Macklemore Launches Free Palestine Tour in Dublin — SkimNews
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- Free Palestine Tour opened with a sold-out Dublin show on Oct. 26, featuring Hozier, Kneecap and Beoga after the lineup was kept under wraps; Paris and London follow on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.
- Ed Sheeran said Macklemore’s removal from the Loop Tour came down to venue owners and promoters, including the Kraft Group’s Robert Kraft, after Macklemore backed Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and called for a “free Palestine.”
- Beoga backed Macklemore by dropping out of the remaining U.S. Loop tour, then appeared at the Dublin charity show with Hozier and Kneecap.
- Macklemore said he spent the prior week contacting artists willing to use their stages in solidarity with Palestinians “regardless of the consequences,” arguing that platforms mean little if used only when it is safe.
- Kneecap, whose Coachella livestream was cut short without notice after projections calling out Israel, declared, “They can never silence the truth.”
- Hozier invoked Ireland’s history of “global solidarity” and anti-racism in Dublin, after calling at Governors Ball in 2025 for a permanent ceasefire and a Palestine free from occupation.
- Medical Aid for Palestinians is among seven named organizations the tour’s proceeds will benefit, alongside Palestinian Youth Movement, Heal Palestine, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Jewish Voices for Peace and UNRWA USA National Committee.
Why it matters: Seven named advocacy and aid organizations stand to receive proceeds from the sold-out tour, which moves from Dublin to Paris on Oct. 29 and London on Oct. 30. For Macklemore and the participating artists, a dispute over one removed opener has become a concrete, three-city fundraising effort for Palestinian solidarity.
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