Madonna plays biggest show of career to 1.6million people in Brazil

5 May, 2024

Madonna

Madonna wrapped up her ‘Celebration’ tour with the largest show of her career to 1.6million people at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The show featured a career-spanning 26-song setlist with guest appearances from two Brazilian musicians – Anitta joined for ‘Vogue’, while Pabllo Vittar guested on the tour debut of ‘Music’.

“Rio, here we are, in the most beautiful place in the world, with the ocean, the mountains, Jesus,” Madonna told the crowd, referring to the city’s famous Christ the Redeemer statue. “Magic.”

According to Reuters, many attendees had waited for hours or even days to secure a good spot, while others watched from boats or beachfront apartments.

The free concert – Madonna’s first show in Brazil since 2012 – took place at a venue that had previously played host to huge shows from the likes of The Rolling Stones in 2006, while Rod Stewart broke the world record for the most-attended concert of all time when he performed there in front of 4.2million people in 1994.

Check out footage of the gig and the full setlist below:

Setlist:

Act I
‘Nothing Really Matters’
‘Everybody’
‘Into the Groove’
‘Burning Up’
‘Open Your Heart’
‘Holiday’

Act II
‘Live to Tell’
‘Like a Prayer’

Act III
‘Erotica’
‘Justify My Love’
‘Hung Up’
‘Bad Girl’

Act IV
‘Vogue (with Anitta)’
‘Human Nature’
‘Crazy for You’

Act V
‘The Beast Within’
‘Die Another Day’
‘Don’t Tell Me’
‘This Little Light of Mine’
‘Express Yourself’
‘La Isla Bonita’
‘Music (with Pabllo Vittar)’

Act VI
‘Bedtime Story’
‘Ray of Light’
‘Rain’

Act VII
‘Billie Jean / Like a Virgin’
‘Bitch I’m Madonna’
‘Celebration’

In a five-star review of her performance at The O2 in London back in October, NME wrote: “On the opening night of her greatest hits tour Madge delivers the bangers in dazzling fashion, but it’s the emotional moments that make this show truly special.”

It continued: “The whole thing is a thrilling reminder that Madonna isn’t just a pop star, but also a cultural force who genuinely changed the world by chafing against what society expects from women in the public eye. That’s something worth celebrating in the dazzling, dynamic and at times slightly discombobulating way she presents it here. Really, you wouldn’t have her any other way.”

The tour was postponed from its original start date in July 2023 following Madonna’s life-threatening bacterial infection, which left her family “preparing for the worst”. The singer has since recovered, and has revealed her first word that she spoke upon waking up from her coma.

Meanwhile, Madonna recently brought out t Salma Hayek as a special guest judge for the ‘Vogue’ portion of her concert in Mexico.

The post Madonna plays biggest show of career to 1.6million people in Brazil appeared first on NME.