Macklemore Announces Free Palestine Tour After Ed Sheeran Fallout

Macklemore is turning his removal from Ed Sheeran's tour into a headlining run of his own. On Thursday, the rapper announced the Free Palestine Tour, a three-date European trek set for late October, with all proceeds going to organizations supporting Palestinians. "As you all know, my schedule freed up a bit," Macklemore wrote in a statement posted to Instagram, according to Pitchfork.

The tour opens at Dublin's 3Arena on October 26, moves to Accor Arena in Paris on October 29, and closes at OVO Arena Wembley in London on October 30, per NME. Additional artists and U.S. dates will be announced later, with Macklemore saying he has spent the past week contacting "artists who have shown up and used their stages to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences." The tour announcement is the latest chapter in a controversy that has roiled Sheeran's tour.

Macklemore was removed as an opener after his September 4 and 5 performances at MetLife Stadium, during which he declared "Free Palestine" and performed his 2024 protest track "Hind's Hall" alongside footage from Gaza, NME reported. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft objected to Macklemore performing at Gillette Stadium, and the promoter subsequently dropped him from the bill. All of Sheeran's remaining support acts later withdrew in solidarity.

In his announcement, Macklemore framed the moment as larger than his own experience. "What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage," he wrote. "When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention."

He added: "It's 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn't work anymore. People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community." Sheeran addressed the controversy onstage in Philadelphia on September 19, telling the crowd that "what happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival on October 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable, and disproportionate," according to Billboard. Sheeran and Kraft have each pledged $2 million in donations to humanitarian aid in Gaza, while Macklemore donated his $1 million tour earnings to Palestinian aid.

Macklemore has not named the artists who will join him, but said "a lot of the conversations, schedules and details are still being worked out." The tour's announcement comes as he continues to press for artists to use their platforms. "People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community," he wrote.

"To use the stage for more than entertainment." The announcement follows his dismissal from Sheeran's U.S. Loop Tour after he made pro-Palestinian remarks onstage at MetLife Stadium earlier this month.