Macklemore kicked off his Free Palestine Tour in Dublin, Ireland on Monday following a controversy with Ed Sheeran.
The “Thrift Shop” rapper played a sold-out show at the city’s 3Arena, with special performances from Irish singer-songwriter Hozier, Irish rap trio Kneecap, folk band Beoga and Palestinian singer Lina Makoul.
Mark Ruffalo also made a surprise appearance in the video, telling a crowd of nearly 13,000 people to “keep fighting for a free Palestine and for humanity around the world.”
Ahead of the hour-long show, McLemore, 43, recalled how he was dropped from Sheeran’s Tour last month for making pro-Palestinian comments.
“Six weeks ago, there were only two words. Two words were enough. Two words rooted in love and liberation,” McLemore said. “Not against anyone, not divisive. Not a call for hatred. But a call for recognition of our common humanity.
“Free Palestine. I say, Free Palestine!” he continued. “I wish we could all have the same thing, the right to live in freedom, dignity, without fear. To be able to raise our children in the homes where we grew up without having to prove our humanity to the rest of the world.”
The four-time Grammy winner explained that the slogan “Free Palestine” is “so threatening to some people” that they “would rather silence the words than face what they actually mean.”
Macklemore said his goal with his three-date tour is for his music to “give people a place of resistance, to come together as a collective, to share our grief, to share our stories, to be moved from the heart, to mobilize people with the frequency of love.”
“It’s been a crazy six weeks,” he also noted. “We went on the shortest tour we’ve ever had, two nights at MetLife Stadium, and then we turned it into something right here.”
Four days before the Dublin concert, Macklemore solidified his views while performing at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado.
“It’s not complicated to be a human being at this moment,” he told Billboard. “This has nothing to do with politics. It’s human nature to have a heart and watch others suffer and say, ‘Not anymore!’ So I say, Free Palestine. I say, Free Palestine!”
Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” tour will continue in Paris on October 29th and in London on October 30th.
The rapper confirmed last month that “all proceeds will benefit organizations supporting the Palestinian people and movement.”
Macklemore lost his spot on Sheeran’s tour after making remarks about Palestine and the people of Gaza during a show at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on September 5 and 6.
Sheeran’s other tour openers, including Finneas, Lucas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga, all pulled out of the Tour in solidarity with McLemore.
McLemore claims Sheeran, 35, was pressured by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to pull him off the tour because of his political stance.
Sheeran later addressed the situation in a statement on Instagram, claiming that McLemore’s cancellation from the tour was “the promoter’s decision” and not his own, as his contract was “with the promoter” and not Sheeran.
The “Perfect” singer also insisted he was trying to “build a bridge” between the two sides, but ultimately the issue came down to “the way Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance.”
Sheeran subsequently lost nearly half a million followers on Instagram and claimed he lost family and close friends over the controversy.