Ed Sheeran taps The Fray frontman Isaac Slade for surprise act in Atlanta after Macklemore controversy

Ed Sheeran has recruited The Fray frontman Isaac Slade as a surprise guest for his Atlanta concert on Saturday – weeks after Macklemore was dropped from the tour following his anti-Israel rant and the shutdown of his opening acts.

Slade performed an abbreviated set including hits “How to Save a Life” and “You Found Me” before Sheeran took the stage at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“Everyone seems to take sides in this world and that’s good,” Slade said on stage, according to clips posted on social media.

“What’s happening there (in Gaza) is bad, but if we want to get out of this, we’re going to need people to engage in that middle ground, that middle ground,” he continued.

“That bonfire in the middle of the field that sees both sides, that understands that peace is not an absence of conflict. Peace is not a blank canvas that we have to keep and be polite.”

“(Peace) contains enough beauty, enough tragedy, enough sorrow, enough joy and life if we learn to integrate them and keep ourselves in balance. We will find a way to get through this together,” Slade added.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium announced Slade’s appearance Saturday in a “Know Before You Go” post on Instagram, listing a “special guest” ahead of Sheeran’s 8 p.m. performance.

He previously joined Sheeran on stage at a Loop Tour concert in Toronto in August. Sheeran credited The Fray as an influence on his early career.

Slade, co-founder of The Fray, left the band in 2022 to focus on his mental health after suffering a series of panic attacks on stage. He launches his first solo tour in December 2025.

Sheeran performed several recent Loop Tour concerts without a traditional opening act after Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham and backing band Beoga left the tour in solidarity with Macklemore.

The “Thrift Shop” rapper performed at two Loop Tour concerts at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium last month, wearing a black and white keffiyeh around his neck as he shouted “Free Palestine” and performed his song “Hind’s Hall.”

Days later, Sheeran’s touring partners announced that Macklemore had been removed from the tour after Jewish NFL owner Robert Kraft and other venues threatened to cancel upcoming shows featuring the rapper.

Sheeran’s planned shows at Gillette Stadium were later canceled due to bad weather.

After facing criticism over how he handled the situation, Sheeran said during his September 19 show at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia that he “made mistakes” and was “so sorry” about how it played out.

“This has placed me in the middle of an important and passionate debate about free speech on the most complex issue on the planet,” Sheeran told his fans.

“(My music) has always been a safe space for everyone. That means a lot to me.”

“Honoring my commitment to my fans is also essential to who I am. That’s why I’m here tonight, alone, to continue my own tour,” he added.

The American leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour is scheduled to conclude on November 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. He will then travel to Latin America before ending his tour on December 11 at the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes in Mexico City.

Meanwhile, country singer Zach Bryan wore a “Free Palestine” shirt during his concert at Kraft’s Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Friday night.

Several members of his group also wore clothing supporting Palestine.