Bono of U2 has opened up about collaborating with Ed Sheeran on the song “Yours Eternally,” telling Rolling Stone UK that the younger star did not want the song to be political.

Sheeran has been at the center of a political firestorm after his opening act, Macklemore, got booted from the tour after calling for a free Palestine. “I would say with Ed and Macklemore that we shouldn’t personalize this, what’s going on in this instance,” Bono began. “Brian Eno said today that pop stars are like little fish in a large sea of huge forces and religion and politics. And so I don’t want to dwell on Ed and Macklemore and that incident.”

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“I will say this,” Bono continued. “‘When we did ‘Yours Eternally’, he was saying, ‘You’re not going to get me into politics, are you?’ And I said, ‘This soldier who inspired us, he loved you Ed and you’ve worked on his song.’ And he just said, “Yeah, but I just want to keep my thing free.’”

Sheeran did ultimately contribute to the track. The song was inspired by Taras Topolia, a Ukrainian singer and soldier who had previously collaborated with Sheeran in 2022 on the song, “2step.”

Bono reiterated his belief that artists have a right to choose to what extent they want to be involved:  “You can’t be pushing people around.”

Check out a video clip from that interview below. In recent interviews, U2 have teased a stadium tour and explained that track inspired by Rosalia. The band recently returned to their Dublin high school for a 50th anniversary concert, and their upcoming album, Carnaval de Luz, is out November 13th.