Amsterdam, May 4, 2025 — More than two million people attended a Lady Gaga concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, according to city officials. The pop star’s biggest concert ever was funded by the city in an effort to revitalize Rio’s economy. They expect it could generate around $100 million (90 million euros) for the local economy.
Saturday’s performance was part of a promotional tour for Lady Gaga’s eighth album, Mayhem, featuring songs like “Abracadabra” and “Die With a Smile.” She last performed in Brazil in 2012.
Some fans – known as Gaga’s “Little Monsters” – began lining up early in the morning and waited in long queues to access the beach. A massive security operation was set up, with 5,000 police officers on duty and visitors having to pass through metal detectors. Authorities also used drones and facial recognition cameras to secure the event.
Lady Gaga is not the first person to give a free concert in Rio. Madonna gave a concert on Copacabana Beach in May 2024, which was also paid for by the city.
“You’ve waited for me, you’ve waited more than 10 years for me,” an emotional Lady Gaga told the audience as she unfurled a Brazilian flag. “Brazil, I’m ready. I’m going to give everything.” The pop star appeared in Brazil-inspired costumes for some of her acts, with outfits inspired by the national soccer team. Thousands sang along to her most famous hits including “Alejandro,” “Poker Face,” and “Abracadabra,” creating an electric atmosphere as many waved rainbow-colored fans and watched on large screens along the beach.
Fans traveled from across the country to see the grand performance. Luan Messias, 28, said he had spent the entire night on a bus from Itanhaem in the neighboring state of São Paulo. Alisha Duarte, 22, told us she had started waiting in line at 7:00 in the morning.
“Lady Gaga is worth it. It’s going to be super crowded, but we’ll survive,” she said.
Other fans, like Paulo Oliveira, explained why people were so excited about the concert. She “tells us we can be who we are, that we can be different and that being different is cool,” he told us.
It will be an “unforgettable show,” said concertgoer Lai Borges on her way to the event. “It’s going to be very emotional and I’m going to cry terribly,” she said.
As the event came to an end, Lady Gaga told the audience – in a reference to the nickname for Lady Gaga fans – “we are monsters and monsters never die,” and she concluded the concert with “Bad Romance,” perhaps her most famous song.
This Lady Gaga concert in Brazil is a major cultural event with significant economic impact. The organizational costs for a beach concert of this scale are presumably enormous: not just the stage, but also the sound system, as well as security and permits cost a lot of money.
Additionally, there are of course the infrastructural taxes from massive visitor flows as well as the environmental costs of a large event on a beach and cleaning up or otherwise limiting the damage.
Nevertheless, there are truly major economic stimuli for the local economy through tourism and hospitality, hotels, transportation.
Then there is still a positive side for Brazil’s cultural prestige and tourist appeal.
“An event like this has enormous social and emotional value for fans, especially given the long wait of more than 10 years,” say city officials.
They point to the fact that fans traveled from across the country to Rio de Janeiro and waited for hours.
For them, the intangible value was clearly very high.
