Crystal Aura Gaze

I would like to express my disappointment and mixed feelings about Ed Sheeran’s recent actions. I don’t expect this letter to actually reach him, but I’d like to put this out there respectfully.

Recently, Macklemore opened for Ed Sheeran’s tour and made a statement before one of his songs about Free Palestine. I thought that Macklemore’s speech was peaceful, respectful, and professional. He emphasized the point that children in Palestine are being killed by the thousands. And that this is not okay.

The singer, P!nk, went online and made a statement about how she was offended by this and somehow took it as a personal attack. Even though, it seemed very clear in Macklemore’s speech that this call for peace has nothing to do with offending any people or ethnicity. Violence and genocide is the only thing that we should be offended by.

In response, Ed’s team kicked Macklemore off of his tour as opener. And then, Ed made a statement to clarify that it was not his decision to kick Macklemore off tour — however, he seemed to defend his team by claiming that he “won’t pick sides.” He says that he wants to keep his concerts apolitical and a place of escape.

So, this is where my letter begins.

Ed, I am disappointed with your current stance on staying silent. The reason why I was initially drawn to your music, in the early 2010s, was because of your raw, taboo, and controversial lyrics. You broke out into the music industry by speaking your mind, not by playing it safe.

With your commercial success of “Divide,” your music changed in that you became much more vanilla and family friendly. Most people do not know that you started out as an artist who was not afraid to sing about dark and uncomfortable subjects. Your first album had songs about addiction, alcoholism, and miscarriage. You didn’t shy away from dark topics.

Even in 2022, your album “Subtract” was about the darkest period in your life. And this album helped me get through the darkest period in my life as well. But I enjoy your pop and dance songs just as much. You have a talented ability to do both — the dark and the light.

I fear that as your fame skyrocketed, you drifted towards a point where you are more concerned about pleasing everyone, as a way of holding onto as much fame as possible. This is similar to Taylor Swift — she suddenly became political in 2019, a time when she felt like her fame was dwindling, so she used politics as a form of getting attention. And once her Eras tour kicked off in 2022, she became radio silent on politics in effort to capitalize her tour as wide as possible.

I wish that you could go back to a place where you are not afraid of offending people. P!nk was “offended” by Macklemore and yet his message was about defending innocent kids from violence and death. There is always going to be someone who is “offended,” especially when it’s a dark topic.

I do understand that you are in a hard place of not wanting to cancel your tour — which affects your fans and other people working for you that are counting on paychecks for their families. I appreciate that you are not outright attacking Macklemore, the way that P!nk is. But at the same time, you’re not defending him or the message.

I also understand your political neutrality to a point. But politics cannot be avoided — everything we do in life is political. It’s not just about who did you vote for — it’s about what you spend your money on, what you eat, where you work, what you post online, and in your case — your lyrics and platform.

Regardless of your stance on Palestine, which you claim to have one but just don’t want to say, this is also an issue of freedom of speech. Macklemore lost his job, his platform, and his voice — when his words were thoughtful and nonviolent. You also do not have to “take sides” to agree that violence, murder, and genocide is wrong.

Your music is very important to me and most people only know you by “Shape of You” — not by your deeper and darker songs. I will not be boycotting you or unfollowing you or any of that, but I do want to express this disappointment. I think that this is a great opportunity for you to learn from. Now, you have a chance to change, or to go back to who you used to be.

I saw you in concert in 2023, and it was such a fun experience, however I had an older woman sitting behind me and another one sitting next to me telling me to sit down and be quiet. Basically, everyone else there was standing, singing, and dancing. That is how a stadium tour should be, and how I believe that you want it to be! But it made me realize that you do have some “fans” who are into you for the wrong reasons.

What I mean by this, is that you have now created a fanbase that just wants radio friendly pop music. This has become your new goal because you are fixated on maximizing your fame. But I would much rather go to your concert when all of the fans are there for you, for your music, and for the liveliness and passion. Instead, you have people coming to your shows looking for something lackluster, in which they spend the whole time sitting there and then leave early to avoid the crowds.

I have never been a “vanilla fan,” and I’ve never been here for your “vanilla music.” I love your pop music, but I am your fan because from the very beginning, you were not afraid of controversy. And now your fear of controversy has ironically pulled you deep into controversy.

Respectfully,

Laura