Macklemore dedicated his “Free Palestine” tour date to “love and liberation” as he kicked off the three-show trek in Dublin, Ireland, just over a month after he was dropped as an opener for Ed Sheeran following a political speech on stage.
After bringing out Hozier and Kneecap as surprise guests, Macklemore took a moment to share what the evening meant to him in the wake of the controversy. “Six weeks ago, it was two words. Two words is all that it took. Two words that are rooted in love and liberation,” he said. “Not against anybody, not divisive. Not a call for hatred. But a call to recognize our shared humanity. Free Palestine. I said free Palestine! The same thing that I want for all of us, freedom, dignity, the right to exist without fear. Being able to raise our children in the homes that we grew up in, not having to prove our humanity to the rest of the world.
“And yet,” he continued, “those words, those two words, right, those two words are so threatening to some people. They would rather silence those two words than confront what they actually mean. Because freedom that requires another person’s oppression is not freedom at all. I said freedom that requires another person’s oppression is not freedom at all. And while the world debates those words, we see the videos, we see the footage, we see parents pulling their children out of the rubble. Families erased. Devastation beyond our imagination. And somehow, those words have become more controversial than the suffering that made them necessary. That’s why we are here tonight. That is why we are here, because throughout history, music has given people a place to resist, to come together as a collective, to share our grief, to share our stories, to move from the heart, to mobilize people with the frequency of love. The heartbeat in our drum that makes us feel alive, that makes us feel connected.”
The Dublin concert is the first of a three-show stint that will see the “Thrift Shop” rapper also perform in Paris and London alongside special guests, with all proceeds going to charities supporting Palestine. Macklemore also donated his $1 million salary from Sheeran’s tour to the cause.
On Sept. 14, Macklemore was dropped from the remainder of Sheeran’s U.S. “Loop” tour after he said “free Palestine” on stage and gave political speeches over two concerts at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sept. 4 and 5. “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: ‘Free Palestine.’ I said, ‘Free Palestine!’” Macklemore said at the Sept. 4 show. “I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.”
The speech went viral, sparking backlash from pop star Pink and a petition from the Israeli American Council calling for Macklemore to be removed from Sheeran’s tour. “This was an Ed Sheeran concert — not a political rally, not a protest and not an activist event,” they said. “The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The question is where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.”
On Sept. 5, he once again said “free Palestine” but also added that his declaration was “in no way a criticism” of Jewish people. A week later, he was dropped from the tour. At the time, Messina Touring Group — the promoter behind Sheeran’s U.S. tour — said they had been “notified by venues” that “they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”
In solidarity with Macklemore, Sheeran’s other opening acts — including Finneas, Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe — as well as most of his backing band dropped out of the tour.
Macklemore then claimed that Robert Kraft, owner of the Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, refused to let him play at the venue and urged other stadium owners to do the same. Kraft responded by announcing that both he and Sheeran would be donating $2 million to “aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.” Sheeran also posted a lengthy statement saying that the decision to drop Macklemore was the promoter’s, not his, and explaining why he chooses not to speak out on political issues, which generated further backlash against him.
“Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care. Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own, personal way,” Sheeran wrote. “There is a reason I do not use my professional platform for politics — my audience includes young people, often children, of all backgrounds. Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum. I respect Macklemore’s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes. However, there is room for multiple approaches to the same end: peace. I choose to use my fame and platform to be a place of safety and sanctuary, to maintain diplomacy and keep conversations open, not closed. If we only focus on shouting the loudest, nothing will ever change. There are different approaches to being an advocate for change.”
But at his first show since Macklemore was dropped, on Sept. 19 in Philadelphia, Sheeran changed his tune and did speak up about the Israel-Gaza war. “What happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable, and disproportionate,” he said. “Our hearts can be broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, children’s lives and the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”
Macklemore, who performed a one-off show on October 22 at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, continues his “Free Palestine” tour in Paris on Thursday and in London on Friday.
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