Lady Gaga drew record-breaking crowds to her free concert in Copacabana | Photo: X @seriesbrasil
Over 2.1 million fans crowded Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to see and listen to Lady Gaga sing and dance at her free concert, which is now the world’s most attended female concert in history. She broke Madonna’s record of 1.6 million in Copacabana last year as well.
The largest, most attended concert ever was performed by Rod Stewart in 1994, also in Copacabana, with 3.6 million attendees, according to the Guinness World Records.
Local Rio de Janeiro officials said at least 500,000 tourists travelled to attend Lady Gaga’s concert. They said security for the concert included 3,300 military, 1,500 police officers, and 400 military firefighters.
Lady Gaga’s concert generated nearly 100m euros
Rio de Janeiro’s government paid for the pop star’s concert in an attempt to revitalise the economy. Local city hall officials said that the concert brought $106 million (approximately 94 million euros) in revenue.
The artist is known to charge anywhere between $2 million to $5 million per show, but details of her paycheck for the Copacabana gig.
Some fans – known as Gaga’s “Little Monsters” – began queuing early in the morning and waiting in long lines to access the beach, BBC reported.
“You waited for me, you waited for more than 10 years for me,” an emotional Lady Gaga told the crowds as she unfurled a Brazilian flag. “Brazil, I’m ready. I’m going to give it my all.”
‘We are monsters and monsters never die’
Hundreds of thousands of people sang along with her best-known hits, including Alejandro, Poker Face and Abracadabra, creating an electric atmosphere as many waved rainbow-themed fans and watched on giant screens along the beach.
As the concert ended, Lady Gaga told the audience, in a reference to the nickname for Lady Gaga fans, “We are monsters and monsters never die,” and she brought the concert to a close with Bad Romance, arguably her most famous song.
