Macklemore Stepped Back From the Spotlight — Here’s What He’s Doing Now

To his family, he's Benjamin Hammond Haggerty. But to the world, he's Macklemore. With the jaw-dropping achievement of four Grammy awards and a bevy of other major accomplishments under his belt, Macklemore is somewhat of a household name.

But for the last few years, he has been conspicuously absent from the day-to-day music grind.

So, where has he been? The rapper and songwriter has opened up in the past about some struggles that he faces, and he has turned his public attention to good causes.

But what is he up to now? Here's what we know.

For most of the 2010s, Macklemore was churning out hit after hit. And then suddenly, he seemed to disappear from the public. While his music is just as iconic as it always was, the man himself seems far more elusive these days.

So, where is he?

The good news is that he's still hard at work on music.

These days, he appears to be putting his focus on touring. In April 2026, he appeared in Colorado at the famed Red Rocks amphitheater.

His last album was released in 2023, called Ben.

And rumors suggest that he could be working on a new album, which fans believe may materialize in late 2026. However, as Media Mass notes, this rumor seems to be unfounded.

In addition to pouring his heart and soul into pleasing live audiences around the world, Macklemore has been using his fame and his platform to raise awareness of the genocides ongoing in Palestine and Sudan, pushing for people to stand up to international leaders until change is brought, according to his Instagram.

But there was a time when Macklemore was fighting a completely different kind of fight: one against drugs.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2022, he opened up about the fact that he struggles with drug abuse and knows that he is "powerless" against the lure of addiction.

He told the outlet, "For me, the most important thing to learn in recovery is that I'm powerless over drugs. The disease is insidious. It's constantly telling you lies in order for you to go off and go, 'You know what? I think the best thing for me is to go off and get high' — knowing d*** well that's the thing that kills me. That's the insanity portion of the disease."

The singer says he relapsed in the Summer of 2020, and it hurt those close to him, sharing, "It was really painful for myself and for the people who loved me. I stopped doing the work. When I have to be still and exist within my own head, that's where my disease lives… [But] I'm like, 'You know what? I don't need to pretend like I'm some perfect dude in recovery.' I am not at all, and there's no shame."

Luckily, Macklemore seems to be doing better these days, and he has been keeping pretty busy between his music, advocacy, and family, including his three children.