Ed Sheeran branded a ‘genius’ with ‘integrity’ as Snow Patrol star Johnny McDaid shows support amid Palestine row
Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid has become a rare voice of support for Ed Sheeran, hailing his longtime collaborator as a “rare combination of genius and integrity”.
The Chasing Cars hitmaker made the remarks while accepting the BMI President’s Award at this week’s BMI London Awards ceremony.
Mr McDaid, who first met Mr Sheeran when the Suffolk-born singer was just 20, was full of praise for his fellow singer amid such a tumultuous time in his career.
“We are more than best friends; he’s my brother, closer than blood and I love him,” he told the audience.
“And when you stand alongside a heart like his and get to know it from the inside out, you realise how rare that combination of genius and integrity is,” he added.
The pair have collaborated on some of Mr Sheeran’s most celebrated tracks, including the Grammy-winning Shape of You, as well as Photograph, Galway Girl, Bad Habits and Shivers.
Mr McDaid also introduced Mr Sheeran to his former partner, actress Courteney Cox, from whom he separated last year following a relationship spanning more than a decade.
Mr McDaid’s public endorsement comes at a time when Mr Sheeran is engulfed in the most serious controversy of his career.
Macklemore and Mr Sheeran had been friends for over a decade | GETTY
The 43-year-old American rapper Macklemore was axed from Mr Sheeran’s Loop Tour after making pro-Palestinian remarks during shows in New Jersey earlier this month.
The decision to remove Macklemore came after US stadium owner Robert Kraft accused the rapper of hate speech and of “only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas.”
Mr Kraft subsequently barred Macklemore from performing at Gillette Stadium near Boston, which his holding company owns.
The fallout resulted in every remaining support act on the tour, along with Mr Sheeran’s backing band Beoga, walking away in solidarity with Macklemore and Palestine.
Ed Sheeran has also lost hundreds of thousands of followers over the ordeal | GETTY
Artists including Paloma Faith, Jordan Stephens and Charlotte Church have also publicly condemned Mr Sheeran’s decision to press on with the tour.
Mr Sheeran returned to the stage less than a week after Macklemore’s departure.
Visibly struggling to contain his emotions, he performed without his backing band or support acts. Reading from an autocue during his Philadelphia show, he addressed a crowd of 50,000, describing the preceding days as “one of the worst weeks of my life.”
Breaking with his longstanding refusal to engage in political commentary, Mr Sheeran declared the situation in Gaza “catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate” while calling the October 7 attack on the Nova music festival “horrific.”
Paloma Faith, a vocal pro-Palestine supporter, backed Macklemore | PA
“I really didn’t know whether this tour would be carrying on. I really didn’t know whether I’d even be getting on stage again, whether I even wanted to be an artist at all,” he told fans.
Critics accused him of “bowing to the mob” with his statement. Yet rising ticket sales ultimately persuaded him to continue, with Mr Sheeran telling the crowd: “I see 50,000 people who haven’t abandoned me.”
Mr McDaid isn’t the only public figure to jump to Mr Sheeran’s defence. Pro-Israel musician Boy George has publicly ridiculed the backlash the A Team hitmaker has faced.
He even mocked the aforementioned Ms Faith, his former fellow judge on The Voice, over her pro-Palestine views.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Clarkson has also rallied behind Mr Sheeran. He branded the singer one of the “nicest” men in music.
He also took aim at “bully” Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame, who’d taken to social media to brand Mr Sheeran a “p***k” over the saga.
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