Macklemore Announces Free Palestine Tour After Sheeran Tour Fallout

Macklemore announced on September 24, 2026, a Free Palestine Tour with concerts scheduled in Dublin, Paris and London in late October 2026. Al Jazeera

The announcement came in a post on his official Instagram account. He said U.S. shows are still being organized and asked fans to sign up for updates on performers and U.S. dates. He said other musicians will join him on the tour, with names to be announced soon.

He pledged to donate all proceeds — the money left after tour costs — to causes supporting Palestinians and the wider movement. In the same statement he said: "It's 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn't work anymore."

The tour follows his removal from the U.S. leg of Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour after he spoke out against Israel's war on Gaza. Global News On September 4 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Macklemore, performing as one of Sheeran's opening acts, told the audience "Free Palestine" and called for peace and dignity for all.

Venue owner Robert Kraft later confirmed that Macklemore was barred from performing at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Other support acts then dropped out of Sheeran's tour after Macklemore's comments and removal. BBC

Sheeran has said that dropping Macklemore from the U.S. tour was not his decision. Reuters

Separately, Macklemore pledged to donate the $1 million in net earnings from the Loop Tour to six Palestinian support organisations.

The broader context here is the limited room for commercial touring artists who take public positions on the Gaza war. Stadium tours have several layers of control. Headliners, promoters, venue owners and sponsors can each affect who performs. Responsibility is spread out. That structure helps explain how a brief onstage statement escalated within weeks into a venue ban, lineup changes and a competing tour announcement.

Looking at what comes next, three practical questions stand out. The lineup will shape routing, venue size and insurance. The U.S. dates will test promoter interest and venue access after the Gillette decision. The funding pledge will draw scrutiny over recipients, timing and how the money is paid out. For diplomacy watchers, the episode shows how cultural venues have become parallel arenas for disputes over Gaza, with artists, audiences and operators negotiating limits in real time.