{"id":2178661,"date":"2026-10-04T16:53:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T13:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2178661"},"modified":"2026-10-04T16:53:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T13:53:01","slug":"ed-sheeran-taps-former-fray-singer-isaac-slade-as-atlanta-opener-after-macklemore-dropped-support-acts-quit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2178661","title":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran Taps Former Fray Singer Isaac Slade as Atlanta Opener After Macklemore Dropped, Support Acts Quit"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tEd Sheeran enlisted a familiar face as a surprise opener for his Loop Tour stop in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring his Saturday (Oct. 3) concert at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the English singer-songwriter welcomed Isaac Slade, the former frontman of The Fray, as a special guest to perform an abbreviated set before Sheeran took the stage.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tA Timeline of the Ed Sheeran & Macklemore \u2018Free Palestine\u2019 Tour\u00a0Controversy\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tBono Said When U2 Worked With Ed Sheeran on \u2018Yours Eternally,\u2019 Singer Asked, \u2018You\u2019re Not Going To Get Me Into Politics, Are\u00a0You?\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tEd Sheeran Roasted by \u2018Chicken Shop Date\u2019 Host Amelia Dimoldenberg on \u2018SNL UK\u2019:\u00a0Watch\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tSlade performed The Fray\u2019s \u201cHow to Save a Life\u201d and \u201cYou Found Me\u201d while also addressing the war in Gaza and urging the audience to seek common ground amid the polarization surrounding the conflict.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEverybody seems to be taking sides in this world and that\u2019s good,\u201d Slade told the crowd in fan-captured video. \u201cWhat\u2019s happening over there [in Gaza] is wrong but if we\u2019re going to get through it, we\u2019re going to need people to step into that middle place, that common ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe singer continued, \u201cThat bonfire in the middle of the field that sees both sides, that understands that peace is not a lack of conflict. Peace is not a blank canvas that we need to guard and be polite.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c[Peace] holds enough beauty, enough tragedy, enough sorrow, enough joy and life if we learn how to integrate it and hold each other in balance. We will find a way through this together,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n\tSlade\u2019s appearance came amid the fallout from the removal of Sheeran\u2019s previous opening act Macklemore from the U.S. leg of the tour. The \u201cThrift Shop\u201d rapper took the stage at Sheeran\u2019s Sept. 4 and 5 shows at New Jersey\u2019s MetLife Stadium, where he performed \u201cHind\u2019s Hall\u201d and called for a \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMacklemore was scheduled to open several remaining Loop Tour dates, including Saturday\u2019s show in Atlanta. Sheeran later said the decision to remove him was made by the tour\u2019s promoter after venues indicated they would not allow the shows to proceed with Macklemore on the lineup.<\/p>\n

\n\tFollowing Macklemore\u2019s removal, the other scheduled supporting acts \u2014 Aaron Rowe, Finneas and Lukas Graham \u2014 withdrew from the tour. Sheeran\u2019s backing band, Beoga, also departed.<\/p>\n

\n\tSince leaving Sheeran\u2019s tour, Macklemore has launched his own headlining Free Palestine Tour, with dates already sold out.<\/p>\n

\n\tSheeran subsequently performed his Sept. 19 show in Philadelphia without an opening act. During the concert, he addressed the controversy and said he wanted his shows to focus on \u201clove, hope and unity,\u201d while also acknowledging the suffering in both Israel and Gaza.<\/p>\n

\n\tSlade previously joined Sheeran onstage during the singer\u2019s Loop Tour stop in Toronto in August, where they performed \u201cHow to Save a Life.\u201d Sheeran told the audience he had been a fan of Slade\u2019s music and songwriting during his formative years as a teenager.<\/p>\n

\"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/ed-sheeran-isaac-slade-fray-atlanta-opener-macklemore-1236353911\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ed-sheeran-dec-2025-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Ed Sheeran enlisted a familiar face as a surprise opener for his Loop Tour stop in Atlanta. During his Saturday (Oct. 3) concert at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the English singer-songwriter welcomed Isaac Slade, the former frontman of The Fray, as a special guest to perform an abbreviated set before Sheeran […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2178661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2178661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2178661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2178661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2178661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2178661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2178661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}