A friendship on the record

Macklemore and Ed Sheeran had been close for more than ten years. They cut "Growing Up" with Ryan Lewis in 2015, and played "Same Love" together at iHeartRadio the year before.

Night one at MetLife

On Sept. 4, 2026, Macklemore opened his first Loop Tour show in New Jersey, performed his protest track "Hind's Hall," and told the stadium exactly why he took the gig.

“A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine.”

Night two, a direct address

The next night he repeated the message and spoke straight to Jewish fans in the crowd, drawing a line between criticism of a government and criticism of a people.

“Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you.”

Dropped from the tour

Sheeran's camp cut Macklemore from the opening slot right after those shows. The bluntness of it is what made the split land so hard, given how long the two had been friends.

The numbers behind the words

At the time of the performance, Gaza's Health Ministry put the Palestinian death toll above 73,000. The UN has called Israel's actions genocidal; Israel and the U.S. deny it.

Sheeran's stage empties out

Openers Finneas and Lukas Graham both walked over the decision, leaving Sheeran with no support acts on the U.S. leg. Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft has weighed in too.