Ed Sheeran<\/a> has explained himself over the Macklemore stance. He thinks it’s only made things worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\nDamon performed at the Together for Palestine benefit concert in London in 2025, organised by Brian Eno. <\/p>\n
\nHe played Palestinian traditional music with the London Arab Orchestra and Juzour Dance Collective before Gorillaz played Damascus, which subsequently appeared on their album The Mountain.<\/p>\n
\nThe Orlando concert marked the opening date of Gorillaz\u2019s latest North American tour and featured a 24-song set drawing on albums including Demon Days, Plastic Beach, Humanz and The Mountain.<\/p>\n
\nDamon first rose to prominence with Blur, whose defining songs include Parklife, Girls and Boys, Song 2 and The Universal. <\/p>\n
\nHe later formed Gorillaz with artist Jamie Hewlett, with the virtual band producing hits including Clint Eastwood, Feel Good Inc. and DARE.<\/p>\n
\nHis comments came during a turbulent week for Ed Sheeran, 35, whose Loop tour has faced withdrawals following Macklemore\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n
\nMacklemore said he was dropped after using his appearance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to voice support for Palestinians. <\/p>\n
\nThe rapper told the audience \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and spoke about Gaza and the West Bank.<\/p>\n
\nEd subsequently said venue operators had threatened to pull shows if Macklemore remained on the bill.<\/p>\n
\nIn a statement, Ed said: \u201cUpcoming tour dates had communicated that they would pull the shows if he was still supporting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe singer added: \u201cI am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe dispute subsequently widened when Finneas O\u2019Connell, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham and Irish group Beoga withdrew from scheduled Loop tour appearances. <\/p>\n
\nBeoga, who have previously worked extensively with Ed, also withdrew as his backing band.<\/p>\n
\nMacklemore has since said he will donate $1 million of his net earnings from his appearances on the tour to six organisations supporting Palestinians.<\/p>\n
\nEd was due to return to the stage at Philadelphia\u2019s Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday (19.09.26), with the scheduled start moved from 5.30pm to 8pm after the support acts withdrew. <\/p>\n
\nPro-Palestinian groups were also planning demonstrations outside the stadium.<\/p>\n
\nThe controversy comes during Ed\u2019s worldwide Loop tour, named after his 2025 album Play. <\/p>\n
\nThe Suffolk-raised singer remains one of Britain\u2019s most commercially successful musicians, with a catalogue including Shape of You, Perfect, Thinking Out Loud and The A Team.<\/p>\n
\nGorillaz, meanwhile, are continuing their North American dates behind The Mountain and have announced their first concerts in India for January 2027.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
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\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"20 September 2026 Damon Albarn has urged fans to \u201cnever be neutral\u201d as he held a Palestinian flag aloft during a Gorillaz concert, amid the growing row surrounding Ed Sheeran\u2019s Loop tour and the removal of Macklemore from its line-up. Damon Albarn has urged fans to \u201cnever be neutral\u201d as he held a Palestinian flag […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":264027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[16831,15542,3595,520,16854,14468,16830,523,11342],"class_list":{"0":"post-264026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","8":"tag-aaron-rowe","9":"tag-brian-eno","10":"tag-damon-albarn","11":"tag-ed-sheeran","12":"tag-finneas-oconnell","13":"tag-jamie-hewlett","14":"tag-lukas-graham","15":"tag-macklemore","16":"tag-robert-kraft"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}