Macklemore has announced the Free Palestine Tour, a run of European arena dates with all proceeds going to twelve organizations supporting Palestinians. The announcement follows his removal from Ed Sheeran's tour after the rapper publicly called out what he describes as the systemic persecution and murder of Palestinians.

The tour opens on October 25 at Dublin's 3Arena, continues to the Accor Arena in Paris on October 29, and closes at London's OVO Arena Wembley on October 30. Tickets go on sale next Wednesday at 10am local time, with a presale starting Monday at 10am local time. Fans can register for first access at macklemore.com.

"As you all know, my schedule freed up a bit," Macklemore wrote in a statement that dripped with the irony of his circumstances. He framed the tour as a response to what he sees as a shifting climate around artists and political speech.

"If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it's that something has shifted over the last three years," he wrote. "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 rapper was direct about the stakes as he sees them. "It's 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn't work anymore," his statement continues. "People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community. To use the stage for more than entertainment. To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it."

Macklemore cast his removal from the Sheeran tour as part of a broader pattern. "What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage," he wrote. "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."

The beneficiary list spans humanitarian relief and advocacy organizations: Anera, Glia, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Taawon, HEAL Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Middle East Children's Alliance, Jewish Voice for Peace, Medical Aid for Palestinians, Institute for Middle East Understanding, Palestine Children's Relief Fund and UNRWA USA.

Support acts remain unannounced. Macklemore said he has spent the past week contacting artists "who have shown up and used their stages to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences" — performers "who understand that our platforms mean very little if we're only willing to use them when it's safe."

Because the tour came together quickly, according to the rapper, many conversations, schedules and details are still being worked out. Additional US dates will be announced later, alongside the lineup of joining artists. With three arena shows on sale within weeks and a charity roster already locked, the tour tests whether an artist dropped from a major pop bill can convert controversy into independent commercial and political momentum.