Background and career
Benjamin Hammond Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore ( MAK-lə-mor; formerly Professor Macklemore), is an American rapper. A native of Seattle, Washington, he started his career in 2000 as an independent artist releasing Open Your Eyes (2000), The Language of My World (2005), and The Unplanned Mixtape (2009). He rose to international success collaborating with producer Ryan Lewis as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (2009–2016). Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's 2012 single "Thrift Shop" (featuring Wanz) became the first self-released song to top the Billboard Hot 100 in 11 years. Their second single, "Can't Hold Us" (featuring Ray Dalton), also peaked on chart, making Macklemore and Lewis the first duo in the chart's history to have their first two singles both reach the peak position. Their debut studio album The Heist (2012) peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The duo entered into a slightly unusual three-month, one-album contract with Warner Bros.'s independent distribution arm ADA, which allowed them to retain control over their intellectual property and maintain their "artistic integrity". At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, the duo won Best New Artist, Best Rap Album (The Heist), Best Rap Song ("Same Love") and Best Rap Performance ("Thrift Shop"). The duo's second album, This Unruly Mess I've Made (2016), followed thereafter. In June 2017, Macklemore released the single "Glorious" (featuring Skylar Grey), which marked his return to the music industry as well as his first major single produced without Lewis since his mainstream breakthrough. Macklemore released his second solo studio album, Gemini, in September of that year, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard 200. On March 3, 2023, he released his third album Ben, which peaked at number 18.
Benjamin Hammond Haggerty was born on June 19, 1983, in Seattle, Washington, one of two sons born to Bill Haggerty and Julie Schott. He was raised with his brother Tim in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. He has Irish heritage and was raised Catholic. Haggerty was six years old when hip-hop first came into his life by way of Digital Underground. At age fifteen, he began to write lyrics. At the time he started to sing, Haggerty listened to "a lot of East Coast underground hip hop", listing Hieroglyphics, Freestyle Fellowship, Aceyalone, Living Legends, Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, Nas, and Talib Kweli as his major influences. Haggerty attended Garfield High School and Nathan Hale High School. At Hale, he developed the stage name "Professor Macklemore" for an art project involving a made-up superhero, and at Garfield, he started a hip-hop group named Elevated Elements with other students. The group released an album, Progress, in 2000. Haggerty enrolled at the College of Santa Fe for a year, later saying in an interview that "[i]t was a very pivotal time in a lot of ways. Santa Fe was the place where I got good at rapping". After not getting into the music program, he moved back to Seattle. Haggerty later enrolled at Evergreen State College in Olympia and completed his bachelor's degree in 2009. While at Evergreen, he was interested in reaching a younger generation through his music. He became part of a program focusing on education and cultural identity called "Gateways for Incarcerated Youth", where he facilitated music workshops.
In 2000, Haggerty recorded a mixtape titled Open Your Eyes under the name Professor Macklemore, which he distributed himself and released on October 21, 2000. Haggerty dropped "Professor" from his name and began working on his first official full-length album, called The Language of My World. The album was released on January 1, 2005, with its lead single, "Love Song", being announced the same day. "Love Song" featured singer Evan Roman, and was produced by Budo, who would later go on to produce several more tracks for Macklemore. In 2006, Haggerty first met his future collaborator Ryan Lewis. Lewis, who would go on to release two albums with Haggerty as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, spent a few years working on Macklemore's promotion as a photographer. The two musicians would soon become good friends but would not formalize their collaborative efforts until 2009. In the meantime, Macklemore kept busy as a solo artist, appearing on The Physics's song "Good" in 2009, as well as performing at the Seattle major arts and music festival Bumbershoot in 2006, 2009, and 2011. Macklemore's second mixtape, The Unplanned Mixtape, was released on September 7, 2009, reaching No. 7 on the iTunes Hip Hop chart. The mixtape was accompanied by the singles "The Town" and "And We Danced", the latter of which featured singer Ziggy Stardust. "The Town" was later remixed by Sabzi of the Blue Scholars.
In 2009, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis formalized their collaboration as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. They released the EP The VS. EP. They also released "Irish Celebration" in December 2009 in anticipation of the release of The Vs. EP. In March 2010, the duo released "Stay At Home Dad", a track that "didn't quite make" Vs. In October 2010, they created the VS. Redux EP. Macklemore used his experience with substance abuse to create the mixtape's song "Otherside", which samples the Red Hot Chili Peppers song of the same title. On April 8, 2011, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis performed the song at the 2011 Mariners Opening Day in front of a sold-out crowd of nearly 48,000 attendees. "Wings" was released on January 21, 2011, followed by "Can't Hold Us" (featuring Ray Dalton) on August 16, 2011. In February 2011, Macklemore and Lewis kicked off a multi-city tour in Seattle, which included three sold-out shows at the Showbox at the Market music venue. That same year, the rapper appeared at many U.S. music festivals, including Bumbershoot, Outside Lands, Lollapalooza, Rock the Bells, Soundset, Sasquatch, and Bonnaroo.
Their album The Heist was released in October 2012 and debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 2 of the week dated October 27, 2012, selling over 78,000 copies. "Same Love" was released on July 18, 2012, and later "White Walls". In January 2013, Music Choice featured Macklemore in the brand new series "Primed", which focuses on emerging artists. In May 2013, Haggerty was featured on Clinton Sparks's single "Gold Rush", along with 2 Chainz and D.A. The Heist World Tour began in August 2012 to promote The Heist. In a private concert at the Experience Music Project museum in Seattle on May 16, 2014, Macklemore wore a costume featuring a wig, beard, and prosthetic hooked nose, which some said resembled a Jewish caricature, and accused him of antisemitism. Guests at the museum event had been asked to dress as their "favorite music icon or video character" — many who saw photos of him said that Macklemore's costume did not portray such an icon. The Stranger wrote that the nose Macklemore seemingly wore may have been a "Sheik/Fagin" nose. By May 20, the rapper had apologized and stated that his intention was to disguise himself, not to impersonate any 'type' of person. The Anti-Defamation League accepted Macklemore's apology, saying that they "take him at his word that he did not have any ill-intent" and believed that the issue was 'a tempest in a teapot' "over an unfortunate choice of wardrobe." B'nai B'rith International and Seth Rogen expressed doubt over the explanation provided by Macklemore. In January 2015, Macklemore announced via Twitter that his third studio album would be released sometime in the second half of that year. Despite this, the album was not released until February 26, 2016. On August 5, 2015, Macklemore released a song for free download titled "Growing Up (Sloane's Song)", which features Ed Sheeran. On August 27, 2015, he released a new song called "Downtown" which features Foxy Shazam vocalist Eric Nally, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Caz, which he performed at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards on August 30. On his first tour in two years, An Evening with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Macklemore announced that his new album was finished and ready for release. On January 15, 2016, Macklemore released a teaser video on his YouTube channel revealing the name of his third studio album, This Unruly Mess I've Made, and announcing that it was scheduled to be released on February 26, 2016. On January 22, 2016, the duo released "White Privilege II", the second single on This Unruly Mess I've Made. On February 26, 2016, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released the album This Unruly Mess I've Made. Also in 2016, Macklemore released two solo singles, "Drug Dealer" and "Wednesday Morning". "Drug Dealer" features Macklemore rapping about his previous addictions and is featured in a documentary that includes clips of Macklemore discussing drug abuse with President Barack Obama. "Wednesday Morning" was released after the 2016 U.S. Election and features Macklemore rapping about the political future of the country. The tracks were produced by Budo. On June 15, 2017, Macklemore announced via his official Instagram that the duo were on hiatus.
On June 15, 2017, Macklemore released "Glorious", featuring American singer Skylar Grey, as the lead single from Macklemore's second solo studio album Gemini. On July 26, 2017, Macklemore released "Marmalade", featuring American rapper Lil Yachty, as the second single from Macklemore's upcoming album. "Good Old Days", a collaboration with Kesha, was released as a single on October 9, 2017. Macklemore released Gemini on September 22. The album was produced by longtime collaborator Budo. On October 1, Macklemore performed "Same Love" in a set at the opening of the Grand Final of the National Rugby League in Sydney, Australia — something that was considered by some to be controversial in the middle of a national survey on same sex marriage. Macklemore stated that it was one of his best performances due to the circumstances and thanked the fans in Sydney for the reception that he received throughout. On December 11, 2017, Macklemore announced an upcoming co-headlining tour with Kesha titled The Adventures of Kesha and Macklemore. This was Macklemore's fifth headlining tour, promoting his album Gemini and Kesha's sixth headlining tour, promoting her third solo album Rainbow (2017). The tour began in Phoenix on June 6, 2018, and concluded in Tampa on August 5, 2018. On October 29, 2021, Macklemore released a new single titled "Next Year", featuring American singer Windser. Macklemore also worked with Ryan Lewis on the single, marking their first collaboration in three years. On July 22, 2022, Macklemore released a new single, "Chant", with Australian musician Tones and I. On August 19, 2022, Macklemore released the single, "Maniac", featuring American musician Windser. The third single, "Faithful", featuring NLE Choppa, was released on October 28, 2022. The fourth single, "Heroes", featuring DJ Premier, was released on January 20, 2023. Macklemore's third solo studio album, Ben, was released on March 3, 2023. In May 2024, he released "Hind's Hall", a protest song in support of the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, with all proceeds donated towards UNRWA. In September 2026, Macklemore joined Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour as an opening act. On September 4, he performed "Hind's Hall" and delivered a two-minute speech calling for a free Palestine. His comments attracted backlash from pro-Israel groups and, on September 14, he was removed from the tour after concert venue owners organized a boycott against him. Following his removal from the tour, he announced the "Free Palestine Tour", with proceeds donated to organizations supporting Palestinians. The tour runs three shows in Dublin, Paris, and London in October 2026. Hozier, Kneecap, and Beoga performed alongside Macklemore at the Dublin show.
