Bono has revealed how Ed Sheeran was reluctant to get political when he collaborated with U2 on the song “Yours Eternally” earlier this year.
Sheeran’s apolitical image has been put under the spotlight in recent weeks after he dropped Macklemore from his U.S. tour over the rapper’s “Free Palestine” remarks.
At the time, Sheeran had said he would not be drawn into public debate about the war in Gaza but insisted he was “not complicit.” His response led Sheeran’s other opening acts, including Irish singer Aaron Rowe and American producer Finneas, to withdraw from the tour. Protesters gathered outside Sheeran’s first concert without Macklemore last week.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone U.K., Irish U2 frontman Bono said he didn’t want to dwell on the incident with Sheeran and Macklemore, but elaborated further by saying that Sheeran was reluctant to get involved with the humanitarian themes in “Yours Eternally,” which features Ukrainian singer Taras Topalia and is written from the perspective of a Ukrainian soldier during the ongoing war with Russia.
“I will say this,” Bono said. “When we did ‘Yours Eternally,’ he was saying, ‘You’re not going to get me into politics, are you?’”
“And I said, ‘This soldier who inspired us, he loved you Ed, and you’ve worked on this song.’”
Bono claimed that Sheeran responded: “Yeah, but I just want to keep my thing free.”
Bono said the situation showed him that “you can’t be pushing people around.” The Independent has contacted Ed Sheeran’s representatives for comment.
Earlier in the interview, Bono had said: “I would say with Ed and Macklemore that we shouldn’t personalize this, what’s going on. Brian Eno said today that pop stars are like little fish in a large sea of huge forces and religion and politics. And so I don’t want to dwell on Ed and Macklemore and that incident.”
Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. also spoke about the debate around whether artists should have to speak out on politics.
“Brian Eno was saying that artists choose whether they want to be involved, and they are entitled to choose whether they want to be involved or not,” said Mullen. “And it’s not our job to criticize that, no matter how we feel. He said that it takes time for these things to evolve and people to come to realizations and, not to personalize this, but Bob Geldof was saying a similar thing. I really appreciated hearing that because it is confusing and it is complicated.”
Muller then said the band drew the line at billionaire promoters or venue owners attempting to limit their expression after New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft – the CEO of Kraft Group who owns Gillette Stadium – had personally called Sheeran to say Macklemore would not be allowed to perform at the venue.
“We are absolutely clear about promoters or billionaire owners and the idea that they could have some influence on what you say or what you do on a stage,” said Muller.
After Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran’s tour, the rapper announced a tour of his own, with proceeds from the shows in Paris, London and Dublin going to organizations supporting Palestinians. He is calling it the Free Palestine tour.
The rapper, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, announced Wednesday that the tour had sold out immediately.
Sheeran, meanwhile, addressed the fallout onstage at a solo concert at Lincoln Financial Field, and said he was “so sorry” for disappointing his fans.
“I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division; about humanity, not politics,” he said, reading from a teleprompter.
He went on to clarify his own stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, saying, “What happened in Israel, and at the music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
Sheeran is next slated to perform Saturday in Atlanta.
