Macklemore remains firm in his commitment to the Palestinian cause amid Israel’s deadly war in Gaza. The “Same Love” and “Hind’s Hall” artist, after a recent $1-million donation to pro-Palestinian charities and years of public advocacy, now has a tour to prove it.
The Grammy winner, formerly of the “Thrift Shop” rap duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, announced the Free Palestine tour on Thursday, revealing a trio of concerts set to take place in late October in Dublin, Paris and London. Though the tour poster does not disclose the acts joining him for the trio of shows, Macklemore said those artists — “who have shown up and used their stages to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people” — will be revealed at a later date.
He also confirmed that dates for U.S. tour stops will come in a later announcement and that the entirety of proceeds from the shows will go to a handful of charities “supporting Palestine and the Palestinian movement.”
The pink tour poster featured illustrations of doves carrying olive branches and symbols of the pro-Palestinian movement including a watermelon and the fishnet motif of keffiyeh fabric. In his Instagram caption, Macklemore referenced his dismissal from pop star Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour over his pro-Palestinian messaging and the ensuing fallout.
“If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that something has shifted over the last three years,” the rapper wrote on Instagram. “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.”
In the span of less than two weeks, Sheeran’s Loop tour became an unexpected lightning rod for controversy and conversation about artist activism after Macklemore, a former opening act, called for Palestinian liberation during a set of performances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month.
Footage of Macklemore’s MetLife performance spread online, drawing criticism from some Jewish advocacy groups including StopAntisemitism, the Israeli American Council and the Anti-Defamation League. Sheeran also faced mounting pressure from wealthy venue owners, including billionaire Robert Kraft, to remove Macklemore from his tour.
Within days, the promoter for Sheeran’s tour dismissed Macklemore from the shows. Sheeran denied having a role in booting Macklemore from his tour — though the rapper shared a different account.
In the wake of Macklemore’s dismissal, the remaining supporting acts for Sheeran’s tour, including Grammy winner Finneas and folk band Beoga (Sheeran’s backing band), pulled the plug on their future appearances on the Loop tour in solidarity. Still, Sheeran carried on with his tour over the weekend, addressing the controversy and expressing a middling stance on Israel’s war in Gaza.
Macklemore in his Instagram caption again accused Israel of genocide and said that “being apolitical” in wake of it “doesn’t work anymore.” The rapper, who said last week that his support for Palestinians has come at a professional cost, said fans are expecting more from the artists they support nowadays.
“People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community. To use the stage for more than entertainment,” he said. “To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it.”
As Macklemore looked back on the past weeks’ events, he underlined his concern over billionaires choosing “which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear.”
“Everyone should be paying attention,” he said.
Macklemore kicks off his Free Palestine tour in Dublin on Oct. 26.
