Former The Fray Frontman Isaac Slade Joins Ed Sheeran In Toronto

Ed Sheeran closed a three-night stand at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday. Former The Fray frontman Isaac Slade accompanied Sheeran onstage for a performance of “How To Save A Life,” with Irish band Beoga also joining the collaboration.

As they have throughout Sheeran’s Loop Tour, Beoga joined the English singer-songwriter for a string of songs earlier in the set, including “Galway Girl,” “Nancy Mulligan,” “I Don’t Care,” “Old Phone,” “Camera” and “Celestial.”

Sheeran fulfilled several fan requests during the show, performing “Firefly” in concert purportedly for the first time since 2011, along with “Repeat It,” his collaboration with Martin Garrix, and “Magical.”

BIIRD, Lukas Graham and Myles Smith opened the show. Sheeran paused the concert on Saturday before welcoming Slade to the Rogers Centre stage. Speaking to the audience, Sheeran stated:

“I want to do something cool, today. I’m gonna invite someone to come sing with me. This is the first time we’ve met today. I’ve been a fan of his music, his songwriting – definitely like my formative years as a teenager, listening to his music and being supremely emotional about it. You know when you hear songs at a certain age and they just follow you through life.

“And my friend, actually the person that got me played first on radio in America, a girl called ‘Sherry’ – she messaged me this week and just went, ‘Oh, he’s going to come down to your show,’ and I was like, ‘Can he sing with me?’ and she was like, ‘Yeah.’

“So I would like you to make all of the noise in the world for Isaac Slade.”

“How To Save A Life” served as the title track to The Fray’s 2005 debut album. Slade remained The Fray’s frontman through three subsequent albums, but exited the band in 2022. After Slade and Sheeran performed “How To Save A Life” in Toronto, Sheeran prompted the crowd to sing the song back to the pair on stage.

Watch Isaac Slade and Ed Sheeran’s “How To Save A Life” duet below: