Bono has revealed the warning Ed Sheeran gave him before joining a politically charged U2 collaboration. The singer apparently wanted to make sure the project would not pull him too deeply into politics. The exchange happened while Sheeran worked with U2 on “Yours Eternally,” a song connected to the war in Ukraine.
Ed Sheeran raised concerns about politics while collaborating with Bono and U2
Bono recalled the conversation during an interview with Rolling Stone UK.
“When we did ‘Yours Eternally,’ he was saying, ‘You’re not going to get me into politics, are you?’” Bono said.
The U2 collaboration appears on the band’s Days of Ash EP and also features Ukrainian rocker Taras Topolia. The song is written from the perspective of a Ukrainian soldier during the ongoing war with Russia.
Bono said he reminded Sheeran that the soldier who inspired the track admired him and that Sheeran had already helped shape the song.
According to Bono, Ed Sheeran responded that he wanted to “keep my thing free.” Bono did not criticize him for that position.
Instead, he argued that artists should have the freedom to decide how deeply they want to involve themselves in politics. U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. also said musicians have the right to choose whether they want to take public positions.
The comments arrive after Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran’s U.S. tour following pro-Palestine remarks made onstage.
Sheeran later explained that venues and promoters, rather than he alone, made the final call. His attempt to keep concerts separate from politics also became a central part of the tour fallout. He eventually became emotional onstage while describing how the situation had affected him personally.
For Bono, however, the earlier conversation offered a different look at Sheeran’s thinking.
The U2 frontman said artists cannot be forced into activism simply because others expect it from them. His account suggests Ed Sheeran’s reluctance around politics existed well before his recent tour controversy.
And despite that hesitation, he still chose to take part in a song written from the perspective of a Ukrainian soldier during the war with Russia.
