29 Of The Biggest Concerts Ever That Rocked The History Of Music

Technically, a combined number of 162,000 attendees were present at two venues where Live Aid was simultaneously held, one in London and one in Philadelphia. However, this event, organized to draw attention to the famine and extreme poverty in Ethiopia, was broadcasted live on TV. Its noble cause as well as an incredible lineup (Queen, Paul McCartney, and Black Sabbath just a few among them) attracted viewers worldwide. It is estimated that 1.9 billion people saw it on TV during the live broadcast. 

People celebrating New Year’s Eve at Copacabana Beach back in 1994 probably couldn’t even imagine they’d become a part of something that would later turn into a Guinness record. On that day, Rod Steward held a concert in front of a crowd of 4.2 million people — a group larger than the population of some cities. Since then, his performance in Rio has been unmatched and remains the biggest concert ever. 

In 1997, Moscow celebrated its 850th anniversary. To celebrate a grand occasion like this, an equally grand performance was required, one that would offer not only music but also a visual spectacle. And since one of the pioneers of electronic music, Jarre, was quite popular in Russia, he was invited to do the honors. His performance at the State University of Moscow attracted the second largest concert attendance of all time, with 3.5 million attendees in the audience.

If you consider yourself to be a rock and metal music fan, the words “Metallica Moscow 1991” will immediately paint a breathtaking picture in your mind. This was the event that united several individual Monsters of Rock festivals, but more importantly, brought rock music to the Soviet Union — and if you have heard about the Iron Curtain, you know that it was virtually impossible to do so. Yet in 1991, many headliners, Metallica among them, gathered at the Tushino Airfield in front of a crowd of 1.6 million people who attended the event.

Each concert by Jean-Michel Jarre mesmerizes you with its scale. No wonder a lot of his performances draw huge audiences. The one at La Défense in 1990 was dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution and included all the usual elements like a laser show, fireworks, projections onto surrounding buildings, and of course, great electronic music. With 2.5 million people in the audience, the concert set a world record at that time.

With Copacabana Beach being one of the largest tourist destinations not only in Brazil but in the entire world, it makes sense that a lot of large-scale events are set there. In 1993, Brazilian pop singer Jorge Ben Jor, who has been active in his country since the 1960s, welcomed the New Year by conducting a concert that ended up attracting 3 million attendees.

When you have played together for over four decades and can still gather a crowd of 1.5 million people, your status as legends of rock ’n’ roll is undeniable. And The Rolling Stones proved it once again with ease during their Bigger Band tour when they were promoting their 24th studio album of the same name.

To commemorate the G8 summit in 2005, a series of live concerts were conducted around the world under the name of Live 8. Aimed at raising awareness for the fight against poverty, it was organized similarly to the legendary 1985 Live Aid concert. The only venue hosting Live 8 in the US, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, attracted 1.5 million attendees, making it one of the largest concerts in history.

While the history of Love Parade has had its dark moments, back in 2008 its attendance peaked, with 1.6 million people gathering in Dortmund, Germany. The lineup for one of the oldest electronic music festivals included several renowned names of the genre. On top of that, since one of the important elements of this festival is a parade, the 2008 event holds the world record as the largest parade in history.

This concert was set as a celebration of three different events: Texas celebrating its 150th anniversary, NASA celebrating its 25th anniversary, and the Challenger shuttle launch. The Challenger disaster had the entire nation mourning the deaths of their heroes; however, Jean-Michel Jarre, whose astronomer friend Ron McNair died aboard the Challenger, still gave a breathtaking performance, for which the entire city of Houston was turned into one massive stage.

The Paz Sin Fronteras series of concerts (which translates from Spanish as “peace without borders”) was organized by Colombian musician Juanes in 2009 to promote peace and unity among all Latin and South American nations, following a political conflict between Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador a year earlier. The first event took place at the Colombian-Venezuelan border and had moderate success. However, the second concert in Havana, Cuba, attracted 1.1 million people, which is approximately 10% of the entire population of Cuba. 

The city of Philadelphia played a huge role in the history of the American Revolution — even the Declaration of Independence was signed here. For the 1985 Independence Day celebration, the city authorities decided to organize a huge free concert, inviting a number of renowned musicians. Of course, they had to include one of America’s favorite bands, The Beach Boys, who, in their turn, attracted a crowd of 1 million people. 

Even back in 1979 when he was just starting out, Jean-Michel Jarre knew how to gather crowds. During his first open-air performance at the Bastille Day celebrations, he attracted 1 million people, and the performance entered the Guinness World Records as the largest at the time. From that point on, everyone knew that Jarre would be an incredible performer for years to come.

You might not be the biggest soccer fan, but you have probably heard that for Italians it is one of the most important things. A lot of Italian teams are also very famous around the world. When one of them, A.C. Roma, won three annual championships in one year, the city of Rome needed to celebrate. The football club organized a concert, inviting one of Italy’s most prominent singer-songwriters, Antonello Venditti. With 1 million attendees, this performance is still the biggest free concert to have been conducted in Italy.

Another artist who had the honor to see the old year off and welcome the new year in Brazil were The Black Eyed Peas. Performing at Ipanema Beach on New Year’s Eve, they attracted a crowd of 1 million people, which turned the event into their biggest concert ever.

Technically a part of their brief UK summer tour, Queen’s performance in Hyde Park is often regarded as a separate event, as it had free attendance, as well as other acts performing during the day. With 200,000 attendees, it was considered one of the biggest audiences for concerts held in London. The entire concert was supposed to be aired, and though bits and pieces of it are available online, the whole event was never released.

Queen became one of the first major international rock bands to play in South America. Their first shows took place in Argentina and Brazil. They played two shows in San Paulo, with the first one attracting a crowd of 131,000 people and becoming a world record for a paying audience at the time.

When you have been around since the 1880s, some restoration work to keep you looking great is more than welcome. And while there have been several restorations in the history of the Statue of Liberty, the 1984 one stands out. Completed in 1986, it was followed by a 3-day celebration with concerts that included both classical and pop music performances. The total attendance was estimated at 800,000.

Headlined by The Rolling Stones, Stones in the Park also included several featured artists. Held in Hyde Park, it was a free music event with 500,000 attendees and the first public performance for the band in two years. Just two days prior to the event, one of the original founders of the band, Brian Jones, passed away; however, the event still took place, with The Stones beginning their set with a eulogy. Though many critics agree that it was a significant event in the history of music, many also say that it was not the best performance The Stones could have given.

You don’t even have to be a rock fan to have heard about Woodstock at least once in your life. It is often regarded as a turning point in the history of music and defined the culture for several generations to come. Thirty-two acts that included some of the legendary names of rock music played at a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, over the course of four days. Even sporadic rain couldn’t stop the event that attracted 400,000 people.

When Woodstock organizers made the iconic concert happen, they probably didn’t expect it to initiate so many variations. One of the most successful among them is the Pol’and’Rock festival in Poland. From the moment of its foundation in 1995, it has always been a large-scale event; however, in 2019 it broke its own record, attracting one million people.

The last of a succession of three festivals held at this location, it is often considered the largest music event of its time. With 700,000 people, it had an attendance larger than Woodstock, and that was a huge claim in the 60s and 70s. Organized and promoted by three local brothers, the 1970 festival — much like its predecessors — boasted of an incredible lineup, including Bob Dylan, who appeared on stage for the first time after his 1966 motorcycle accident.

Apart from being a magnificent singer-songwriter, Paul McCartney can presumably influence the weather. At least, this is what it looks like for his 1990 performance at the Brazilian Maracanã Stadium. A hurricane that struck Rio flooded the stadium, and weather forecasters didn’t believe the rain would stop in time for the concert. Yet, McCartney refused to cancel the event, and believe it or not, just as he was preparing to lead his band on stage, the rain did stop. Even despite the severe weather conditions everyone was expecting, the crowd at the stadium included 184,000 attendees.

It took Bruce Springsteen quite some effort to be allowed to perform in East Berlin back when the Iron Curtain still existed. Despite this, he still spoke out against the Berlin Wall that divided the nation in half. During the concert, he also addressed the crowd, saying he was there to play rock ’n’ roll for them, not to support any government, as the billing posters claimed. Just a year after the historical concert that attracted 160,000 people, the Berlin Wall fell.

Football fans might not be too fond of it, but the Maracanã Stadium has often hosted events other than sports. And one of the biggest in history was the 1983 Kiss concert. It was special for the band in many ways too. It was part of their mini, three-show tour in Brazil, their first South American shows ever, as well as their last performance in makeup until 1996. Most importantly, the concert attracted 137,000 attendees, thus becoming the largest crowd in the band’s career.

Michael Jackson confessed that he considered Liverpool to be the birthplace of modern pop music. In 1988 he visited the city to play at the Aintree racecourse. This was his closing performance in the UK as a part of his Bad world tour. 125,000 people attended the concert, which back then became the largest concert for a solo artist in the UK.

At the turn of the millennium, Oasis became one of the bands that influenced the future of indie music. And while they always knew how to gather an impressive crowd, with the Knebworth performance, they broke their own records. The show was sold out in under a day and brought 250,000 people to the tiny village in southern England.

Part of their world tour in support of the 1997 album “Pop,” the concert in a small city in northern Italy became groundbreaking not only for the band but also for music history in general. It had 150,000 attendees and has since remained in the records as the largest paying performance for a single music act.

The Who’s That Girl tour established a lot of firsts for Madonna. It was her first world tour as well as her first time visiting Japan and Europe. It included multimedia components to make it more compelling and is acknowledged to be superior to her previous tour, both musically and technically. The show in Paris sold 130,000 tickets, thus becoming the artist’s largest performance to date.