Macklemore’s Free Palestine Shows Sell Out as Sheeran Struggles
10/1/2026 10:18:21 AM
The rapper was embroiled in controversy after he was dropped from the British singer’s tour over his pro-Palestine comments.
Macklemore has said that tickets for his Free Palestine tour, announced in the wake of the Ed Sheeran concert fallout, have sold out immediately.
The rapper announced last week that he will be joined by other musicians, who will be announced at a later date, at three October concerts held at Dublin’s 3 Arena, Paris’s Accor Arena and London’s Wembley Arena. All proceeds from the shows will go to organizations supporting Palestinians.
“I’m honestly blown away,” Macklemore said in a statement announcing that the tour had sold out. “We put these shows together fast and in community, believing that musicians can stand in solidarity with Palestine, use the stage to raise funds and show what collective action can look like.”
“When those in power try to silence our calls for liberation, art will always be a form of resistance. Dublin, Paris and London, thank you for showing up the way you did. The response to these shows is another reminder of how many people across the world are standing together for a free Palestine,” he added.
Earlier this month, Macklemore announced he had been dropped from the U.S. dates of Sheeran’s Loop tour over his pro-Palestine comments onstage. He claimed that Robert Kraft — the CEO of Kraft Group who owns Gillette Stadium — personally called Sheeran to say he would not be allowed to perform at the venue.
Sheeran faced backlash from fans and commentators for his response when he stated that he would not be drawn into a public debate about the Gaza war and that it was “the promoter’s decision” to remove Macklemore. The fallout continued when Sheeran’s other opening acts withdrew, while protesters gathered outside his first concert without Macklemore last week.
While Macklemore responded to the situation by announcing a fundraising tour of his own, it seems that fans who have changed their mind about seeing Sheeran are struggling to sell their tickets, with resale prices sinking on various sites. At the time of writing, a single ticket for Sheeran's October 3 concert in Atlanta is being sold for $19.49 inclusive of fees on Ticketmaster. Hundreds of tickets are available.
The Independent has contacted Sheeran and Macklemore’s representatives for comment.
Even before the controversy, many of the dates on Sheeran’s Loop tour had failed to sell out, with hundreds of tickets still available at some of the large stadium shows.
According to Ticketdata, a website that monitors changes in pricing for resale tickets, resale prices for Sheeran’s forthcoming gigs have dropped dramatically, with some now below face value.
Sheeran addressed the fallout onstage at a concert at Lincoln Financial Field, and said he was “so sorry” for disappointing his fans.
He went on to clarify his own stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, saying, “What happened in Israel, and at the music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
Macklemore said while announcing his Free Palestine tour: “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.”
The “Thrift Shop” rapper 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.”
Macklemore has said that tickets for his Free Palestine tour, announced in the wake of the Ed Sheeran concert fallout, have sold out immediately.
The rapper announced last week that he will be joined by other musicians, who will be announced at a later date, at three October concerts held at Dublin’s 3 Arena, Paris’s Accor Arena and London’s Wembley Arena. All proceeds from the shows will go to organizations supporting Palestinians.
“I’m honestly blown away,” Macklemore said in a statement announcing that the tour had sold out. “We put these shows together fast and in community, believing that musicians can stand in solidarity with Palestine, use the stage to raise funds and show what collective action can look like.”
“When those in power try to silence our calls for liberation, art will always be a form of resistance. Dublin, Paris and London, thank you for showing up the way you did. The response to these shows is another reminder of how many people across the world are standing together for a free Palestine,” he added.
Earlier this month, Macklemore announced he had been dropped from the U.S. dates of Sheeran’s Loop tour over his pro-Palestine comments onstage. He claimed that Robert Kraft — the CEO of Kraft Group who owns Gillette Stadium — personally called Sheeran to say he would not be allowed to perform at the venue.
Sheeran faced backlash from fans and commentators for his response when he stated that he would not be drawn into a public debate about the Gaza war and that it was “the promoter’s decision” to remove Macklemore. The fallout continued when Sheeran’s other opening acts withdrew, while protesters gathered outside his first concert without Macklemore last week.
While Macklemore responded to the situation by announcing a fundraising tour of his own, it seems that fans who have changed their mind about seeing Sheeran are struggling to sell their tickets, with resale prices sinking on various sites. At the time of writing, a single ticket for Sheeran's October 3 concert in Atlanta is being sold for $19.49 inclusive of fees on Ticketmaster. Hundreds of tickets are available.
The Independent has contacted Sheeran and Macklemore’s representatives for comment.
Even before the controversy, many of the dates on Sheeran’s Loop tour had failed to sell out, with hundreds of tickets still available at some of the large stadium shows.
According to Ticketdata, a website that monitors changes in pricing for resale tickets, resale prices for Sheeran’s forthcoming gigs have dropped dramatically, with some now below face value.
Sheeran addressed the fallout onstage at a concert at Lincoln Financial Field, and said he was “so sorry” for disappointing his fans.
He went on to clarify his own stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, saying, “What happened in Israel, and at the music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
Macklemore said while announcing his Free Palestine tour: “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.”
The “Thrift Shop” rapper 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.”