Two gigs at the Gillette Stadium near Boston have been cancelled and concertgoers refunded after a large storm approached the area and an official warning was issued.
Ed Sheeran’s two gigs at the Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, USA, have been called off. The concerts, due to take place this evening and Saturday at the home of Robert Kraft’s New England Patriots, have been axed due to “severe weather warnings”.
The touring company behind Sheeran’s tour, which has seen all support acts withdraw after Macklemore was removed as a warm-up act for comments he made about Gaza, said the decision had been made in the interests of the safety of fans and staff.
A statement from Messina Touring, who are organising Sheeran’s Loop Tour, read: “Due to the severe weather warnings in place in Boston and across New England throughout the weekend and following consultation with local officials, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Ed Sheeran concerts at Gillette Stadium.
“The decision was made with the safety of fans, staff and everyone involved in the shows as the top priority. Refunds are available now at the point of purchase. Ticketholders who purchased through Ticketmaster will be automatically refunded.”
Billionaire businessman Robert Kraft, 85, whose Kraft Group owns the Gillette Stadium, was among the people who contacted Sheeran and told him they would not be able to play the venue unless Macklemore was removed from the tour.
It comes after Sheeran played his first gig since the row last Saturday, with a new backing band, where he said he had questioned whether he “wanted to be an artist at all” after the furore.
Speaking onstage, he said: “I didn’t know if I would have things thrown at me, I didn’t know if people would be angry with me.
“So today I apologise that today is not the usual Loop show, I took the b-stage [the part that’s closer to the audience] out because I was afraid of what might happen if I stood in the middle, and I will admit that.”
He added: ““What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, children’s lives.”
On Thursday, American rapper Macklemore, 43, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, announced a European tour. Named Free Palestine, it will see him perform shows in London, Paris and Dublin.
He said, announcing the tour: “It’s 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn’t work anymore. People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community.
“To use the stage for more than entertainment. To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it.”
Irish singer Aaron Rowe, Grammy award-winning musician Finneas and Danish singer Lukas Graham, as well as Sheeran’s backing band Beoga, all dropped out of the remaining dates following Macklemore’s removal.
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