Ed Sheeran’s Weekend Concerts Canceled as Major Storm Hits New England
Ed Sheeran’s weekend plans have been thrown off by severe weather.
The English pop star’s scheduled concerts at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Friday and Saturday have been canceled as a powerful nor’easter moves toward New England. Fans will receive refunds for the canceled shows.
Concert promoter Messina Touring announced the decision Friday, citing severe weather warnings across Boston and the surrounding region.
The company said the cancellation was made after consulting with local officials, with the safety of fans, staff and everyone involved in the concerts taking priority.
The storm is expected to bring strong winds, heavy rain and coastal flooding across parts of the East Coast. Forecasters warned that wind gusts could reach 60 to 65 mph in Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, while the Boston area could see gusts of around 50 to 55 mph.
The cancellations add another unexpected setback to Sheeran’s ongoing Loop Tour.
Earlier in the tour, rapper Macklemore was removed from the lineup following pro-Palestinian comments he made during a September 5 concert in New Jersey. Several supporting acts subsequently withdrew in solidarity.
Sheeran later addressed the controversy during a concert in Philadelphia, saying he wanted his shows and music to focus on unity and humanity rather than politics. He also condemned the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel and described the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic and unjustifiable.”
The decision to remove Macklemore was reportedly pushed by Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium. Kraft said the decision followed Macklemore’s recent remarks as well as what he described as a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery.
Sheeran has maintained that he was not responsible for removing Macklemore from the tour and instead pointed to the concert promoter.
Macklemore later announced that he planned to donate $1 million toward Palestinian relief efforts and challenged Kraft to match the contribution. A spokesperson for Kraft subsequently said that both Kraft and Sheeran had agreed to donate $2 million, although details about where the money would ultimately go had not been announced.
Despite the recent disruptions, Sheeran remains one of the world’s biggest touring artists. Pollstar ranked the Grammy-winning “Shape of You” singer as the third-highest-earning concert act of the millennium as of last year.
For now, however, his New England performances will have to wait as the region prepares for a potentially powerful weekend storm.