In Brazil, Madonna sets record for largest stand-alone concert in history
Madonna capped her Celebration Tour with a free show at the iconic Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on May 4, and set a record while doing it.
According to Madonna’s team, the Queen of Pop’s show drew 1.6 million fans, setting a new record for the largest audience ever for a stand-alone concert by any artist in history. The previous record of 1.5 million fans had been set by the Rolling Stones in 2006.
You can see footage of Madonna’s performance of “Music” on her Instagram; it was the only time she performed the song during the tour. During the performance, she was joined by Pabllo Vittar, a Brazilian drag queen and singer.
“Blame it on Rio Thank you Brazil!!!” she wrote. It was her first time performing in the country since 2012.
Other than “Music,” Madonna’s set list hewed closely to the one she’s been performing since the tour kicked off in October of 2023. During “Vogue,” the segment of the show where Madonna is usually joined by a special guest star, she welcomed Brazilian superstar Anitta onstage.
The U.K. paper The Guardian reports that city officials wanted to avoid a replay of what happened when Taylor Swift played in the country last year: a young fan died of heat exhaustion. Firefighters were ordered to spray water on the crowd to keep them cool, and free drinking water was distributed.
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