Ed Sheeran is praised as a 'rare combination of genius and integrity' by Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid as he speaks out in support of his 'best friend and brother' amid Macklemore tour row

At last a fellow pop star has stuck up for Ed Sheeran!The singer has been hounded by fellow musicians since his tour promoter dropped rapper Macklemore from the line-up for making pro-Palestinian comments on stage.By contrast, Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid made a point of singing Sheeran's praises at the 2026 BMI London Awards, praising his 'rare combination of genius and integrity'.Receiving the BMI President's Award, Johnny said: 'One of the people who's taught me most about myself as a writer and as a human is Ed Sheeran...'Johnny, who co-wrote Sheeran's Grammy-winning Shape of You, continued: 'I met Ed when he was 20 years old and we have become more than best friends.'We are more than best friends, he's my brother, closer than blood and I love him.'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.' Ed Sheeran is praised as a 'rare combination of genius and integrity' by Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid as he spoke out in support of his 'best friend and brother' amid Macklemore tour row (pictured together in 2021) Speaking at the 2026 BMI London Awards on Tuesday, he told the crowd: 'We are more than best friends, he's my brother, closer than blood and I love him'Recalling how they wrote Shape Of You together, he reflected on how Ed wrote the lyric 'And now my bed sheets smell like you'. While Johnny admitted he 'fought so hard against that lyric' in the studio, 'but Ed fought back and he was right'. Ed even introduced Johnny to his ex partner Courteney Cox, who he split from last year after over a decade together. The pair have co-written some of his biggest hits including, Photograph, Galway Girl, Bad Habits and Shivers.Ed is currently facing the biggest backlash of his career after US rapper Macklemore was sensationally dropped from his Loop Tour over pro-Palestine comments.The American, 43, was axed after remarks he made at Ed's New Jersey shows earlier this month – and following his dismissal, all of the star's other opening acts – Finneas, Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe, as well as his backing band Beoga – announced they would be leaving the tour in solidarity with the rapper and Palestine. Ed has since been accused of 'bowing to the mob' after he apologised to his fans for his handling of the row, by reading a statement from an autocue during his live show in Philadelphia. He backtracked on his previous vow not to bring politics to his show, as he called the situation in Gaza 'catastrophic and unjustifiable' and Hamas's October 7 attacks 'horrific'. He told 50,000 fans: 'The last week of my life has been one of the worst weeks of my life.'He added though that he was heartened by the fans who had come out to support him, telling them 'today has been one of the weirdest days of my life. Tonight has been honestly the best show of my life, the best show.'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. In these situations, you really find out who your friends are, and it’s been a weird week.' The pair have co-written some of his biggest hits including Shape Of You, Photograph, Galway Girl, Bad Habits and Shivers (pictured together in 2013) Ed is currently facing the biggest backlash of his career after US rapper Macklemore was sensationally dropped from his Loop Tour over pro-Palestine comments He said: 'I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity and not division, about humanity and not politics. 'But this is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel at Nova music festival on October 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain.'What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. 'My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians' lives, of children's lives, and the systemic injustice we're seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.'Several other stars have publicly hit out at Ed's choice to continue the door, with fellow singers Paloma Faith, Jordan Stephens and Charlotte Church slamming his decision. On stage, Ed said he had been convinced to continue with his tour after he saw an uptick in ticket sales, telling the crowd: 'Everyone's telling me to cancel and I'm feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me – and I look at the end of the week, and I see 50,000 people who haven't abandoned me.'Macklemore was removed from Ed's tour after US stadium owner Robert Kraft accused him of hate speech and said he was 'only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas'.Kraft banned him from performing at the Gillette Stadium near Boston, which is owned by his holding company.Ed struggled to hold back tears as he returned to the stage on Saturday, without his backing band and support acts.The singer said he had 'found out who his friends are', adding: 'I cannot hide how I feel... any more.'In his first stage appearance since the Loop tour was plunged into turmoil, the father of two said he 'never wanted to be an activist musician' but the fierce criticism meant he has had to 'take and make difficult decisions'.He apologised and became visibly emotional again at the end of the show for bringing politics to his concert – something he had vowed not to do.Ed said at the end of the night: 'The one thing that I would like to apologise for is the first bit of the show where it wasn't about music and I had to talk.'I understand that people have children here and I understand that families didn't buy a ticket to hear that first bit of the show, but that was something I felt like I needed to say.'By the end of the show, Ed broke down into tears, telling fans: 'I'm so grateful. The world is a scary place right now. America is a scary place right now. This gives hope. This gives hope.'The crowd broke out in applause as Ed appeared deeply moved.'My shows are about this,' he said. 'They are about people coming together that don't know each other, that have different beliefs. They're about unity. They're about love. They're about family.'As fans cheered, Ed vowed that the controversy would not stop him from performing.