Ed Sheeran to Bono: ‘You’re not going to get me into politics, are you?’
Bono says Ed Sheeran was wary of politics when they made 'Yours Eternally'. Amid the Macklemore row, fans on Reddit are split on what he really meant.
What do you say when the pop star you’ve just recruited for your war song gets nervous about the word “politics”? If you’re Bono, apparently you tell him about the soldier.
The U2 frontman has revealed how Ed Sheeran reacted when they worked together on ‘Yours Eternally’, from the band’s Days of Ash EP. Speaking to Rolling Stone UK, Bono said Sheeran asked him: “You’re not going to get me into politics, are you?”
The song also features Ukrainian rocker Taras Topolia and is written from the perspective of a Ukrainian soldier during the ongoing war with Russia. So, yes. Politics was always going to be in the room.
The Soldier Who Loved Ed’s Music
Bono says he didn’t push. He reminded Sheeran that the soldier who inspired the song was a fan. “He loved you Ed,” Bono recalls telling him, and Sheeran had already worked on the track.
Sheeran’s answer, according to Bono: “Yeah, but I just want to keep my thing free.” Bono’s takeaway was simple. “You can’t be pushing people around.”
But the timing is what turned a studio anecdote into a headline.
Sheeran is at the centre of a storm after his US support act, rapper Macklemore, was dropped from a huge stadium tour for shouting “Free Palestine” and voicing solidarity with the people of Gaza. Every other opener, including Irish singer Aaron Rowe and US star Finneas, then left in solidarity. Sheeran has since returned to the stage and told fans he’d been “making mistakes, and I’m so so sorry.”
Asked about it, Bono said he didn’t want to “personalise” the situation, citing Brian Eno’s view that pop stars are little fish in a sea of huge forces. Then he told the story anyway.
Why Silence Feels So Loud Right Now
Here’s the thing about staying out of it: in a moment like this, it stops looking like staying out of it.
When a global star is asked to take a side, a refusal gets read as a choice. Fans don’t hear “I’d rather not”. They hear what they assume the silence protects: money, safety, comfort. That’s the tension running through this whole story. Sheeran says he wants to keep his thing free. Plenty of people hear that as keeping his options open.
What makes Bono’s version interesting is that it isn’t a pile-on. He and his bandmates frame it as a question of persuasion versus pressure. Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. said artists are entitled to choose whether to get involved, and that it isn’t U2’s job to criticise that, however they feel. He added that things take time to evolve and that it’s “confusing and complicated”.
Bono echoed Eno: “You can’t try to force people into a position.”
Yet the band is blunt about where tolerance ends. Mullen said they’re “absolutely clear” that promoters or billionaire owners shouldn’t influence what an artist says on stage. He noted that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was among the voices behind Macklemore’s removal. Apply that logic to U2, he said, and they’d have been out of business on ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’. Bono pointed to the band’s ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’ performance in Arizona during the Martin Luther King Day campaign, when they were told they weren’t welcome. “It’s what we do,” he said.
So the message has two edges. Nobody should be bullied into speaking. And nobody should be leaned on to stay quiet.
Bono Firing Shots, or Bono Covering for Ed?
On r/Fauxmoi, fans split almost immediately.
Some read it as a pointed dig at Sheeran, with one reader joking that Bono’s been “firing shots” all week. Others suspected the opposite: that Bono was quietly helping Sheeran out, using the anecdote to show he’d steered clear of the Ukraine conflict too, which would answer claims he only sympathises with one cause.
A chunk of the thread turned on Bono himself. Some called him calculated, accusing him of waiting until public opinion tips. Others said that whatever you think of him, his record on debt relief shows he plays for outcomes, not ego. Several pointed to his past criticism over Gaza.
Elsewhere, the mood was more cereal-bowl than war room. Jokes flew about Sheeran refusing to say whether milk or cereal goes first for fear of upsetting Big Milk. One fan quipped that you can hardly sign up for a U2 song and be shocked it’s political.
And then there’s the harder line from commenters who argue that musicians who dodge politics are wasting their platform, because music has always been political.
Bono, for his part, says he won’t dwell on it. But he’s told the story now. The question is whether Sheeran’s “free” thing can survive a year when everyone is asking what it’s free from.
FAQ
What song did Bono and Ed Sheeran work on together?
'Yours Eternally', taken from U2's Days of Ash EP. It also features Ukrainian rocker Taras Topolia and is written from the perspective of a Ukrainian soldier during the war with Russia.
What did Ed Sheeran say to Bono about politics?
Bono told Rolling Stone UK that Sheeran asked, "You're not going to get me into politics, are you?" and later said, "I just want to keep my thing free."
Why is Ed Sheeran in the news right now?
His US support act Macklemore was dropped from a stadium tour after shouting "Free Palestine" and expressing solidarity with Gaza. His other support acts, including Aaron Rowe and Finneas, then left the tour. Sheeran has since told fans he'd been "making mistakes" and was sorry.
Did Bono criticise Ed Sheeran?
Bono said he didn't want to "personalise" the situation or dwell on Sheeran and Macklemore. He said people can't be pushed into a position and should be persuaded by reason.
Sources
- Ed Sheeran told Bono he didn't want to explore politics on U2 collab 'Yours Eternally'
- Discussion on r/Fauxmoi
Featured image — Image via r/Fauxmoi