Macklemore has pulled Tones And I from the NRL Grand Final pre-show, leaving the league without a headline act for the Oct. 4 event at Sydney’s Accor Stadium. The singer has a prior commitment with the rapper, which conflicts with her scheduled appearance.
Her management, Lemon Tree Management, got in touch with the singer on Sept. 5. The team put out a statement saying she already had a prior commitment with Macklemore in America and that she looked into every possible way to make it work. Nothing was ever signed or confirmed in writing.
Rather than chasing a replacement artist, the NRL has decided to redirect that budget into sports programs aimed at helping children from less privileged backgrounds.
The Cost of Entertainment
Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys told the ABC that the cost associated with the grand final entertainment was roughly A$1 million. He said he’d prefer to see 20,000 underprivileged kids who can’t afford to play rugby league play rugby league, rather than spend a million dollars on 11 minutes of a musical performance.
He added that the sport doesn’t need high-profile singers to sell tickets. “Our game sells itself,” he said. “People come to watch rugby league. They don’t come to watch a pop concert.”
Past Grand Final Acts
Past NRL Grand Finals have featured performances from Tina Turner, Billy Idol, and The Kid LAROI. Teddy Swims was the performer in 2025. “Dance Monkey,” a huge streaming hit, spent 24 weeks at number one on Australia’s chart, which sets a record for the nation’s chart.
A solo female artist set a record by leading the U.K. survey for 11 weeks, and the song also reached the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100. It ruled over charts in several 30 territories as well.
“Beautifully Ordinary,” a Tones’ debut album Welcome to the Madhouse hit No. 1 in Australia after its release in July 2021. Her followup hit “Fly Away” peaked at No. 11 in the U.K. Her sophomore album, 2024’s album, reached No. 1 on the ARIA Chart.
Tones On “Dance Monkey”
Tones has previously discussed her mixed feelings about the song. In a 2022 interview for Australian commercial radio, she remarked that “a lot of time, I don’t want to sing it.”
She does sing it sometimes. She performed it at her showcase for the New Year’s celebration at Times Square heading into 2026, and at Sydney’s NYE event in 2022.
The Sydney Morning Herald Report
Unnamed sources told the Sydney Morning Herald that the problem stemmed from the NRL’s request for Tones And I to perform her 2019 smash “Dance Monkey.”. She turned it down.
The Macklemore Connection
Tones counts Macklemore as her “favorite artist.” She has collaborated with him on her 2022 track “Chant,” a Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist. Macklemore’s widely publicized early exit from Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour of the United States followed his “Free Palestine” remarks onstage.
The decision was presented as a straightforward exchange: put A$1 million toward a 11-minute performance, or direct it instead at giving 20,000 kids access to the sport. The preference is obvious.
The ABC was told that he would prefer to see 20,000 underprivileged kids get access to rugby league instead of spending a million dollars on 11 minutes of a musical performance. He said he has been weighing the idea of shifting the funds for years.
The Numbers Behind the Decision
- The NRL Grand Final is set for Sunday, Oct. 4 at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
- Tones was approached on Sept. 5 via her management, Lemon Tree Management.
- The cost of the grand final entertainment was roughly A$1 million, per V’landys.
- Tones’ team said she had a prior commitment with Macklemore in America.
- Nothing was signed or confirmed in writing.
- The NRL will not pursue another artist.
- The budget will go towards sports programs for underprivileged children.
The NRL’s position is consistent with its stated philosophy. The league sells itself, according to V’landys, and a musical performance is a luxury it can live without.
Macklemore has been chosen over Tones And I, so she will not take part in the grand final. The decision stands.
The outcome for upcoming grand finals remains uncertain. The preference of V’landys has been considering the idea of redirecting the money for years, and the league’s expressed publicly has been made known. Fan reaction will depend on what they value most. A few may regret the change. Many others will welcome the shift.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs the fans who would have gotten their headline act and is against the NRL’s plan to spend the same money on sports programs for children instead. The league has a genuine choice before it, between putting on a show and putting money toward youth sport, and the paper believes the show was the better call.
The league’s reasoning is clear: a million dollars buys either an 11-minute performance or access to the sport for 20,000 kids. But the question of whether the league should be making that choice at all is the bigger one. The NRL has never asked fans whether they’d prefer a grand final without a headline act; it simply made the decision itself.
The paper is against money vanishing into a budget nobody voted on line by line, and for any plan that gives taxpayers real control over where it goes. The NRL’s reasoning—that the sport sells itself, and that people come to watch rugby league rather than a pop concert—misses the point entirely. Fans don’t have to choose between the sport and the performance; they can enjoy both. What the league is doing instead is deciding for them, using the budget as leverage.
Source material: “Tones And I Will Miss NRL Grand Final Pre-Show Due to ‘Prior Commitment’ With Macklemore,” Billboard.
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