Ed Sheeran is set to return to stage for 1st time since Macklemore was cut and other acts withdrew

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Ed Sheeran is set to resume his tour Saturday — possibly solo — after all his supporting acts withdrew in solidarity with opener Macklemore, who was dropped after making pro-Palestinian comments onstage.

It remains to be seen how Sheeran will handle the performance at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field given the departure of his opening acts and supporting band. Sheeran has performed much of his Loop Tour concerts solo, but he had been joined for several songs at each stop by the Irish folk band Beoga. Macklemore, Sheeran’s original U.S. opener, had been replaced by Danish band Lukas Graham and Irish singer Aaron Rowe before they backed out.

Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother and musical collaborator, was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year before he too dropped out earlier this week.

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Ed Sheeran stadium drama turns to donations and humanitarian cooperation

Sheeran has not said anything publicly since losing the artists’ support. As of Friday, tickets were still available for Saturday’s show, and his website did not list any replacement acts. A coalition of pro-Palestinian organizations plans to protest outside the show Saturday afternoon.

The show comes after a tumultuous week that opened with Macklemore being dropped in response to exclaiming “Free Palestine” during a Sept. 5 show in New Jersey. Sheeran has said he was not responsible for the decision, which came at the urging of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. His company owns a stadium where Sheeran’s tour was scheduled to play on Friday.

Within hours of Sheeran’s statement Tuesday, his supporting acts withdrew.

Macklemore said Wednesday he is donating $1 million to support Palestinian relief efforts and called on Kraft to match the gift; a spokesperson for Kraft has said the billionaire and Sheeran have each agreed to donate $2 million but have not specified where the money will be directed. Sheeran’s representatives have not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Sheeran’s Loop Tour was the highest-grossing in the world, with an average box office gross of over $7 million per city, Pollstar said in May. Through the end of 2025, Sheeran was the No. 3 top-earning concert act since 2021.

Sheeran has said the tour promoter was ultimately responsible for the decision to drop Macklemore.

The Grammy winner was adamant in his Tuesday statement that he wouldn’t be drawn into discussion of the war in Gaza, arguing that his fans don’t come to his shows to hear about these issues.

He also said he “spoke with the venues at length all week to try to build a bridge” before Macklemore was dropped. He insisted he would never willingly let down his fans or abandon the touring crew and others who rely on him to make a living.

While promoters and venues wield great power over concert tours, experts say an artist of Sheeran’s magnitude generally has the final say about what happens concerning the shows.

Amy Harris/Invision/AP/档案照片

艾德·希兰的所有暖场嘉宾都退出了巡演，以声援开场嘉宾麦克莫尔。麦克莫尔因在舞台上发表亲巴勒斯坦言论而被取消了演出资格。希兰将于周六恢复巡演——可能以单人形式进行。

鉴于开场嘉宾和伴奏乐队的退出，希兰在费城林肯金融球场的演出将如何进行仍是未知数。希兰的Loop Tour巡演大部分时间都是独自演出，但在每站的演出中，爱尔兰民谣乐队Beoga都会与他合作演唱几首歌曲。希兰原定的美国开场嘉宾Macklemore，在丹麦乐队Lukas Graham和爱尔兰歌手Aaron Rowe退出之前，曾被他们取代。

比莉·艾利什的哥哥兼音乐合作伙伴菲尼亚斯原定于今年晚些时候与希兰一起在南美巡演，但他也在本周早些时候退出了巡演。

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艾德·希兰体育场事件转为捐款和人道主义合作

自失去艺人支持后，希兰一直未公开表态。截至周五，周六演出的门票仍然有售，他的网站上也没有列出任何替代演出阵容。一个由支持巴勒斯坦的组织组成的联盟计划于周六下午在演出场地外举行抗议活动。

这场演出是在动荡的一周之后举行的。此前一周，Macklemore因在9月5日新泽西州的一场演出中高喊“解放巴勒斯坦”而被解约。Ed Sheeran表示，他与这一决定无关，该决定是应新英格兰爱国者队老板罗伯特·克拉夫特的要求做出的。克拉夫特的公司拥有一座体育场，Sheeran的巡回演唱会原定于周五在那里举行。

周二希兰发表声明后几个小时内，他的伴奏乐队就退出了演出。

Macklemore周三表示，他将捐赠100万美元支持巴勒斯坦的救援工作，并呼吁Kraft公司捐赠同等金额；Kraft公司的一位发言人表示，这位亿万富翁和Ed Sheeran已同意各自捐赠200万美元，但并未具体说明捐款用途。Sheeran的代表尚未回应多次置评请求。

据Pollstar五月份发布的数据显示，希兰的Loop巡回演唱会是全球票房最高的巡回演唱会，平均每场城市票房超过700万美元。截至2025年底，自2021年以来，希兰一直是票房收入第三高的演唱会艺人。

希兰曾表示，巡演主办方最终应该为取消麦克莫尔的演出阵容负责。

这位格莱美奖得主在周二的声明中坚决表示，他不会参与有关加沙战争的讨论，并辩称他的歌迷来听他的演出不是为了了解这些问题。

他还表示，在Macklemore被取消演出资格之前，他“整整一周都在与演出场地进行长时间的沟通，试图弥合分歧”。他坚称，他绝不会故意让歌迷失望，也不会抛弃巡演团队和其他依靠他谋生的人。

虽然主办方和场地对演唱会巡演拥有很大的权力，但专家表示，像希兰这样级别的艺人通常对演出事宜拥有最终决定权。