Macklemore Opens Free Palestine Tour in Dublin With Hozier, Kneecap on Oct. 26

Macklemore opened his Free Palestine Tour on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, at a sold-out 3Arena in Dublin, with Hozier, Kneecap and Beoga joining him onstage, The Business Standard reported, citing the BBC. The three-city run exists because he got pulled off Ed Sheeran's U.S. Loop Tour in September. Next up: Paris on Thursday, Oct. 29, and London on Friday, Oct. 30, where 50 members of the House of Lords want him kept out of the country.

What we know

• Dublin was the opener. Macklemore played the sold-out 3Arena to a crowd of up to 13,000, according to The Business Standard's BBC-sourced report. CMU confirmed on Oct. 26 that the run was starting in Dublin that day.
• The guests had receipts. Hozier, Kneecap and folk band Beoga performed. Beoga had also played Sheeran's tour, per The Business Standard.
• The money goes to Palestinian causes. Macklemore has said proceeds will go to organizations supporting Palestinians.
• Two dates left. Paris on Thursday, then London on Friday. CMU puts the London show at Wembley.
• The Lords want him blocked. Fifty members of the House of Lords urged Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to stop Macklemore from entering the UK, CMU reported, citing the Telegraph. Their objection centers on the Palestinian Youth Movement, one of the groups set to get a share of the profits.

How he got here

The fallout started at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 4, 2026. Opening for Sheeran, Macklemore told the crowd that saying "Free Palestine" in stadiums was one of his reasons for joining the tour, according to ABC News.

He announced on Sept. 14 that he'd been dropped. He alleged Sheeran told him New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium, rallied other venue owners and threatened to block the shows. Kraft told ABC News he decided Macklemore shouldn't play the Sept. 25 and 26 Gillette concerts, citing what he called a history of antisemitic rhetoric. Kraft didn't specify which statements he meant.

Messina Touring Group, the U.S. promoter, told ABC that venues would not allow the concerts with Macklemore on the bill and that keeping him would have meant canceling the tour. Sheeran said the call was his promoter's.

Then the bill fell apart. Aaron Rowe, Finneas, Beoga and Lukas Graham all said they were leaving the tour, per ABC News. On Sept. 19, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Sheeran opened his show by apologizing to fans and admitting he'd made mistakes.

Macklemore announced the Free Palestine Tour on Sept. 24. "This is a moment of momentum, and there is work to be done," he wrote on social media.

Context

Macklemore's stance isn't new. On the Sheeran tour he also performed a song dedicated to pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, The Business Standard noted. Since the firing, he has turned the controversy into a sold-out arena show with Irish heavyweights on the bill, in a city where crowds showed up in keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian and Irish flags.

For Sheeran, the last six weeks have been rough. He lost his opener and most of his support acts within days, then apologized to a stadium crowd. Now Beoga, one of the acts that quit his tour, is playing his former opener's benefit shows.

What's unconfirmed

• Whether London happens. The Lords' letter is a request. The sources we opened don't report any response from Mahmood or the Home Office.
• Exact lineups for Paris and London. Guests for the remaining shows weren't listed in the reports we checked.
• A reported Sheeran band link. One outlet's headline says members of Sheeran's backing band played Dublin. We couldn't open that report, so we're not counting it as confirmed.

Who should Macklemore bring out at Wembley on Oct. 30? Drop your pick.