List of highest-attended concerts
This page lists the highest-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. GLAY held the record for 6 years. Italian singer Vasco Rossi surpassed McCartney's record with his solo concert on July 1, 2017. The concert was a celebration of his 40 years of career. Robbie Williams played to an audience of 135,000 in Phoenix Park, Dublin in Aug 2003.
Although the attendance numbers of free concerts are known to be exaggerations, 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.
Highest-attended concerts
Single-artist concerts
The following are the highest-attended single artist's ticketed concerts with attendance of 100,000 people or more.Artist | Venue | City | Title | Attendance | |
Vasco Rossi | Parco Enzo Ferrari | Modena | Modena Park 2017 | ||
Bijelo Dugme | Belgrade Hippodrome | Belgrade | 220,000 | ||
Glay | Makuhari Messe | Chiba | Glay Expo'99 Survival | ||
Paul McCartney | Maracanã Stadium | Rio de Janeiro | The Paul McCartney World Tour | ||
Tina Turner | Maracanã Stadium | Rio de Janeiro | Break Every Rule World Tour | ||
Frank Sinatra | Maracanã Stadium | Rio de Janeiro | Frank Sinatra Live | ||
Luciano Ligabue | Aeroporto di Reggio Emilia | Reggio Emilia | Campovolo | ||
Bruce Springsteen | Radrennbahn Weissensee | Berlin | Tunnel of Love Express Tour | ||
Ceca | Ušće park | Belgrade | Poziv Tour | 150,000 | |
U2 | Aeroporto di Reggio Emilia | Reggio Emilia | PopMart Tour | ||
Queen | Estádio do Morumbi | São Paulo | The Game Tour | ||
Madonna | Parc de Sceaux | Paris | Who's That Girl World Tour | ||
The Rolling Stones | Strahov Stadium | Prague | Voodoo Lounge Tour | ||
Michael Jackson | Aintree Racecourse | Liverpool | Bad World Tour | ||
Michael Jackson | Letná Park | Prague | HIStory World Tour | ||
Oasis | Knebworth Park | Stevenage | Morning Glory? Tour | ||
Oasis | Knebworth Park | Stevenage | Morning Glory? Tour | ||
Robbie Williams | Knebworth Park | Stevenage | 2003 Tour | ||
Robbie Williams | Knebworth Park | Stevenage | 2003 Tour | ||
Robbie Williams | Knebworth Park | Stevenage | 2003 Tour | ||
Queen | Estádio do Morumbi | São Paulo | The Game Tour | ||
The Rolling Stones | Roundhay Park | Leeds | The Rolling Stones European Tour 1982 | ||
Queen | Knebworth Park | Stevenage | Magic Tour | ||
Madonna | Maracanã Stadium | Rio de Janeiro | The Girlie Show World Tour | ||
Michael Jackson | Bemowo, Airport | Warsaw | HIStory World Tour | ||
Grateful Dead | Raceway Park | Englishtown | Terrapin Station Tour | ||
George Strait | AT&T Stadium | Arlington, Texas | The Cowboy Rides Away Tour | ||
Ricky Martin | Zócalo | Mexico City | Zócalo Concert | 100,000 | |
Shakira | Giza Plateau | Cairo | Oral Fixation Tour | 100,000 |
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.Date | Headlining artist | Location | City | Event | Attendance | |
September 6, 1997 | Jean-Michel Jarre | State University of Moscow | Moscow | The 850th Anniversary of Moscow | ||
December 31, 1994 | Rod Stewart | Copacabana Beach | Rio de Janeiro | New Year's Eve | ||
December 31, 1993 | Jorge Ben Jor | Copacabana Beach | Rio de Janeiro | New Year's Eve | ||
July 14, 1990 | Jean-Michel Jarre | La Défense | Paris | Bastille Day | ||
September 28, 1991 | AC/DC, Pantera, Metallica, The Black Crowes, E.S.T. | Tushino Airfield | Moscow | Monsters of Rock | ||
July 2, 2005 | Various artists | Philadelphia Museum of Art | Philadelphia | Live 8 | ||
February 18, 2006 | The Rolling Stones | Copacabana Beach | Rio de Janeiro | A Bigger Bang | ||
April 5, 1986 | Jean-Michel Jarre | Downtown Houston | Houston | Rendez-vous Houston | ||
September 20, 2009 | Various artists | Plaza de la Revolución | Havana | Paz Sin Fronteras II | ||
July 4, 1985 | The Beach Boys | Philadelphia Museum of Art | Philadelphia | Independence Day concert | ||
July 14, 1979 | Jean-Michel Jarre | Place de la Concorde | Paris | Bastille Day | ||
June 24, 2001 | Antonello Venditti | Circus Maximus | Rome | AS Roma's 3rd Serie A victory | 1,000,000 |