaction to the Ed Sheeran collaboration was marked by skepticism. “I think my natural first reaction to everything good is disbelief,” she admits. “I don’t know what it is. My mind’s just like, hmm, really, though?”
So when manager Ayushman Sinha, first told her about the opportunity, her reaction was rather underwhelming. “I think I’m a little shocked,” she recalls. “He was like, bro, did you hear what I said?”
But as the collaboration progressed, reality began to sink in. Gandhi poured herself into the recording, stacking vocals, adding harmonies, and providing multiple options. “I’m going to give options for alaaps (improvised section of a raga in Indian classical music). I’m going to do this and that,” she remembers thinking. “They’re probably not going to use anything.”
To her surprise, they kept everything.
Panic! At the Airport
The final vocal submissions happened during what Gandhi describes as “a hell week.” She was bouncing between cities for events, college shows, and award ceremonies, often taking connecting flights to remote areas with sleepless nights and early morning departures.
“In the meantime, pulling up my laptop in these hotels and pulling out my mic and like adding more harmonies or making sure that all the layers were there,” she says. At one point, she discovered files were missing and went into a panic, meticulously checking to ensure every harmony she’d recorded made it to Ed’s team.
The stress paid off, and it finally sunk in when she received an email from Sheeran.
“YOURE SO FUCKING GOOD !!!”
Screenshot of Ed Sheeran’s email to Jonita, taken from her Instagram post on 17 October 2025
Jonita Gandhi/Instagram
Ed Sheeran’s Honorary Indian-ness
What strikes Gandhi most about working with Sheeran is his commitment to cultural sensitivity.
She recalls Sheeran’s visit to India two years ago, when he met with local artists and tastemakers to understand the music scene. “I was like, wow, I rate him so hard for this,” Gandhi says. “It’s so easy otherwise to just kind of do the whole cultural appropriation or just jump on a bandwagon and use people’s cultures to your advantage. But I feel like he doesn’t do that.”
Given the love Sheeran has received from Indian audiences, Gandhi jokes, “We need to just make him an honorary Indian. At this point, Ed Sheeran is as Indian as…” she trails off, laughing.
For the collaboration, Sheeran gave Gandhi creative freedom with her verse. “He kind of let me run free with it,” she says. “I think he recognizes when he’s working with someone who kind of has a strength and then lets them run free.”
The EP also features Indian artists like Karan Aujla, Hanumankind, Santosh, and Dhee. “I feel like I’m in such amazing company,” Gandhi beams. “It’s really, really exciting and I’m so proud.”
From Toronto to Mumbai
People are often surprised by her Canadian accent when they hear her speak, having assumed she was born and raised in India. With her independent releases, she’s able to tell her own story, being involved in everything from composition and lyrics to styling and presentation.
“With my music, it’s so much more high stakes because I’m using it as a representation of who I am,” she says. “As playback singers, we often don’t connect with the audiences as a human being. They just connect with the sound of our voice.”
What made the transition successful, she believes, was a combination of factors: supportive parents who ensured she had a backup plan, early mentorship from legends like Sonu Nigam and AR Rahman, and a lack of desperation that allowed her to make levelheaded decisions.
“Before I moved to India, I had already started working with Sonu Nigam and touring with him, and then early on in my Mumbai career, I was discovered by AR Rahman Sir,” she explains. “When people like that come into your sphere, they become like a protective force. Everyone knows them, so it’s kind of just like, you feel protected.”
Breaking Boundaries Through Music
Gandhi sees herself as someone who can authentically bridge cultures through music. “I’m someone who was brought up in Canada. I’ve always been exposed to so many different cultures,” she says.
She’s already sung in languages she doesn’t speak — “Halamithi Habibo” featuring her and Anirudh Ravichander is her most popular song yet with 750 million views on YouTube. It is also in Tamil.
Now, she’s looking to expand further. Spanish music is on her radar, as are African collaborations and K-pop. “I feel so blessed that I’ve been brought up as an Indian and with my specific upbringing,” she reflects. “I feel like I could just add so much personality to all those kinds of other sounds as well.”
Her dream collaborators? The list is long: Burna Boy, Jacob Collier (whom she described as an “alien prodigy”, Bruno Mars, Rosalía, Diljit Dosanjh, and Tori Kelly, among others.
“I just want to be that person who’s bringing India to every track I do, but also bringing Jonita because I’m like this Indo Canadian mixed identity human being,” she says. “Now more than ever, that’s so relatable.”