Los Angeles, California – Macklemore has announced a new concert series supporting the people of Palestine after the rapper was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour over his calls for a “Free Palestine.”
On Thursday, Macklemore announced the Free Palestine Tour, a three-night concert series heading to Dublin, Paris, and London this October.
“If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that something has shifted over the last three years,” he wrote.
“There has been a collective awakening around Palestinian liberation, the power of billionaires that try to censor that call, and what we expect from artists right now.”
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He quipped that since his “schedule freed up a bit,” he has been getting in touch with fellow musicians who also want to use their platforms to advocate for Palestine.
“It’s 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn’t work anymore,” Macklemore declared.
“People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves, and be in community. To use the stage for more than entertainment. To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it.”
He added that the artists joining the tour will be announced “soon,” as plans are still being worked out.
Presale for the tickets, which will go to “organizations supporting the Palestinian people and movement,” begins on Monday, September 28, at 10 AM local time.
Macklemore had been a supporting act on Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour before he was abruptly dropped earlier this month.
He revealed that Ed had been told by Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft that the British pop star could not perform at the venue if Macklemore was still featured in the show, and the billionaire had contacted other stadium owners to back him up.
The decision came as a direct response to the rapper’s on-stage comments in support of Palestine at earlier stops on the tour.
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“What I said at MetLife [Stadium], I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years. So why is it an issue now? Because now I’m sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America,” Macklemore said in a statement.
His removal was met with a swift backlash that ultimately led the tour’s other opening acts and even Ed’s backup band to exit in solidarity.
Ed had stood firm in his apolitical stance – a decision that has garnered further backlash in itself – but decried Israel’s “unjustifiable and disproportionate” violence in Gaza as he returned to the stage.
Along with the profits from his new tour, Macklemore has also vowed to donate his $1 million earnings from Ed’s tour to organizations aiding the people of Palestine.
