advertisement
FYI

Arcade Fire's Triumphant Weekend In Words & Pictures

Arcade Fire has waved the Canadian flag globally and earned the respect of fans and rock’s top echelon for their collective spirit, willingness to experiment and ability to fund-raise for worthwhile causes. They are emblematic of everything that is good about this country and this past weekend the band’s members were honoured with two Juno awards.

Arcade Fire's Triumphant Weekend In Words & Pictures

By FYI Staff

Arcade Fire has waived the Canadian flag globally and earned the respect of fans and rock’s top echelon for their collective spirit, willingness to experiment and ability to fund-raise for worthwhile causes. They are emblematic of everything that is good about this country and this past weekend the band’s members were honoured with the International Achievement Award (Saturday) and on the Sunday telecast with the Juno Album of the Year Award (for their fifth album, Everything Now).


On stage Saturday, surrounded by his bandmates, frontman Win Butler Butler offered advice to artists starting out.

“I’m so grateful to be on this stage with some of my best friends and this beautiful group of people," he said. "I think one of the most important things in life is to try and surround yourself with people that are more talented than you and better than you and smarter than you at all times. So that’s what our band is: Everyone that I can think of that was much better than me…"

advertisement

Below is the acceptance speech made Saturday night, followed by the band’s performance Sunday on the Juno telecast.

Arcade Fire receiving the International Achievement Award, Saturday evening at Rogers Convention Centre in Vancouver

 

The night following performing “Everything Now” on the Juno Awards’ telecast

 

advertisement
Ed Sheeran performs onstage at iHeartRadio Z100's Jingle Ball 2025 Presented by Capital One held at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2025 in New York, New York.
John Nacion/Billboard

Ed Sheeran performs onstage at iHeartRadio Z100's Jingle Ball 2025 Presented by Capital One held at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2025 in New York, New York.

Music News

Ed Sheeran Addresses Controversy at First Show Since Openers, Backing Band Dropped Off Tour, Calls It ‘The Best Show of My Life’

Before his show in Philadelphia, Sheeran read a statement acknowledging the issue of Israel and Palestine, but still tried to keep things neutral.

Ed Sheeran needed to address the situation before he could start playing guitar. It wasn’t how he wanted to start his show, and he’s made it abundantly clear that the last thing he wants around him is controversy or, in his words, to be an “activist musician.”

But here he was, at the first show after his opener and friend Macklemore was kicked off the tour, following pressure by a group of venue owners led by Robert Kraft who took issue with Macklemore’s statement of support toward Palestine. That led to the rest of the tour’s openers and even Sheeran’s backing band for the tour dropping off the tour in solidarity with Macklemore — all of which became a huge news story and PR nightmare for the usually very un-controversial Sheeran. And though he had already made one highly scrutinized statement online while the news story was at its most potent, Sheeran felt the need to address the crowd at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night (Sept. 19) in person, before the show really started.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

keep readingShow less
advertisement