Ed Sheeran welcomes The Fray’s former frontman on tour after Macklemore controversy
Ed Sheeran welcomes The Fray’s former frontman on tour after Macklemore controversy
Caroline GaspichMon, October 5, 2026 at 12:47 PM UTC
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Isaac Slade of The Fray performed at Ed Sheeran's Atlanta show -Credit:Getty Images North America
The Fray’s former frontman, Isaac Slade, delivered his own share his own opinions on the war in Gaza as he took the stage as the opener on Ed Sheeran's tour.
On Saturday, October 4, Isaac performed ahead of Ed's headlining performance at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. During his set, the 45-year-old singer played some of The Fray's classic hits including How to Save a Life and You Found Me.
Along with playing some fan favorites tracks, Issac also took a moment to share his own political remarks following the news of Macklemore being dropped from Ed's tour after sharing his pro-Palestine stance. This comes after South Park savagely addressed the scandal during their latest episode.
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Issac was the frontman for The Fray from 2002 until May 2022. During the show, Isaac said that he was "honored" to be chosen as Ed's opening act, and shared his political stance on the war. In this, he encouraged concert-goers to “step into that middle place, that common ground.”
He went on to add, "What’s happening over there [in Gaza] is wrong, but if we’re going to get through it, we’re going to need people to step into that middle place, that common ground. That 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.”
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Ed Sheeran has been entangled in controversy after Macklemore was dropped from his tour -Credit:Getty Images for Spotify
Issac concluded, "[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."
After Issac's remarks, fans took to social media sharing their mixed reactions to Isaac's words. In a newly posted Reddit thread, one critic wrote, "He should have stayed out of it. If he wants to open for Ed, okay fine. But for him to show up and make a 'both sides' speech days after Ed was pilloried for his own 'both sides' public statement was extremely ill advised. If he just wanted to play his music he could have done his set and closed without trying to make any grand statements."
Another person added, "Lol like there is some common ground. U either support genocide or you don't there's no in between."
Isaac took a 'middle ground' stance on the war in Gaza -Credit:Getty Images
While a third questioned, "Lol what’s the middle ground? Looking the other way?"
On the flip side, one supporter penned, "I was at the concert. This is correct but was not all of what he said. To my wife and I, his comments felt well-intentioned but somewhat contradictory. He said he had admiration for both Macklemore and Ed Sheeran. I think he was trying to bring people together, and I think he just wanted to play his music."
They continued, "I also think it was gutsy to step into a situation where he was going to get judged by everyone. I don’t think we should be s------g all over him for making that choice. He certainly didn’t express any opinion about one side or the other. In fact he said that you shouldn’t budge from your beliefs by even an inch. If nothing else, we were very impressed with his singing and really enjoyed the music."
Isaac's speech was met with mixed reviews from fans -Credit:WireImage
This comes shortly after Macklemore was removed from Ed's tour after delivering a pro-Palestine speech and playing his protest song Hind's Hall during concerts at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The tour's promoter, Messina Touring Group, officially dropped Macklemore from the remaining dates after the move, which sparked widespread outrage online.
Ed stated that the removal was made by the promoter and not by him, and later shared his own political take, calling the humanitarian situation in Gaza as "catastrophic, unjustifiable, and disproportionate."
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
