Jack Antonoff Is Keeping the Margaret Qualley Songs in the Setlist: "This Is the Deal"

Jack Antonoff had a decision to make this tour: keep performing the songs he wrote about Margaret Qualley, or swap them out. In a new Guardian interview, he said he was“really worried”about the material after the couple’s July split, but his gut told him to leave the setlist alone. He says singing those songs now is“really beautiful,”because fans know what they’re about and hold the emotion with him.

The split came after about three years of marriage. Neither has filed to legally end it, and Qualley’s rep denied any infidelity. Antonoff’s approach fits the promise he says he’s made to his audience:“The deal I’ve made with my audience is that I’m going to tell you honestly how I feel.”He also said he’d“rather live through something publicly than even escape it privately,”and that he no longer cares about negative online commentary.

The tour has come with a little gallows humor, too. When a fan requested“Let’s Get Married”at a September show, Antonoff fired back,“Read the news, brother.”The songs stay, and so does the honesty. If all this makes you want to see him live, which song would you need to hear in person?