Madonna closed out her career-spanning Celebration Tour Saturday with a free concert at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s Copacabana Beach in front of 1.6 million fans, setting the record for the largest audience ever for a stand-alone concert by any artist in history.
The performance marked Madonna’s first time performing in Brazil since 2012, and was heralded as “a thank you to her fans for celebrating more than four decades of her music over the course of the epic global run of the tour,” Live Nation previously said of the event.
Copacabana Beach has long been a magnet for epic, well-populated shows, notably a Rolling Stones gig in 2006 that drew an estimated (and then record-setting) 1.5 million fans. Madonna’s show Saturday night toppled the record, with Live Nation putting the attendance at 1.6 million people who turned Copacabana Beach into “the world’s largest dancefloor.”
Madonna’s setlist stuck closely to the hits-filled one she’s performing throughout the past eight months, but there was one surprise on tap for Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian singer Anitta — fresh off the release of her own new album Funk Generation — stopped by during the “Vogue” portion of the concert to deliver some 10s:
Madonna last visited Brazil in December 2012 for her The MDNA Tour, stopping at venues such as Rio’s Parque dos Atletas, São Paulo’s Estádio do Morumbi, and Porto Alegre’s Estádio Olímpico Monumental.
Madonna opened her Celebration Tour at London’s O2 Arena in London back in October 2023, touring across Europe through December. She kicked off the U.S. leg of her tour in New York City on Dec. 13, with shows scheduled through April 26 — including a five-show run at Mexico City’s Palacio de los Deportes.
The tour has had several major guests along the way: In Los Angeles, Kylie Minogue and Cardi B joined her on stage on separate occasions.
From Rolling Stone US
