This article lists the most-attended concerts of all time. The oldest 100,000-crowd concert reported to Billboard Boxscore is Grateful Dead's gig at the Raceway Park, Englishtown, New Jersey on September 3, 1977. The concert was attended by 107,019 people, which remains the largest ticketed concert in the United States to date. Frank Sinatra, Tina Turner, and Paul McCartney broke the record respectively in Maracanã Stadium. With an audience of over 184,000 people on April 21, 1990, McCartney's record was broken by a Japanese rock band, Glay, which held a concert with an audience of 200,000 people on July 31, 1999, in Chiba, Japan (Makuhari Parking Lot). GLAY held the record for 6 years. Italian singer Vasco Rossi surpassed the record with his solo concert on July 1, 2017 with a total of 225,173 tickets sold at Modena Park. The concert was a celebration of his 40 years of career.
Although the attendance numbers of free concerts are known to be exaggerations,[1] several concerts have been reported to have a million audience or more. Both Jean-Michel Jarre's concert in Moscow 1997 and Rod Stewart's concert in Copacabana 1994 have been reported to attract audiences of more than 3.5 million people. Jean-Michel Jarre has attracted a live audience of more than a million spectators on five occasions, three times in Paris, 1979, 1990 and 1995, once in Houston, 1986, and once in Moscow, 1997. He is the only artist ever to have done so. Metallica played Moscow in 1991 in front of 1.6 million people. (Although Metallica is generally credited with this show, they were the supporting act for ACDC)
Most-attended concerts
* | Indicates the concert was the most-attended of all time up to that point |
Ticketed concerts
The following are the most-attended single-artist's ticketed concerts (excluding music festivals) with attendance of 100,000 people or more.
Date | Artist | Venue | City | Title | Attendance (ticketed only) |
Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
28 June 2005 | Bijelo Dugme | Belgrade Hippodrome | Belgrade | 2005 Tour: Sarajevo, Zagreb, Belgrade | 250,000 | [2] |
1 July 2017 | Vasco Rossi * | Parco Enzo Ferrari | Modena | Modena Park 2017 | 220,000 | [3] |
31 July 1999 | Glay | Makuhari Messe | Chiba | Glay Expo'99 Survival | 200,000 | [4] |
20 April 1990 | Paul McCartney * | Maracanã Stadium | Rio de Janeiro | The Paul McCartney World Tour | 184,000 | [5] |
16 January 1988 | Tina Turner * | Break Every Rule World Tour | 180,000 | [6][7] | ||
26 January 1980 | Frank Sinatra * | Frank Sinatra Live | 175,000 | [6][8] | ||
10 September 2005 | Luciano Ligabue | Aeroporto di Reggio Emilia | Reggio Emilia | Campovolo | 165,264 | [9] |
19 July 1988 | Bruce Springsteen | Radrennbahn Weissensee | Berlin | Tunnel of Love Express Tour | 160,000 | [10] |
21 July 1990 | Roger Waters * | Potsdamer Platz | Berlin | Roger Waters’ 1990 Concert At The Berlin Wall | 150,000 | [11] |
28 June 2013 | Ceca | Ušće park | Belgrade | Poziv Tour | 150,000 | [12] |
17 June 2006 | Ceca | Ušće park | Belgrade | Idealno loša Tour | 150,000 | [13] |
20 September 1997 | U2 | Aeroporto di Reggio Emilia | Reggio Emilia | PopMart Tour | 150,000 | [14] |
18 June 1983 | Kiss | Maracanã Stadium | Rio de Janeiro | Creatures of the Night Tour/10th Anniversary Tour | 137,000 | [15] |
9 August 2003 | Robbie Williams | Phoenix Park | Dublin | 2003 Tour | 135,000 | [16] |
20 March 1981 | Queen | Estádio do Morumbi | São Paulo | The Game Tour | 131,000 | [17] |
20 August 2022 | Helene Fischer | Neue Messe München | Munich | Rausch Live - Die Tour | 130,000 | [18] |
29 August 1987 | Madonna | Parc de Sceaux | Paris | Who's That Girl World Tour | 130,000 | [19] |
5 August 1995 | The Rolling Stones | Strahov Stadium | Prague | Voodoo Lounge Tour | 126,742 | [20] |
11 September 1988 | Michael Jackson | Aintree Racecourse | Liverpool | Bad World Tour | 125,000 | [21] |
7 September 1996 | Letná Park | Prague | HIStory World Tour | 125,000 | [22] | |
10 August 1996 | Oasis | Knebworth Park | Stevenage | (What's the Story) Morning Glory? Tour | 125,000 | [23] [24] |
11 August 1996 | 125,000 | |||||
1 August 2003 | Robbie Williams | 2003 Tour | 125,000 | [25] | ||
2 August 2003 | 125,000 | |||||
3 August 2003 | 125,000 | |||||
20 May 2022 | Vasco Rossi | Trentino Music Arena | Trento | Vasco Live Tour 2022 | 120,000 | [26] |
21 March 1981 | Queen | Estádio do Morumbi | São Paulo | The Game Tour | 120,000 | [17] |
25 July 1982 | The Rolling Stones | Roundhay Park | Leeds | The Rolling Stones European Tour 1982 | 120,000 | [27] |
9 August 1986 | Queen | Knebworth Park | Stevenage | The Magic Tour | 120,000 | [28] |
6 November 1993 | Madonna | Maracanã Stadium | Rio de Janeiro | The Girlie Show World Tour | 120,000 | [29] |
20 September 1996 | Michael Jackson | Bemowo, Airport | Warsaw | HIStory World Tour | 120,000 | [30] |
7 September 1994 | Pink Floyd | Strahov Stadium | Prague | The Division Bell Tour | 115,000 | [31] |
29 October 1993 | Michael Jackson | Estadio Azteca | Mexico City | Dangerous World Tour | 110,000 | [32] |
31 October 1993 | 110,000 | |||||
7 November 1993 | 110,000 | |||||
9 November 1993 | 110,000 | |||||
11 November 1993 | 110,000 | |||||
3 March 2023 | Ed Sheeran | Melbourne Cricket Ground | Melbourne | +–=÷× Tour | 110,000 | [33] |
2 March 2023 | 108,000 | |||||
3 September 1977 | Grateful Dead * | Raceway Park | Englishtown | Terrapin Station Tour | 107,019 | [34] |
15 October 1993 | Michael Jackson | Estádio do Morumbi | São Paulo | Dangerous World Tour | 105,000 | [35] |
17 October 1993 | 105,000 | |||||
7 June 2014 | George Strait | AT&T Stadium | Arlington | The Cowboy Rides Away Tour | 104,793 | [36] |
30 April 2022 | Garth Brooks | Tiger Stadium | Baton Rouge | The Garth Brooks Stadium Tour | 102,000 | [37] |
16 June 2002 | Ceca | Marakana | Belgrade | Decenija tour | 100,000 | [38] |
September 21, 1993 | Michael Jackson | Yarkon Park | Tel Aviv | Dangerous World Tour | 100,000 | [39] |
25 November 2017 | Ricky Martin | Zócalo | Mexico City | One World Tour | 100,000 | [40] |
Free concerts
The following are free concerts with reported attendance of one million people or more. The first ever was by French artist Jean-Michel Jarre in Paris in 1979, which created the Guinness Book entry. It also includes multi-artist festivals which may not be directly comparable with single-artist concerts. Attendance numbers for many of the kinds of events listed here rely on estimations from the promoters and are known to be exaggerations.[1]
Date | Headlining artist | Location | City | Event | Attendance | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 6, 1997 | Jean-Michel Jarre * | Moscow State University | Moscow | 850th Anniversary of Moscow (1147-1997) Oxygene in Moscow |
>3,500,000 | [41] |
December 31, 1994 | Rod Stewart * | Copacabana Beach | Rio de Janeiro | New Year's Eve | >3,500,000 | [42] |
December 31, 1993 | Jorge Ben Jor * | Copacabana Beach | Rio de Janeiro | New Year's Eve | 3,000,000 | [43] |
July 14, 1990 | Jean-Michel Jarre * | La Défense | Paris | Bastille Day | 2,500,000 | [44] |
June 24, 2001 | Antonello Venditti | Circus Maximus | Rome | AS Roma's 3rd Serie A victory | 1,800,000 | [45] |
September 28, 1991 | AC/DC, Pantera, Metallica, The Black Crowes, E.S.T. | Tushino Airfield | Moscow | Monsters of Rock | 1,600,000 | [46][47] |
July 2, 2005 | Various artists | Philadelphia Museum of Art | Philadelphia | Live 8 | 1,500,000 | [48] |
February 18, 2006 | The Rolling Stones | Copacabana Beach | Rio de Janeiro | A Bigger Bang | 1,500,000 | [49][50] |
April 5, 1986 | Jean-Michel Jarre * | Downtown Houston | Houston | Rendez-vous Houston | 1,300,000 | [51][52] |
July 21, 1983 | Diana Ross | Great Lawn, Central Park | New York City | Diana Ross Worldwide from New York: For One And For All | 1,200,000 | [53] |
September 20, 2009 | Various artists | Plaza de la Revolución | Havana | Paz Sin Fronteras II | 1,100,000 | [54][55] |
July 4, 1985 | The Beach Boys | Philadelphia Museum of Art | Philadelphia | Independence Day concert | 1,000,000 | [56] |
July 14, 1979 | Jean-Michel Jarre * | Place de la Concorde | Paris | Bastille Day | 1,000,000 | |
December 31, 2006 | The Black Eyed Peas | Copacabana Beach | Rio de Janeiro | New Year's Eve | 1,000,000 | [57] |
See also
References
- 1 2 Dwyer, Jim (July 23, 2008). "Great Lawn: A Bubble of History Bursts". The New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
- ↑ "Koncert "Bijelog Dugmeta" 2005. Na Hipodromu: Ozvučenje bilo loše, moraju da vrate pare za karte". Novosti.rs (in Serbian (Latin script)). Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ↑ Gottfried, Gideon (June 29, 2017). "Rossi Sets Record In Italy". Pollstar. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ↑ "10 年ぶりの『Glay Expo』をWowow で独占生中継!". Oricon (in Japanese). September 18, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
- ↑ "Arts and Media/Music Feats & Facts/Solo Rock Show Crowd". Guinness World Records. May 25, 2006. Archived from the original on May 25, 2006. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - 1 2 "A record 180,000 turn out for Tina". Chicago Sun-Times. January 18, 1988. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
- ↑ Company, Johnson Publishing (February 8, 1988). "Jet". Retrieved December 15, 2017 – via Google Books.
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- ↑ "Springsteen going over Berlin Wall". Chicago Sun-Times. July 13, 1988. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
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- ↑ "'U2: The Ultimate Music Guide' – on sale now". NME. April 29, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ↑ Weiss, Brett (2016). Encyclopedia of Kiss: Music, Personnel, Events and Related Subjects. McFarland & Company. p. 43. ISBN 9780306819209.
- ↑ 5 Times Robbie Williams Rocked Ireland - 25 years of the Ultimate Entertainer!. Danny Joyce. 2022.
- 1 2 Henke, James (June 11, 1981). "Queen Holds Court in South America". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 9, 2009.
- ↑ "Helene-Fischer-Konzert in München: Florian Silbereisen sorgt mit Ansage für Gänsehaut". GMX. August 21, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
- ↑ Bassets, Luis (August 31, 1987). "Madonna convocó en París a 130.000 personas". El País (in Spanish). Madrid: Jesús de Polanco. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
- ↑ "Boxscore Top 10 Concert Grosses" (PDF). Billboard. August 19, 2017. p. 10. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
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- ↑ "No maybe about it, Manchester's Oasis definitely were supersonic". Belfasttelegraph. Retrieved December 9, 2017 – via The Belfast Telegraph.
- ↑ Savage, Mark (August 10, 2016). "Oasis at Knebworth: 20 years since Britpop's biggest gigs". BBC. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ↑ Hamilton, James (August 3, 2003). "Robbie gigs make music history and traffic misery". The Sunday Herald. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Vasco Rossi, a Trento la carica dei 120.000 per il ritorno del rocker dopo la pandemia". May 19, 2022.
- ↑ "Andy Kershaw: The Rolling Stones Guide To Painting And Decorating". sabotagetimes.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ↑ Michaels, Sean (February 21, 2012). "Queen's show goes on as Adam Lambert replaces Freddie Mercury". The Guardian. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Madonna Concert Draws 120,000". The Buffalo News. November 8, 1993. Archived from the original on November 29, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ↑ "Polish bishop sees Michael Jackson's visit as a sign of decline". Presbyterian Record. December 1, 1996. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Top 4 Největší hudební koncerty v historii České republiky!". iDNES.cz. January 4, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
- ↑ "Récord de Michael Jackson".
- ↑ Lu, Donna (March 4, 2023). "Ed Sheeran breaks Australian record for ticketed concert attendance". The Guardian. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
- ↑ "Billboard Top Boxoffice" (PDF). Billboard. September 17, 2017. p. 39. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Relembre a épica passagem de Michael Jackson pela cidade em 1993". April 27, 2021.
- ↑ "Attendance Records Shattered After George Strait Concert". Dallascowboys.com. June 11, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
- ↑ "Watch: Garth Brooks plays 'Callin' Baton Rouge' for more than 102,000 fans at Tiger Stadium". The Advocate. May 1, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
- ↑ Lamorte, Antonio (June 16, 2002). "Ceca napunila Marakanu!". Mondo. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- ↑ "Behind the Headlines: Michael Jackson Visit to Israel Was Taste of Normalcy for Teens". March 20, 2015.
- ↑ "Ricky Martin's Concert in Mexico City Draws More Than 100,000 Fans: See Photos". Billboard.com. November 27, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
- ↑ "Jean-Michel's Up For The Cup; Rock Star Jean-Michel Jarre Recalls His Friendship with Princess Diana and Picks His France 98 Winners". The Mirror. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ↑ "Arts and Media/Music Feats & Facts/Huge Free Gig". Guinness World Records. May 25, 2006. Archived from the original on May 25, 2006. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
{{cite web}}
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- ↑ McWhirter, Norris (December 14, 1993). The Guinness Book of Records 1993. Bantam Books. ISBN 9780553562576. Retrieved December 14, 2017 – via Internet Archive.
Jean-Michel Jarre concert Guinness.
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- ↑ Smith, Nathan (August 9, 2012). "No Fences: Garth Brooks & the Fuzzy Math of 10 Mega-Concerts". houstonpress.com. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ↑ Publicity, Brian Bumbery (May 29, 2014). "Metallica's "Black Album" Sets New Sales Record". globenewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ↑ Sarah Lyall (July 3, 2005). "Musical Cry to Help Africa's Poor Is Heard Around Globe". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ↑ Rohter, Larry (February 19, 2006). "The Stones Rock 1.5 Million in Rio Days Before Carnival". The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ↑ "Rolling Stones hold giant Rio gig". BBC. February 19, 2006. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ↑ Hawkins, Jonathan (April 5, 2016). "The tragic triumph of the world's largest concert". CNN. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ↑ Hughes, Alex; Reader, Keith (March 11, 2002). Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture. Routledge. ISBN 9781134788668. Retrieved December 14, 2017 – via Google Books.
- ↑ "'Diana Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy' Featuring 'Diana Ross Live in Central Park' is Coming to the Big Screen with a Special Two-Night Event in Cinemas Worldwide This March" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
- ↑ "Hundreds of thousands attend Cuba 'peace concert'". CNN. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ↑ "Juanes' Cuba Concert Details Announced". Billboard. September 10, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ↑ "Annals of Music - The Beach Boys". Pop History Dig. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
- ↑ "Público Vai Ao Delírio Com O Grupo Black Eyed Peas". Globo.com. Retrieved August 14, 2020.