Shakira draws 2 million spectators to free concert on Brazil’s Copacabana Beach, mayor says.

Colombian star Shakira performed a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night, an event the city’s mayor said drew two million people to one of the world’s best water spots.

Performance followed similar shows Madonna in 2024 again Lady Gaga last year, which was also attended by crowds of people dancing on the scattered sands. For Shakira, it was part of “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” or “Women No Longer Cry,” the world tour named after her 2024 album.

Shakira’s set began around 11 p.m., more than an hour after the scheduled performance, with her fans screaming with excitement and loud applause as sky drones flew overhead, writing in the sky, “I love you Brazil” in Portuguese.

This star spoke sweetly when he first arrived in Brazil, thirty years ago.

“I came here when I was 18 years old, dreaming of singing for you,” Shakira told the crowd as she entered the stage. “Now look at this. Life is magical.”

The popular pop star sang fan favorites like “Hips Don’t Lie,” “La Tortura” and “La Bicicleta.” She concluded with “BZRP Music Sessions #53/66,” which followed her breakup with Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué.

He also took time to celebrate the resilience of women during the show. “We women every time we fall, we get up slowly and become wiser,” she said.

One of the first places where Shakira had success

Rio Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere said on social media that 2 million people attended the event. “She-Wolf made history in Rio,” he wrote, referring to Shakira’s 2009 hit.

When Shakira first performed in Brazil in the 1990s, she established an incredible connection with Brazilian society, according to Felipe Maia, an ethnomusicologist pursuing a doctorate in popular music and digital technology at Paris Nanterre University.

That Brazilian success “has a lot to do with the fact that he comes from Colombia, a country whose culture has a lot in common with Brazil,” Maia said, adding that Saturday’s performance “represents the relationship he has had with Brazil for a very long time.”

Erica Monteiro, an accountant, 38, said she has been listening to Shakira since childhood.

“To me you represent the strength of our Latino community,” Monteiro said before the concert. “We are considered inferior but in fact we have more power.”

Going home after Saturday’s performance, Hellem Souza da Silva said that Shakira’s performance, like Bad Bunny’s concerts in Sao Paulo in February, helped unite Brazil’s Latino identity.

These artists “make it clear that Brazil, Puerto Rico, Colombia and other countries are part of Latin America. And that America is not the United States,” he said.

Crowds began to gather on the beach on Saturday morning to find a good spot for the show. Street vendors sold sweet corn and other Brazilian snacks, bottled water and caipirinhas, the famous Brazilian cocktail, but also toilet paper, deodorant and even sandbags for concertgoers to stand up to get a better view of the stage set up opposite the Copacabana Palace, a luxurious historic hotel.

Street vendor Simone Paula da Cunha arrived at the beach on Friday evening, hoping to sell all the bottles of beer and water she had bought before the show and make about $100 in total.

Despite being tired, da Cunha was excited at the prospect of seeing Shakira live. “I remember him when he had black hair,” she said. “I’m a big fan of his.”

An attempt to improve the city’s post-Carnival economy

The free concerts are part of City Hall’s efforts to boost economic activity after the Carnival and New Year celebrations and before the Saint John’s Day celebrations in June.

“For us, parties are a serious business. Because parties generate jobs, income, development, and ownership of the city,” said Cavaliere, the mayor, on Wednesday when he presented the city’s action plan for the event. “Our investment in this exhibition will give us a 40-fold return on investment,” he said.

Shakira’s performance could generate about 777 million reais (about $155 million), according to a study by City Hall and Riotur, the municipal tourism company, due to the influx of tourists and money spent in restaurants, hotels and shops.

More tourists go to Rio in the month of May in the years with exhibitions – 2024 and 2025 – compared to 2023, according to City Hall data. In 2024, growth was 34.2% on May 1, just before the concerts, compared to the previous year. In 2025, the increase was 90.5% compared to 2023.

During last year’s concert with Lady Gaga, Arrested by Rio de Janeiro police two people for the alleged bomb plot. The police said the two arrested were part of a group that was spreading hate speech to the LGBTQ community, and wanted to incite violence and incite youths to attack using Molotov cocktails and explosives.

Before Shakira’s concert, Airbnb in a statement on April 22 said that it sees an increase in tourists who are expected to travel from different parts of Brazil, Latin America and European capitals such as Paris and London.

Wanderson Andrade, a 30-year-old architect, said he flew in specifically for the show from the central Brazilian city of Goiana on Saturday and planned to fly back the next day.

“I tried to get tickets to see her in Brazil last year but I was unsuccessful,” said Andrade, who drew the first wolf tattoo in honor of Shakira. “Today the dream came true.”