Casablanca – American rap singer Macklemore has announced a new tour titled “Free Palestine,” shortly after his removal from Ed Sheeran’s “Loop” tour following a series of public statements supporting Palestinians. 

For now, the tour has three European dates on the calendar: Dublin on October 26, Paris on October 29, and London on October 30. More dates, including shows in the US, are expected to follow, while the artists joining Macklemore have yet to be announced. 

The concerts will also have a humanitarian purpose. Macklemore said all proceeds from the shows will benefit organizations supporting Palestinians, with the tour bringing together the rapper and other artists who have publicly expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people.

From the ‘Loop’ tour to ‘Free Palestine’

The announcement comes less than two weeks after Macklemore was removed from the remaining US dates of Ed Sheeran’s “Loop” tour.

Macklemore was one of the tour’s opening acts when he made pro-Palistinian remarks during a September 4 performance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, calling for Palestinian liberation and criticizing the treatment of Palestinians, prompting backlash from some jewish advocacy groups.

The American rapper later said he and Ed Sheeran had “some difficult conversations” before confirming that he had been dropped from the tour. Sheeran, meanwhile, said the decision came from the tour’s organizers and was not his own. 

The fallout did not stop there. Several other artists and acts connected to Sheeran’s US tour subsequently withdrew from upcoming shows, including Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe, and Beoga. 

Sheeran later addressed the controversy during his Philadelphia concert, describing the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic and unjustifiable” and apologizing for how the controversy had unfolded. 

A new chapter for Macklemore

In his announcement, Macklemore presented the new tour as a response to everything that happened over the past few weeks. 

“If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that something has shifted over the last three years,” he wrote, pointing to what he described as a growing public awareness around Palestinian liberation and the role of artists in speaking about it. 

He also argued that artists are now being asked to do more than simply entertain, writing that audiences expect them to “show up, educate themselves and be in community.”

For Macklemore, that means using the stage to speak about issues he considers important rather than remaining silent when those views could carry professional consequences. 

He also framed his removal from Sheeran’s tour as part of a broader conversation about who gets to speak on major stages. 

“What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage,” he added. “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 rapper also used the unexpected break in his schedule to reach out to other artists who have publicly supported Palestinians. 

He acknowledged that the tour came together quickly, meaning more details are still being finalized. That includes the additional artists who will join him and the US dates still to come. 

With three European dates now confirmed and more shows expected, Macklemore’s “Free Palestine Tour” will turn his recent controversy into a wider platform for artists and audiences to engage with the issue.