Macklemore dedicated his “Free Palestine” tour to “love and liberation,” just over a month after he was dropped as an opener for Ed Sheeran following a political speech onstage: “Six weeks ago, it was two words. Two words is all that it took. Two words that are rooted in love and liberation. Not against anybody, not divisive. Not a call for hatred. But a call to recognize our shared humanity. Free Palestine. I said free Palestine! The same thing that I want for all of us, freedom, dignity, the right to exist without fear. Being able to raise our children in the homes that we grew up in, not having to prove our humanity to the rest of the world." “And yet,” he continued, “those words, those two words, right, those two words are so threatening to some people. They would rather silence those two words than confront what they actually mean. Because freedom that requires another person’s oppression is not freedom at all. I said freedom that requires another person’s oppression is not freedom at all. And while the world debates those words, we see the videos, we see the footage, we see parents pulling their children out of the rubble. Families erased. Devastation beyond our imagination. And somehow, those words have become more controversial than the suffering that made them necessary. That’s why we are here tonight. That is why we are here, because throughout history, music has given people a place to resist, to come together as a collective, to share our grief, to share our stories, to move from the heart, to mobilize people with the frequency of love. The heartbeat in our drum that makes us feel alive, that makes us feel connected.” variety.com/2026/music/globa…

Hozier called on the Irish government to approve visa applications for students in Gaza during a surprise appearance at the first show of Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” tour: “55 students in Gaza who are awaiting for their visas to be approved for scholarship places they earned and are waiting for them here in Ireland. And the government has no approved their visa applications… It’s baffling why it hasn’t been solved yet, but if you want to sign a petition, there it is behind me on the screen.”