Macklemore cancels UAE show over Sudan war

US rapper Macklemore has cancelled his upcoming concert in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates’ alleged role in the deadly conflict in Sudan.

The rapper (real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty) said people had for months been asking him to call off the concert at Coca-Cola Arena on 4 October in solidarity with the Sudanese people “and to boycott doing business in the UAE for the role they are playing in the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis in the region”.

The rapper cited the UAE’s reported support for the Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been battling the Sudanese army.

“I know that this will probably jeopardise my future shows in the area, and I truly hate letting any of my fans down. I was really excited too. But until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF I will not perform there.”

He added: “I have no judgment against other artists performing in the UAE. But I do ask the question to my peers scheduled to play in Dubai: If we used our platforms to mobilise collective liberation, what could we accomplish?”

“If we used our platforms to mobilize collective liberation, what could we accomplish?”

Since the war began in April last year, thousands of people have been killed and 10 million forced to flee their homes. The war has sparked the country’s worst hunger levels on record, external, according to the UN-accredited Integrated food security Phase Classification (IPC).

Macklemore is the latest artist to cancel a performance for reasons related to an ongoing war. Earlier this month, Fontaines D.C. cancelled their upcoming concert at Zorlu PSM in Turkey in solidarity with Palestinian people.

That came after Barclays suspended its sponsorship of Live Nation UK’s remaining 2024 festivals following a raft of artist withdrawals over the bank’s ties to Israel, and South By Southwest (SXSW) discontinued its partnership with the US Army and the defense contractor RTX Corporation after more than 80 artists pulled out of this year’s event in Austin, Texas, in protest of the military’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, other artists such as Imagine Dragons have been forced to defend performances in countries involved in conflicts, while a slate of artists and DJs have quietly returned to playing gigs in Russia despite the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Read more about how the live music industry is grappling with artist boycotts here.

 

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