Macklemore Announces 'Free Palestine' Concerts After Tour Removal
Macklemore has announced 'Free Palestine,' a benefit concert series starting with three European dates in October, after being dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour.
Grammy Award-winning rapper Macklemore is returning to the stage with a new benefit concert series titled "Free Palestine," with all proceeds directed to Palestinian aid organizations.
The run will open with three European arena dates next month: Dublin's 3Arena on Oct. 26, Paris' Accor Arena on Oct. 29, and London's OVO Arena Wembley on Oct. 30. More artists and U.S. dates are expected to be announced. An artist presale opens at 10 a.m. local time on Monday via Macklemore.com.
A Live Nation press release lists the beneficiary organizations as Anera, Glia, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Taawon, HEAL Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Middle East Children's Alliance, Jewish Voice for Peace, Medical Aid for Palestinians, the Institute for Middle East Understanding, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, and UNRWA USA, a U.S. support body for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
In an Instagram post announcing the series, Macklemore wrote that recent weeks had shown "a collective awakening around Palestinian liberation, the power of billionaires that try to censor that call, and what we expect from artists right now." He added that 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 announcement follows Macklemore's removal as an opening act on Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour of North and South America, reportedly over pro-Palestinian remarks he made on stage. Sheeran said at the time that the decision came from the promoter rather than from him. Macklemore attributed his removal to an effort led by Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, whose Kraft Group also owns Gillette Stadium, where Sheeran is due to perform later this month.
Since the change, Sheeran's other supporting acts have also withdrawn, including a group that performs with him during part of the show. Macklemore has separately said he would donate $1 million of his net tour earnings to six organizations assisting Palestinians.