Lady Gaga takes over Copacabana Beach with a free concert for 2 million fans
Lady Gaga made history with a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, performing for 2 million fans in what became the largest show of her career. The event, her first in Brazil since 2012.
Lady Gaga is not only making news for her exceptional free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night, singing in front of an incredible 2 million fans. It was the largest show of her career, as fans came out in droves to see her first performance in Brazil since 2012.
The concert Saturday’s show was a reminder of some of her biggest hits: “Poker Face” “Alejandro,” etc. The show's wow moment was scheduled to begin at 10:10 p.m. local time, and thousands of devoted fans showed up early to the beach; some had spent the day waiting in anticipation and soaking up the sunshine until the time came for Gaga to take the stage.
Lady Gaga met their Brazilian 'Little Monsters' at Copacabana Beach
Lady Gaga delivered an unforgettable free concert Saturday night in front of 2 millions fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach for the biggest show of her career.
“Tonight, we're making history. (…) Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd.
Known as “Mother Monster”, Lady Gaga kicked off her performance at 10:10 p.m. local time with her hit “Bloody Mary”. The packed beach erupted with cheers as fans sang and danced together under the stars.
Organizers' estimates indicated that 2.1 million fans attended the event. During the evening, Lady Gaga performed some of her greatest hits, including “Poker Face” and “Alejandro,” while undergoing various costume changes, including one featuring the colors of the Brazilian flag.
Young fans began arriving early, some during the morning, waiting to scale walls to get vantage spots to see the concert. It's no surprise that they waited all day in the sun, while others even climbed trees to catch a better view.
To allow the audience to hear the music, 16 sound towers were set up along the beach for the concert. The security plan for the concert was 3300 military personnel, 1500 police officers, and 400 military firefighters.
“Today is the best day of my life”, said Manoela Doebes, a 27-year-old designer to Associated Press. “It's surreal to be here”.
Lady Gaga's concert offered an economic boost for the Brazilian city. Photo: AFP
Lady Gaga arrived in Rio in the wee hours of Tuesday. Since then, Rio has been buzzing with Gaga-mania ahead of the first show of the pop star in Brazil since 2012. Rio's metro employees made a video where they danced to Lady Gaga's 2008 popular song “LoveGame” and gave directions on Saturday. It was standing-room only at a free exhibition celebrating her career.
Lady Gaga's concert follows in the footsteps of Madonna, who also turned Copacabana Beach into a massive dance floor last year.
Concerts of the same kind will happen every year for May and possibly until 2028.
Rio de Janeiro is preparing for other venues in Copacabana Beach
These important events are part of an effort by Rio's City Hall to stimulate the local economy following the Carnival/Nye season. The concerts seek to increase hotel bookings, restaurant consumption, and retail activity, thereby generating jobs and income for residents, said, Osmar Lima, Rio’s Secretary of Economic Development.
Recalled to Lima, the show is expected to generate a minimum of 600,000,000 reais (around 106 million) in economic activity for the city of Rio.
Most of the attendees at the concert were from Rio, but fans traveled from all over Brazil as well as international audiences. According to local data, shared by Associated Press, more than 500,000 tourists flooded into the city ahead of the concert, which was a doubled number of what was originally forecast.
300-mile away in Colombia, Ingrid Serrano, a 30-year-old engineer, traveled across the continent to see the pop star. “I’ve been a 100% fan of Lady Gaga my whole life,” Serrano said while wearing a t-shirt with one of the outrageous costumes worn by the singer. “She represents total freedom of expression—being whoever you want and without shame.”
Rio has experience putting on massive concerts in Copacabana Beach. In 2022, Madonna's concert attracted 1.6 million fans and in 1994, more than 4 million people attended a New Year’s Eve concert by Rod Stewart, which was named the largest free rock concert in history by Guinness World Records.
