Ed Sheeran breaks down in tears at Philly concert after Macklemore backlash leaves him solo

Irish-bo rn singer Ed Sheeran reappeared this Saturday on stage at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field in a concert where all eyes were on him after a turbulent week on his North American tour. Following the cancellation of rapper Macklemore’s participation over his statements about Palestine —which triggered the mass resignation of his entire opening act team—, Sheeran began his solo performance by addressing the genocide and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, describing the situation as " catastrophic and unjustifiable " and breaking down emotionally in front of thousands of fans.

'" A lot has been said about the musicians who used to play before me not being here tonight, but also about the musicians I used to play with on stage not being here tonight ," Sheeran began explaining on stage. "And the show itself, at this point in the concert, to be honest, I would normally go out onto a secondary stage (B-stage), and I’m going to be completely honest with you, I didn’t know how the audience would respond tonight. I didn’t know if they would throw things at me. I didn’t know if people would shout at me... ," he said in a sensitive tone.'

The singer-songwriter justified changing the physical setup of his show out of fear of possible altercations in the middle of the floor: "So, listen, I apologize because today it hasn't been... (he paused, breaking down) today it hasn't been the usual concert. I removed the secondary stage because I was afraid of what might happen if I went into the middle, and they would have been hurt ."

'A concert Ed Sheeran has had to completely rework: "The concert is a bit different"'

He also recounted the challenge of reorganizing the repertoire just days before the scheduled date after the resignation of his supporting musical team: "So the concert is a little different. But there are certain songs that simply don't work with the loops pedal. So, when my friends dropped out of this concert, I was thinking: « How am I going to keep the show the same? And how am I going to get musicians on stage with me in a week when nobody wants to get on a stage with me? »".

'To make up for the absences, Sheeran turned to emergency collaborations organized at the last minute: "And I called a friend of mine who is superb. She is a superb human being, I toured with her all of last year, the year before, and the year before that. And I said to her: «Would you get on stage with me?». And she said yes. And I asked her if she knew any musician friends and she said yes. And they have had three days to learn these songs, three days to learn these songs!", he repeated to emphasize that these were words of gratitude.'

The Brit concluded his speech by thanking the bravery of the instrumentalists who agreed to accompany him despite the climate of public controversy: "And I just want to say, before they come out on stage, that they said yes to being on stage knowing that the world thought I was a certain kind of person. They said yes knowing that the world might also hate them for being on stage with me. And I’m so grateful... So I want to welcome Mike on drums, Sunjay on keyboards, Eric on bass, Claire on guitar, and my dearest friend Alicia on violin. Please make some noise".