Jack Antonoff says performing the love songs he wrote about Margaret Qualley has been “really beautiful”, even after their split.
The Bleachers frontman, 42, addressed it in a profile for The Guardian, published on Sunday, 25 October.
He said he agonised over whether to change the setlist on his current tour, then decided against it.
Read more: Margaret Qualley, Jack Antonoff split months before 3rd wedding anniversary
“Songs which I wrote recently, I obviously was really worried about this specific thing, I sat long and hard with it,” he said.
He considered what would happen if he changed the setlist, but “in my gut there was a unanimous jury that said, ‘No, this is the deal.’”
He explained the deal.
“The deal I’ve made with my audience is that I’m going to tell you honestly how I feel and I’m going to risk at any moment having to stand behind it forever.”
Performing the songs, he said, has become a shared moment. “It’s actually been really beautiful,” he said.
“For people to come together, to know what I write a song about, to know how that must feel for me now, to know what that song means to you as an audience member, to just hold it all and sort of celebrate.”
He added that he does not rewrite the past and has no shame about what he has said, and he would rather live through something publicly than escape it privately.
Songs he has kept include Dirty Wedding Dress and You and Forever from the Bleachers album Everyone for Ten Minutes.
Antonoff and Qualley, 32, the star of The Substance, separated after three years of marriage. The split was reported in July, shortly before the tour began.
Qualley’s representative has disputed rumours about the reason.
“There were no trust issues,” the rep said, and both parties maintain deep love and respect for each other. Neither has publicly explained the split.
Antonoff has joked about it before.
At a Los Angeles show, he declined a fan’s request for Let’s Get Married, a 2017 song, then said he still loved it and had written it long before he dated Qualley.
He also attended Taylor Swift’s wedding without her.
Read more: Real reason behind Margaret Qualley, Jack Antonoff’s split
