{"id":626360,"date":"2026-09-16T11:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/626360\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T11:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T11:16:09","slug":"irish-musicians-quit-ed-sheeran-tour-after-macklemore-removed-over-gaza-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/626360\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish musicians quit Ed Sheeran tour after Macklemore removed over Gaza comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga have pulled out of Ed Sheeran<\/a>\u2019s world tour, while two other acts have also withdrawn following the removal of rapper Macklemore<\/a> over comments he made about Gaza.<\/p>\n

Rowe, Beoga, Finneas, who is Billie Eilish\u2019s brother, and Lukas Graham posted on social media that they had withdrawn from Sheeran\u2019s Loop Tour.<\/p>\n

Their decision to quit came after Macklemore was removed from the remaining dates of the tour following comments he made about Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During a show at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last week, the American artist said he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten.<\/p>\n

This led to a petition demanding he be removed from the remaining dates.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Macklemore posted on Instagram confirming that Sheeran and his team had \u201cmade the decision to remove\u201d him from the Loop Tour.<\/p>\n

\"ThreeThree opening acts and Ed Sheeran\u2019s own backing band have pulled out of his world tour after rapper Macklemore (pictured) was removed from remaining dates over comments he made about Gaza.Picture: Larry Cummins\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a response on the social media platform on Tuesday, Sheeran said his departure from the tour was the promoter\u2019s decision and not his.<\/p>\n

He said promoters for \u201cupcoming tour dates had communicated that they would pull the shows if he was still supporting\u201d, and added Robert Kraft, owner of the Gillette Stadium where he was due to play, was among them.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t have them, and it doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

\u201cNor does it mean I don\u2019t support causes in my own personal way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Shape Of You singer said he was \u201cappalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine\u201d, and added he respected Macklemore \u201cas an artist\u201d.<\/p>\n

Irish acts explain tour departures<\/p>\n

Rowe said on Instagram he did not take the decision to quit the tour \u201clightly\u201d, adding Sheeran \u201chas been a friend to me and has changed my life\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rowe said: \u201cI cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide and who highlight the savage murder of children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would lose all respect for myself to carry on as normal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to be true to myself and my ancestors who resisted colonisation, and fought for a freedom that I enjoy today in Ireland.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In their post, Beoga said: \u201cWe have made the decision to depart as Ed Sheeran\u2019s band on the remaining US Loop tour, following the silencing of Macklemore by zionist lobbies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The band added: \u201cAs musicians, playing to those crowds every night is the stuff of dreams but to play in venues that silence anyone advocating for a Free Palestine is simply not an option for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finneas said: \u201cArtists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Macklemore commented on each of the posts with a love heart emoji and the Palestinian flag.<\/p>\n

Sheeran\u2019s next performance is scheduled for September 19 at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where Graham and Rowe were planned to open for him.<\/p>\n

He has 17 dates still left on the tour across North and South America, with the final show scheduled for December 11 in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

Sheeran and Macklemore\u2019s representatives were contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga have pulled out of Ed Sheeran\u2019s world tour, while two other acts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4712,8720,93,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-626360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-israel-palestine","tag-ed-sheeran","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}