After being removed from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour, Macklemore has announced that he will return to the stage for his “Free Palestine” tour, with all proceeds to benefit Palestinian aid organizations.
The run will begin with three dates next month in Europe. It kicks off at Dublin’s 3Arena on Oct. 26, followed by Paris’ Accor Arena on Oct. 29 and London’s OVO Arena Wembley on Oct. 30.
Additional artist announcements and U.S. dates are forthcoming.
An artist presale begins at 10 a.m. local time on Monday on the rapper’s website.
The Thrift Shop rapper took to Instagram on Thursday to announce the tour, writing, “If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that something has shifted over the last three years. 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.”
“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. To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it,” he continued.
“What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage. 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.”
The 43-year-old rapper said that his “schedule freed up a bit” and he has spent “the last week reaching out to artists who have shown up and used their stages to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences.”
“Artists who understand that our platforms mean very little if we’re only willing to use them when it’s safe,” Macklemore added. “Because of how quickly all of this has come together, a lot of the conversations, schedules and details are still being worked out. But this is a moment of momentum, and there is work to be done. So we’re going on tour.”
“All proceeds will benefit organizations supporting the Palestinian people and movement,” his post concluded.
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According to a press release from Live Nation, the shows will benefit several Palestinian aid organizations, including Anera, Glia, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Taawon, HEAL Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Middle East Children’s Alliance, Jewish Voice for Peace, Medical Aid for Palestinians. Institute for Middle East Understanding, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and a UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA USA.
Last week, Macklemore made headlines when he revealed that he had been dropped as the opener from the remaining dates of Sheeran’s Loop Tour following his onstage comments supporting a Palestinian state.
The Glorious rapper took to Instagram after Sheeran’s tour promoter issued a statement to Rolling Stone, alleging that venues on the U.S. tour told the company they would “not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.”
In response, Macklemore said his removal was the result of an effort led by Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots. His Kraft Group also owns Gillette Stadium, where the NFL team plays and where Sheeran is scheduled to perform later this month.
At the time, Sheeran said the decision to cut Macklemore from the Loop Tour was the promoter’s, not his own.
All of Sheeran’s other supporting acts dropped out, including a group that plays with Sheeran during part of the show, following the announcement of Macklemore’s removal.
Macklemore also announced he would donate $1 million from his net earnings from the Loop Tour to Palestinian relief funds and urged Kraft to follow suit.
In a statement released shortly after Macklemore pledged $1 million, Kraft, said he was contacted by Sheeran, who asked him to make a $2 million donation to “aid in the region.”
In the statement, Kraft said he was asked to match a $2 million endowment he said Sheeran was making.
During his first show since Macklemore was dropped from the tour, Sheeran told the crowd that he was receiving backlash for staying silent.
“This is not usually how I would open the show, but before I play some songs tonight, I hope it’s OK if I say a few words about this last week,” he began.
Sheeran said that he doesn’t want to “disappoint fans” and he never “wanted to be an activist musician.”
“Now, I want to address the question of where I stand on Israel and Palestine, and whether my doing this concert here tonight implies where I stand,” he continued. “I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind, because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division; about humanity, not politics. But this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore.
“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, unjustifiable, and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives,” Sheeran said. “The systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked. I am already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times, and listening and learning because I do not know enough.”
Later during the concert, Sheeran became emotional and told his fans that “the last week of my life has been one of the worst weeks of my life.”
“I really didn’t know whether this tour would be carrying on. I really didn’t know whether I’d even be getting on stage again, whether I even wanted to be an artist at all. In these situations, you really find out who your friends are, and it’s been a weird week,” he said as he became emotional.
“Everyone’s telling me to cancel, and I’m feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me. And I look at the end of the week, and I see 50,000 people who haven’t abandoned me. People will say what they want, but I am doing this for you. I love you,” Sheeran said.
“The world is a scary place right now. America is a scary place right now. This gives hope,” Sheeran said as he broke down in tears. “I hope you all have had fun.”
—With files from Global News’ Rachel Goodman and The Associated Press
