23/09/2026
Madness frontman Suggs has entered into the Ed Sheeran controversy. đź‘€
“Music is political whether you like it or not,” he says. 🤷‍♂️
Sheeran broke down on stage in Philadelphia at the weekend following the controversy surrounding the sacking of rapper Macklemore from his Loop tour, for voicing pro-Palestinian views.❌
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Suggs says: “The Gaza thing is very polarising. If you say you’re pro-Palestine, you can be blanked and cancelled, and a lot of people are scared of it. I can understand that.
“But Ed Sheeran…I think he’s got enough money not to be scared of it, personally. I’m not telling him what to do, but I think there are certain situations where you have to say something.” 💰
Since the furore blew up, Sheeran has insisted he has simply tried to avoid becoming a "political commentator".
But Suggs says music is unavoidably political, adding: “You’re talking about the everyday lives of people and you’re communicating, whether it be love, peace, or whatever. Sometimes you have to say something.”
Suggs, 65, is speaking ahead of the October 1 cinema release of Madness’ film Take It Or Leave It, which has been restored in super high resolution by the British Film Institute. 🎬
It charts Madness’s rise from a pub band called The Invaders in Camden Town, through line-up changes and rows, to mainstream chart success.
Directed by Dave Robinson, it features Suggs, who joined in 1977, alongside Madness members Mark Bedford (Bedders), Lee Thompson (El Thommo), Carl Smyth (Chas Smash), Dan Woodgate (Woody), Chris Foreman (Chrissy Boy) and Mike Barson (Barzo).
Part-funded by the band, which was formed 50 years ago, Suggs says: “We thought we were going to be The Beatles.”
Of the film, he adds: “I think it played in two cinemas at the time, but they blew the dust off the VHS and now it’s going into 150 - we’ve made it.
“We look so young, we were kids. It’s charming. It's a sort of time piece of that period. We didn’t have a clue that we were going to survive for this long.”
