Lady Gaga performed to a record-breaking crowd during her free concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday, as noted by Billboard in their coverage of what has become the largest concert ever held by a female artist. The 39-year-old pop icon opened the show around 10 p.m. local time with her 2011 track "Bloody Mary," followed by a hit-filled set including fan favorites like "Poker Face" and "Alejandro," as well as music from her latest Billboard 200-topping album, Mayhem.
According to representatives for the star who spoke with Billboard, approximately 2.5 million people attended the free beach show, surpassing Madonna's 2024 performance at the same venue, which drew 1.6 million. The largest concert crowd in history is still held by Rod Stewart, who drew 3.5 million fans to a New Year's Eve performance at Copacabana Beach in 1994, according to the Guinness World Records. The Rio concert marked Gaga's first performance in Brazil since 2012, generating more than $100,000 for Rio's economy by attracting over 1 million Brazilians and approximately 500,000 Little Monsters who flew in specifically for the show, as Billboard reported from NPR sources.
Some fans arrived on the beach at dawn to secure good spots, prepared with snacks and drinks for the long day under the blazing sun, while others climbed trees to get a better view, as described by NBC Chicago in their report on the massive event. "Today is the best day of my life," said Manoela Dobes, a 27-year-old designer who wore a dress featuring a photograph from when she met Lady Gaga in the United States in 2019. These large-scale performances are part of a strategic effort led by Rio's City Hall to boost economic activity between major events like Carnival and New Year's Eve.
Osmar Lima, the city's secretary of economic development, explained in a statement shared by NBC Chicago that these concerts bring activity during what was previously considered the low season, filling hotels and increasing spending in bars, restaurants, and retail. Rio officials have experience organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna drawing an estimated 1.6 million fans last year. To ensure fans could hear the music, sixteen sound towers were placed along the beach, while security included 3,300 military and 1,500 police officers, and 400 military firefighters.
What fans didn't know during the celebration was that a potential tragedy had been averted, according to NBC News, which reported that Brazilian authorities had foiled a planned bombing at the concert. Police announced on Sunday that two individuals were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to detonate explosives at the event.
According to the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police, cited by NBC News, unidentified people were "virtually recruiting participants to carry out attacks" using improvised explosive devices to gain notoriety on social media. A spokesperson for Lady Gaga told reporters that her team only learned about the alleged threat through media reports the morning after the show. "Prior to and during the show, there were no known safety concerns, nor any communication from the police or authorities to Lady Gaga regarding any potential risks," the spokesperson said. This security scare follows a similar incident less than a year ago when Taylor Swift was forced to cancel her shows in Vienna due to a terrorism-related threat, as NBC News reminded readers. Swift had previously expressed anxiety about concert safety, citing the 2017 bombing at Ariana Grande's concert in Manchester and the 2017 music festival shooting in Las Vegas.
Sources:
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.