Macklemore says all three shows of his newly announced tour to raise funds for organizations supporting Palestinians “sold out immediately.”
This comes less than a week after the four-time Grammy winner announced the October dates in Dublin, Paris and London, calling it the Free Palestine tour.
Macklemore hasn’t revealed who will be taking the stage with him yet. The initial post announcing the tour says the shows will feature the rapper “and friends.” He said Wednesday that the lineups are “coming soon.”
The rapper announced the three-show European run last week after being removed as an opener for the U.S. leg of English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran’s tour.
“I’m honestly blown away,” Macklemore wrote on Instagram on Wednesday. “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.”
CBC News reached out to representatives for Macklemore about whether he’d be bringing shows to Canada, but has not heard back.
“Dublin, Paris and London, thank you for showing up the way you did,” he added.
According to a press release from Live Nation, the shows will benefit several Palestinian aid organizations, including Gaza Soup Kitchen, Palestinian Youth Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace and UNRWA USA, the American committee of the UN agency dedicated to Palestinian refugees.
What led to this?
Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran’s tour after the owners of several American venues threatened to cancel Sheeran’s shows if the rapper continued as his opening act, according to a statement from Messina Touring Group, the promoter of the U.S. leg of the tour, to Rolling Stone magazine.
Sheeran later put out a statement and said that one of the people threatening to cancel was Robert Kraft, chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group, which owns Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., and several professional sports teams.
Macklemore has openly expressed pro-Palestinian views for years and has made similar remarks on different stages in the past.
Fans remain divided after Ed Sheeran’s apology at his first show since Macklemore was dropped as an opening act from the tour over his ‘Free Palestine’ comments.
After Sheeran’s statement, all other openers dropped out of his tour, including his backing band.
On stage in Philadelphia on Sept. 19 — the first show following the controversy —Sheeran addressed the situation, saying he “never wanted to be an activist musician.”
The shows at Gillette Stadium were ultimately cancelled due to severe weather.
