Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff has opened up about his split from actress Margaret Qualley, revealing that he considered changing his setlist after their separation — but ultimately decided to keep performing the love songs he wrote about her.
Antonoff, 42, discussed the breakup in a Guardian interview published on Sunday, October 25, offering a rare and candid look at how he has handled the end of his marriage on stage.
A setlist he decided not to change
Antonoff admitted he thought about dropping the love songs from his shows after the split. In the end, he kept them in — including “dirty wedding dress” and “you and forever,” both from Bleachers’ album “Everyone for Ten Minutes.”
Qualley even appeared in the music video for “you and forever,” which was released in February, making the songs a visible part of the couple’s shared creative history. For Antonoff, removing them would have meant erasing a chapter of his work that still means something to him and to his fans.
The decision also speaks to the way songs take on a life of their own once they reach an audience. A track written about one person can come to mean something entirely different to the thousands of people singing along, and pulling it from the show would have changed the concert experience for everyone in the room.
A joke that said plenty
Fans got an early hint of how Antonoff was processing the split at a concert in September, when an audience member requested “Let’s Get Married.” Antonoff jokingly declined, quipping that the fan should read the news — a lighthearted deflection that spoke volumes about where things stood.
The moment showed an artist choosing humor over a heavy on-stage confession, while still acknowledging, in his own way, that his personal life had changed. It is the kind of off-the-cuff exchange that fans remember long after the setlist fades, precisely because it felt unguarded.
What is known about the split
Antonoff and Qualley, 32, separated in July after nearly three years of marriage. The pair had been dating since 2021 and married in New Jersey in August 2023.
Qualley’s representative has denied speculation that cheating or trust issues caused the split, and neither Antonoff nor Qualley has publicly confirmed a reason for the separation. For now, the music remains the most honest statement either of them has made — love songs, still sung, even after the love story changed.
Source: Just Jared
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