53 minutes ago, J00prstar said:

I first read appalling enough oop

The typo is that it should have said ‘wasn’t’ But it works with appalling.

15 minutes ago, 777666jason said:

Just because Ed "has been huge for 15 years" doesnt mean everyone is aware of his music

Heck its been shown just last month the longest number 1 of all time that a large proportion of the country is unaware of its existence

That’s very much an issue with the charts in 2026 and hasn’t been a consistent issue across 15 years.

But I’m not even talking about the charts. Ed has been everywhere in that time. He’s had very high profile performances like the London Olympics, cameos in films and tv shows and let’s not pretend he hasn’t had heavy airplay.

The straw clutching is evident in this thread. Jeremy Clarkson being brought up as a potential new Ed convert doesn’t exactly help the arguments put forward.

Surely the only people who would become 'new fans' after this would be those who like that he hasn't called it a genocide?

5 minutes ago, T Boy said:

That’s very much an issue with the charts in 2026 and hasn’t been a consistent issue across 15 years.

But I’m not even talking about the charts. Ed has been everywhere in that time. He’s had very high profile performances like the London Olympics, cameos in films and tv shows and let’s not pretend he hasn’t had heavy airplay.

The straw clutching is evident in this thread. Jeremy Clarkson being brought up as a potential new Ed convert doesn’t exactly help the arguments put forward.

There are 69.5 million people in the UK so your saying every single one of those can tell me who ED sheeran is

I dont think so and chances are most of those would fall into the elderly bracket as well

How is this now turning into a discussion about Sheeran’s popularity and charts? The straws be clutchin’ so desperately 💩💩💩

Just now, 777666jason said:

There are 69.5 million people in the UK so your saying every single one of those can tell me who ED sheeran is

I dont think so and chances are most of those would fall into the elderly bracket as well

And without trying to generalise, the elderly are very unlikely to seek out Ed’s music because he’s been in the news. My 94 and 89 year old grandparents probably don’t know who he is but they aren’t going to be running to join his fan club because he’s been in the news.

Ed Sheeran is one of the most recognisable faces in the UK if not the world. Your arguments are getting extremely silly at this point.

Not really true though Queen were 1 of the biggest bands of All time and Michael Jackson 1 of the biggest acts of all time and people are still discovering them

Edited September 20Sep 20 by 777666jason

OK seriously, can we please keep to the subject at hand here and stop veering off into Ed Sheeran in the charts/popularity related things which are completely irrelevant to what's happening (there's a whole forum you can discuss that in), it completely undermines the seriousness of this topic and the healthy debate that's happening.

This is just getting silly, if you don't have anything substantial to contribute to a discussion then you do have the option of not replying y'know 👀

I'm not saying that Ed Sheeran has a new fan in Jeremy Clarkson, I'm giving an example of someone who's just openly said they're not familiar with Ed Sheeran's music.

The point is there's no such thing as bad publicity and there's lots of situations that could lead to one becoming an Ed Sheeran fan off the back of this.

If someone turned around and said to me they'd got into Ed Sheeran's music after seeing him fence sit on a genocide I'd be nominating them to go on a watchlist. Call the police!!

11 hours ago, Lindsey. said:

If someone turned around and said to me they'd got into Ed Sheeran's music after seeing him fence sit on a genocide I'd be nominating them to go on a watchlist. Call the police!!

He's a musician not a politician, he doesn't need to say anything on the issue. I'm not going to start listening to his music because it's not my thing but I do see the fact he's refusing to get drawn into politics as a good thing. What I want from musicians is music not a political lecture.

He can stay quiet about politics just as long as he doesn’t censor others for talking about it. Like dropping his friend from his show.

Personally I find the idea of being an artist with no opinions on anything something of an anathema, it doesn't make sense or it shows very little self-awareness.

The statement didn't sound like it came truly from the heart of the same person who wrote songs like The A Team.

I think it's just a shame to happen because his image that he sells himself on is very much that he does do things his own way so the sudden PR angle is very like when you see the 'man behind the curtain', that things weren't what they previously seemed.

Music is heavily censored or still illegal in some places which makes it political by default. 🤯

But it’s not in the ‘west’ so who cares

4 hours ago, T Boy said:

He can stay quiet about politics just as long as he doesn’t censor others for talking about it. Like dropping his friend from his show.

The key part being that it's his show

1 hour ago, J00prstar said:

Personally I find the idea of being an artist with no opinions on anything something of an anathema, it doesn't make sense or it shows very little self-awareness.

The statement didn't sound like it came truly from the heart of the same person who wrote songs like The A Team.

I think it's just a shame to happen because his image that he sells himself on is very much that he does do things his own way so the sudden PR angle is very like when you see the 'man behind the curtain', that things weren't what they previously seemed.

Unless you know Ed Sheeran personally you're never going to know what Ed Sheeran the person is really like. Based on the limited number of musicians I've met I wouldn't say any of them have been like the person you'd imagine them to be based off their lyrics.

🥰

For me and this is VERY controversial opinion but personally I think any political statements at any generic concert (AKA an artists tour / festival etc...) shouldn't be allowed.

People go to these shows to escape the world, any problems within the world and to feel safe / connected and to have a good time, sharing a love for that artist / music in general.

The people in attendance probably all have their own views/opinions on all sorts of topics including politics and these statements could quite easily create a hostile atmosphere for those in attendance with differing views.

It'll end in tears one day when an artist shares the wrong view to their fans / audience, it's dangerous ground!!

Macklemore doing a concert dedicated to the cause and offering to donate is what artists who feel so passionately SHOULD be doing, getting together groups of people who feel the same, share the same views and can come together in support of whatever the view is using their platform for good not at an album tour, festival or gig unrelated.

They should absolutely be using social media platforms to speak out but I really do think concerts (Not specifically for a cause) aren't the right place to express any views no matter how important.

So people who use music and art to express themselves should not be allowed to express themselves at a concert? Got it.

Is Pink still allowed to perform Dear Mr President then?

39 minutes ago, T Boy said:

So people who use music and art to express themselves should not be allowed to express themselves at a concert? Got it.

Is Pink still allowed to perform Dear Mr President then?

Expressing yourself in music is an art form making political statements outside of music isn't art is it.

If people wanted to hear political debates on topics they'd go to a political debate.

Not saying these topics aren't important by the way just saying this will all end in tears when audience members have opposing views and start shouting things out it'll get very heated and that's not what people are there for no matter how important the cause is.

Also, run into the territory where causes / politics and statements are used as a form of self promotion! How many times have pop artists claimed to support LGBTQ+ rights making statements at shows / holding up flags etc...When it's blatantly obvious later down the line they have no interest (Cough Cough Ella doing a pride event but then performing at a Conservative party!!)

Edited September 24Sep 24 by Mr. C. Joel