Macklemore Concert Ticket Prices Jump After Ed Sheeran Tour Exit

Macklemore's removal from Ed Sheeran's tour sent his solo concert ticket prices soaring 45% in just three days.

When a popular musician suddenly leaves a big tour, it can shake up how much fans are willing to pay for tickets. That's exactly what's happening with rapper Macklemore.

Macklemore was removed from the rest of Ed Sheeran's "Loop" tour after making pro-Palestine comments on stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on September 4. He said stadium owners threatened to cancel shows unless he was dropped.

As a result, demand for his own solo concerts has spiked. Fans are rushing to buy tickets on the secondary market (resale market — where fans resell tickets to other fans, often at higher or lower prices than the original).

Here are the key numbers:

The "get-in price" (the cheapest available ticket) for Macklemore's October Red Rocks show in Colorado jumped 45% in just 3 days — from $108 to $157.
Macklemore said he will donate his $1 million in tour earnings to Palestinian aid organizations.
Ticket prices for Sheeran's remaining shows fell at 9 out of 10 venues.

But experts caution against reading too much into Sheeran's falling prices. Keith Pagello, founder of tracking company TicketData, explained that ticket prices usually drop as the concert date gets closer — it's normal. In fact, Sheeran's North American shows this summer saw prices fall an average of 22% in the final two weeks before each event.

What's more interesting is the rise in resale volume — meaning more tickets are changing hands than usual. It's unclear whether this is due to fans opposing Sheeran, supporting him, or other reasons.

All of Sheeran's other opening acts — Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Beoga, and Lukas Graham — said they would also leave the tour in solidarity.

Sheeran responded on Instagram, saying the removal was the promoter's decision, not his, and that he prefers to keep politics off his stage since his audience includes children.

The bottom line: Big tours are massive businesses — Sheeran's last tour earned $875.7 million. Even a single controversy can cause noticeable shifts in what fans pay to attend a show.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/18/macklemore-ticket-prices-rise-amid-ed-sheeran-tour-fallout.html