The show must go on.

Ed Sheeran has brought on former The Fray frontman Isaac Slade as a surprise opener to his Atlanta show on Oct. 3, following Macklemore's removal from the tour. While the Grammy-winning rapper was dropped from the tour following his “Free Palestine” speech at the Loop Tour's MetLife Stadium stops last month, Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe, and Beoga, who were also billed as openers for the tour, voluntarily left the show in solidarity. Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette, allegedly expressed concern to Sheeran about the tour if Macklemore was on the bill, telling the singer, “If Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”

Slade addressed the war in Gaza when he took the stage as he argued that people need to find a “middle place” in the conversations surrounding Palestine and Israel.

“Peace is not a blank canvas that we need to guard and be polite,” he told the crowd. “[Peace] holds enough beauty, enough tragedy, enough sorrow, enough joy and life if we learn how to integrate it and hold each other in balance. We will find a way through this together.”

The “Shape of You” singer addressed the controversy during his Philly tour stop last month.

“This is not usually how I open a show, but before I play some songs tonight I hope it’s OK if I say a few words about this last week,” Sheeran began. “I’m used to my music being criticized, and I’m always happy to take that because I’m lucky a lot of you like my stuff… But this week the criticism was about something much more important. And I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so sorry.”

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Macklemore has since announced a Free Palestine Tour to raise funds and awareness for humanitarian aid organizations in support of Palestinians. The rapper shared last week that the tour which is hitting Dublin, Pairs, and London has since sold-out.

“All three shows sold out immediately. I’m honestly blown away,” the rapper wrote in the caption. “We put these shows together fast and in community, believing that musicians can stand in solidarity with Palestine, use the stage to raise funds and show what collective action can look like. When those in power try to silence our calls for liberation, art will always be a form of resistance.”

“Dublin, Paris and London, thank you for showing up the way you did,” he continued. “The response to these shows is another reminder of how many people across the world are standing together for a free Palestine.”

Macklemore teased, “Lineups coming soon.”