Country singer Zach Bryan smashes record while wearing 'Free Palestine' shirt at Robert Kraft's Gillette Stadium after Ed Sheeran controversy

Zach Bryan set a new attendance record at Gillette Stadium during his Saturday show, drawing 73,538 fans to the venue donning a shirt that read 'Free Palestine,' weeks after a music industry controversy involving the venue's owner, Robert Kraft.

The venue on Saturday announced the news in an Instagram post, writing, 'Tonight, Zach Bryan broke the Gillette Stadium attendance record with 73,538 fans!' 

The 30-year-old country singer on Friday and Saturday performed back-to-back concerts at Kraft's stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts as part of his With Heaven On Tour shows.

The shows came weeks after the 85-year-old businessman banned Macklemore from playing there over pro-Palestine comments he made on Ed Sheeran's tour.

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Bryan and Kraft for further comment on the story.

The venue's announcement was accompanied by a series of four panoramic pictures from the show, which garnered the attention of Instagram users who suggested Gillette's account avoided close-up photos to minimize the political statement on Bryan's shirt.

One user said, 'Funny how the pictures are all from afar with no close up for us to see what he’s wearing... but hey the message got across a record number of people ... and he was amazing.'

Another added, 'no closeups... scared of some text on a shirt.'

Said one commenter: 'They’re carefully choosing pics so you can’t read the shirt... weird you don’t want a close up of his face / shirt.'

Following his onstage speech at MetLife Stadium last month, Macklemore shared on Instagram that Sheeran told him Kraft – who owns Gillette Stadium through his holding company, the Kraft Group – called him with an ultimatum. 

'Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues,' he wrote.

Friday night kicked off Bryan's With Heaven On Tour, with special guests Gregory Alan Isakov and Gabriella Rose. 

According to TMZ, members of Bryan's band were also wearing 'Free Palestine' shirts. 

After Macklemore spoke out about his removal from the remaining dates of Sheeran's Loop tour, the British musician released his own statement on Instagram, saying it wasn't his decision to ax Macklemore, but rather the promoter's.

'I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living,' the singer-songwriter said.

Sheeran said he has personal views on the 'devastating' Israel-Palestine conflict, but made the choice 'not to speak publicly.'

He subsequently faced criticism from other artists, including Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, who bashed him on social media for not taking a stand against the decision.

Billie Eilish's brother, Finneas, pulled out of scheduled appearances in Sheeran's tour dates, stating that 'artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed.'

Tour openers Aaron Rowe, the band Lukas Graham, plus Sheeran's longtime backing band Beoga followed suit – leaving the headliner to continue by himself.

In his first return to the stage after the fallout, Sheeran addressed the backlash. 

At his Philadelphia concert on September 19, the musician told concertgoers that he'd just been through 'one of the worst weeks of my life.'

He added: 'I really didn’t know whether this tour would be carrying on. I really didn’t know whether I’d even be getting on stage again, whether I even wanted to be an artist at all. In these situations, you really find out who your friends are, and it’s been a weird week.' 

In his statement to fans, he stated: 'I've had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I'm so, so sorry.'

He said elsewhere in the speech 'I don't want to disappoint fans and I've never wanted to be an activist musician. But this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech in the most complex political issue on the planet.'

The pop star continued: 'Our concerts have always been a safe space for everyone, and that matters hugely to me. Honoring my commitment to my fans is also completely central to who I am and that is why I'm here tonight, on my own, and continuing my own tour.'

He went on to say: 'I am deeply worried about the idea that venues pre-approved content performance. This happens in so many places that I've gone around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.'

Meanwhile, Macklemore has since announced a Macklemore & Friends Free Palestine tour.

He said on Instagram last month, 'If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that something has shifted over the last three years. There has been a collective awakening around Palestinian liberation, the power of billionaires that try to censor that call, and what we expect from artists right now.'

Macklemore added, 'When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention.'

The Grammy winner revealed on Instagram this week that 'all three shows sold out immediately.

'I’m honestly blown away. We put these shows together fast and in community, believing that musicians can stand in solidarity with Palestine, use the stage to raise funds and show what collective action can look like.' 

He had previously shared that he would be embarking on the three-date tour with artists who have 'used their stages to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences.'

The tour will stop in Dublin on October 26, Paris on October 29, and London on October 30.