Macklemore has booked his own tour. He is calling it the Free Palestine Tour, and every dollar it makes is going to organizations supporting Palestinians.
The announcement comes three weeks after he was pulled from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour, and it reads less like a pivot than a direct continuation of what got him removed in the first place.
How he got here
On September 4 and 5, Macklemore played two nights at MetLife Stadium as part of the Loop Tour. At the first show, he said "Free Palestine" onstage. Nine days later, the tour's promoter pulled him from the remaining U.S. dates.
Multiple outlets have reported that Patriots owner Robert Kraft was behind the decision, organizing other stadium operators around an ultimatum: keep Macklemore on the bill, or lose access to their venues.
The FADER reports that Sheeran has said he was approached by Kraft and given that choice. Sheeran has maintained publicly that removing Macklemore was not his own decision.
FINNEAS withdrew from the tour the next day, followed by Aaron Rowe and Sheeran's longtime backing band, Beoga. We covered FINNEAS's exit when it happened.
Macklemore's response to all of it, in his own words: "So, as you all know, my schedule freed up a bit."
The tour
The Free Palestine Tour opens October 26 at 3Arena in Dublin, then moves to Accor Arena in Paris on the 29th and OVO Arena Wembley in London on the 30th. U.S. dates and the rest of the lineup are still being announced.
Macklemore says he spent the past week calling artists "who have shown up and used their stages to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences."
Every dollar raised goes to organizations working in Palestine and Gaza, among them Anera, the Gaza Soup Kitchen, HEAL Palestine, Medical Aid for Palestinians, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, UNRWA USA, and the Institute for Middle East Understanding.
That is on top of a separate pledge. Macklemore has committed his full fee from the two Sheeran shows, roughly $1 million, to six Palestinian aid organizations.
He has publicly challenged Kraft to match it. Kraft's camp has said Sheeran approached him about a $2 million donation, without confirming whether it would happen.
In his own words
"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. To use the stage for more than entertainment."
He framed the removal as bigger than his own booking. "When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear," he wrote, "everyone should be paying attention."
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Reporting via The FADER and Consequence.
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