The top 10 highest-attended free concerts of all time
From The Rolling Stones to Rod Stewart, the top ten most attended free concerts of all time unsurprisingly boast a collection of contemporary music’s most revered names.
In 1997, electronic pioneer Jean Michel-Jarre performed a concert in Moscow to celebrate the 850th anniversary of the city. It was Jarre’s first performance in Russia, held at Moscow State University, and even included a link with the Russian space station as part of the spectacle. Russian concert-goers turned out en masse for the performance, and the French composer amassed an audience of over 3.5 million, becoming the most attended free concert of all time.
Though numbers are often subject to estimation or exaggeration due to the nature of free events, many concerts claim to have garnered audiences of over a million. Jean-Michel Jarre occupies almost a third of the top ten, with his 1990 French National Day celebration show in Paris and a 1986 show for the 150th anniversary of Houston earning him a further two places on the list.
Rod Stewart’s New Year’s Eve show at Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro in 1994 takes second place on the list, matching Jarre’s 3.5m, while Jorge Ben Jor trails just behind with 3m at his own Copacabana New Year show.
Monsters of Rock, taking place at Tushino Airfield in Moscow in 1991 and featuring rock giants Metallica and AC/DC, is reported to have pulled a crowd of 1.6m. Successor to the legendary Live Aid in 1985, Live 8 follows just behind. The 2005 concert held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art garnered a crowd of 1.5m to witness a stacked lineup featuring Kanye West, the Black Eyed Peas and Stevie Wonder, to name only a few.
Topping off the list is The Rolling Stones on their ‘A Bigger Bang’ tour at Copacabana Beach, Paz Sin Fronteras II in Havana 2009, and The Beach Boys’ Independence Day show in Philadelphia 1985. Each garnered an audience of over a million, securing a spot on the top ten list.
Accumulating mass audiences from Eastern Europe to South America, these record-breaking performances show the uniting ability of live music. Check out the list below.
The biggest free gigs in the history of music:
- Jean-Michel Jarre, Moscow, 1997 – >3,500,000
- Rod Stewart, Rio de Janeiro, 1994 – >3,500,000
- Jorge Ben Jor, Rio de Janeiro, 1993 – 3,000,000
- Jean-Michel Jarre, Paris, 1990 – 2,500,000
- Monsters of Rock (with AC/DC, Metallica, The Black Crowes, Pantera, and E.S.T.), Moscow, 1991 – 1,600,000
- Live 8, Philadelphia, 2005 – 1,500,000
- The Rolling Stones, Rio de Janeiro, 2006 – 1,500,000
- Jean-Michel Jarre, Houston, 1986 – 1,300,000
- Various artists, Havana, 2009 – 1,100,000
- The Beach Boys, Philadelphia, 1985 – 1,000,000
