Rock in Rio


Rock in Rio is a recurring music festival originating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid, Las Vegas and Santiago.
Eight incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, 2001, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, eight in Lisbon, in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018, three in Madrid in 2008, 2010 and 2012, one in Las Vegas, in 2015 and one in Santiago in 2021. Brazilian entrepreneur and advertiser Roberto Medina was responsible for the inception and organization of the festival, as well as moving the 2004 edition to Lisbon, while controversially keeping the brand "Rock in Rio". In 2011, Rock in Rio returned to its original location, Rio de Janeiro, with a new line-up of singers and groups.
Rock in Rio is one of the largest music festivals in the world, with 1.5 million people attending the first event, 700,000 attending the second and fourth, about 1.2 million attending the third, and about 350,000 people attending each of the three Lisbon events.
In May 2018, Live Nation Entertainment acquired a majority stake in the festival, with Medina continuing to manage the festival's operations. Live Nation stated that it intended to " their industry expertise" into their overall business.

History

Rio de Janeiro

Rock in Rio

The first edition of the festival was held from January 11–20, 1985. Queen, George Benson, Rod Stewart, AC/DC, and Yes were the headliners, each occupying top spot for two nights. About 1.4 million people attended the 10-day-long festival.
Rock in Rio in numbers
The full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio:
The second edition was held from January 18–27, 1991 at the Maracanã stadium. Headliners were Guns N' Roses, Prince and George Michael, each being top billed for two of the event's nine nights. INXS, New Kids on the Block and A-ha also had top billing, for one night each. A-ha's concert proved to be exceptional, breaking the record for the largest paying audience with 198000 people attending.
Full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio 2:
Guns N' Roses's January 20 concert was their first ever with then new drummer Matt Sorum and keyboard player Dizzy Reed. George Michael's second concert, on January 27, the festival's closing day, featured his ex-Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley, who joined Michael for a few songs at the encore. Again a misplaced Brazilian act suffered from bad reception, with Lobão being pelted with beer cans and being forced to cut his performance short.

Rock in Rio 3

The third Rock in Rio festival took place in 2001. Its seven nights were headlined, respectively, by Sting, R.E.M., Guns N' Roses, 'N Sync, Iron Maiden, Neil Young and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Iron Maiden released their set as Rock in Rio. Profits from the sale of the album were donated to the Clive Burr fund, helping their former drummer pay mounting medical bills for his multiple sclerosis.
A notable appearance at Rock in Rio 3 was that of American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with a new line-up featuring guitarist Buckethead, original member and singer Axl Rose, and longtime member Dizzy Reed. "I have no intention, and I never did, of denying you all something you enjoyed," Rose told the audience. "And I thought it was only fair for you to see that this new band can play the fuck out of these songs. It's very hard to ask a musician to learn to play the part or parts played by other musicians before that. These guys here have worked very hard."
Carlinhos Brown, the opening act on the day Guns N' Roses performed, was attacked by water bottles throughout his performance. Bassist Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age performed nude for part of their set and was arrested for indecent exposure after the concert, being released soon after.
Full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio 3:
The fourth edition of Rock in Rio, back to its origins, was held on September 23, 24, 25, 29 and 30, and October 1 and 2, 2011, at an area to be built next to the old City of Rock – which is currently the site of the Olympic Village of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Three different stages were employed, with the headlining concerts at the Palco Mundo, the secondary ones in Palco Sunset, and DJs playing at a specialized stage for electronic music. The closing acts, Guns N' Roses and System of a Down, entered following a poll on the festival's website. Maroon 5 was a last hour addition, following Jay-Z leaving for personal reasons.
Full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio 4:
Rock in Rio 5 was held on September 2013. The headline acts, chronologically, were: Beyoncé, Muse, Justin Timberlake, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and Iron Maiden.
The sixth Brazilian edition was held from September 18 to 27, 2015 at the City of Rock. The headliners were Queen + Adam Lambert, Metallica, Rod Stewart, Elton John, System of a Down, Slipknot, Rihanna and Katy Perry.
The seventh Brazilian edition was held in the City of Rock from September 15 to September 24, 2017. The headliners were Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, The Who, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Singer Lady Gaga was scheduled to perform on September 15, but had to cancel 24 hours before due to fibromyalgia. Maroon 5 performed a second concert due to her absence. Shawn Mendes and 5 Seconds of Summer also performed.

Rock in Rio 8

Lisbon, Portugal, and Madrid, Spain

Rock in Rio Lisboa

After the huge success of Rock in Rio 3 in Brazil, Roberta Medina decided to organize a festival of the same stature in Lisbon. The decision to maintain the name Rock in Rio was controversial, and detractors of the idea in Brazil started calling it Rock in Rio Tejo, after the Tagus river which runs through the Portuguese capital.
The first edition of Rock in Rio Lisboa, as the festival was officially called, took place in 2004. Although the festival had a slight change of name, it kept the same structure as the Brazilian editions. An entire City of Rock, with an area of over 260,000 audience was erected at the Bela Vista park, with a large centre stage and several tents where different artists would perform, simultaneously.
Full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio Lisboa:
in Rock in Rio Lisbon

Rock in Rio Lisboa 2

The second edition of Rock in Rio Lisboa was held in 2006, on 26/27 May and 2/3/4 June.
The third edition of Rock in Rio took place in Lisbon, Portugal, on May 30, 31 and June 1 and 5–6. The dates for Arganda del Rey, Madrid, were June 27, 28 and July 4–6.

Rock in Rio Lisboa III

May 30
May 31
June 1
June 5
June 6
June 27
June 28
July 4
July 5
July 6
;Rock in Rio Lisboa IV
May 21 / 82.000
May 22 / 45.000
May 27 / 85.000
May 29 / 95.000
May 30 / 38.000
;Rock in Rio Madrid II
June 4 / 51.000
June 5 / 85.000
June 6 / 90.000
June 11 / 30.000
June 14 / 48.000
Rock in Rio Lisboa V
;Rock in Rio Madrid III
;Rock in Rio Lisboa VI

Rock in Rio Lisboa (2016)

Rock in Rio Lisboa VII

Rock in Rio Lisboa (2018)

Rock in Rio Lisboa VIII
June 24 sold out almost three months prior to the festival.

Rock in Rio Lisboa (2021)

The festival was originally set to take place in June 2020, but was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Las Vegas

Rock in Rio USA

"Rock in Rio USA" was the first North American edition of the festival, being held in Las Vegas on May 8, 9, 15 and 16, 2015. The festival took place on two weekends, oriented towards rock and pop music. Rock Weekend took place on May 8 and 9, and Pop Weekend took place on May 15 and 16. It took place in the City of Rock, located north of the Las Vegas Strip.
The Rede Globo Networks broadcast Rock in Rio live in Brazil. In Nigeria, TNT and A&E broadcasts the festival live.
In Portugal, Rock in Rio Lisboa is broadcast by SIC Radical.

Footnotes

Citations