Ed Sheeran took the stage alone at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night (September 19), delivering an emotional, solitary performance following a chaotic week that saw his backing band and opening acts walk off the ‘Loop’ Tour.
The disruption stemmed from Sheeran’s decision to remove rapper Macklemore from the lineup after the latter made pro-Palestinian statements during a recent stop at MetLife Stadium. In response, Sheeran’s touring support—including his longtime backing group, Irish folk band Beoga—dropped out in solidarity, leaving the British pop star to navigate the stadium show single-handedly.
Addressing the audience directly before beginning his set, the 35-year-old singer-songwriter spoke openly about the fierce backlash surrounding his decision.
“Before I play some songs tonight, I hope it’s okay if I say a few words about this last week,” Sheeran told the crowd. “I’m used to my music being criticized, and I’m always happy to take that because I’m lucky a lot of you like myself, and to be honest, I’m not surprised that other people don’t. You know, it’s normal. But this week the criticism was about something much more important, and I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry.”
He acknowledged the unprecedented tension surrounding his usually apolitical brand. “I don’t want to disappoint fans, and I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” he continued. “My concerts have always been a safe space for everyone, and that matters hugely to me. Honouring my commitment to my fans is also completely central to who I am, and that is why I’m here tonight on my own and continuing my current tour.”
He also expressed grave concerns over industry censorship: “But I am deeply worried about the idea that venues should pre-approve content for performance. This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.”
Moving into the geopolitical heart of the issue, Sheeran clarified his personal stance on the Middle East conflict. “Now, I want to address the question of where I stand in the situation in Israel and Palestine and whether my doing this concert here tonight implies where I stand. I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division. About humanity, not politics. But this is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore.”
“What happened in Israel at the No Music Festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives,” Sheeran said. “And the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked. I am already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times, and listening and learning because I do not know enough.”
He added, “I honestly am so grateful that you are here to learn with me. This concert is still in place, but everyone is welcome, and everyone here can stand beside people that have opposing views, and everyone here can stand by people that they don’t agree with on everything that they can all agree on singing these songs. And these songs are about love, hope and unity.”
The logistics of the concert were visibly altered. Sheeran revealed he had stripped away the central B stage out of genuine fear for his safety.
“At this point in the show, to be honest, I usually go out to a B stage, and I’m going to be totally honest with you, I didn’t know what this audience would be like tonight. I didn’t know if I’d have things thrown at me,” he admitted. “I apologise that today is not the usual show. I took the B stage out because I was afraid what might happen if I stood in the middle and I will admit that. So, the show is a little bit different.”
To fill the musical void left by his former band, Sheeran assembled a last-minute ensemble of musicians in just 72 hours.
“There are certain songs that just don’t work on the loop pedal. So when my friends dropped out of this show, I was thinking, how am I going to keep the show the same? And how am I going to get musicians to stand on stage with me in a week when no one wants to stand on stage with me?” Sheeran explained. “I rung up a friend of mine who is superb, she’s a superb human being, and I toured with her all of last year, all the year before, and the year before that, and I said to her, ‘Would you stand on stage with me?’ And she said yes.”
“I asked her if she knew any musician friends, and she said yes, and they’ve had three days to learn these songs, three days to learn these songs, and I just want to say before they come on stage, they said yes to being on stage with the knowledge that the world thought I was a certain type of person,” he said. “They said yes with the knowledge that the world may hate them too for standing on stage with me. And I am so grateful that they’ve been here tonight to stand on stage with me to play for you guys.”
He then introduced his temporary backing group: “Mike on drums, CJ on keys, Eric on bass, Clay on guitar, and my dear, dear friend Alicia [Enstrom] on violin. Please make some noise.”
Closing the night, a visibly tearful Sheeran sat on the stage floor to express his deep gratitude to the audience, while offering a final apology to parents in attendance for starting the night on such a heavy note.
“I’m so grateful,” he said in footage captured by Rolling Stone. “The world is a scary place right now. America is a scary place right now. This gives hope. This gives hope. Thank you so much Philadelphia.”
“I hope you all have had fun. The one thing that I would like to apologize for is the first bit of the show where it wasn’t about music and I had to talk. I understand that people have children here and I understand that families did not buy a ticket to hear that first bit of the show. But that was something I felt like I needed to say. I felt that there were a lot of questions that I needed to answer. So to all the parents who brought their kids here tonight, thank you so much for bringing them and I do apologize for the first bit of the show. My shows are about this. They’re about unity, they’re about love, they’re about family. They’re about people coming together that don’t know each other that have different beliefs. You’re jumping around like maniacs with each other and having fun. And I will never stop doing this. I love doing this so much.”
Prior to the concert, Sheeran clarified that removing Macklemore was not his personal decision. Meanwhile, Macklemore pledged his $1 million tour salary to Palestinian relief efforts—a gesture that prompted New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to match with a $2 million donation to humanitarian relief in the region following a direct call from Sheeran.
