Rock in Rio is a biennial Brazilian multi-day music festival held at City of Rock in Rio de Janeiro. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Ten incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, 2001, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2024; nine in Lisbon, in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2022; three in Madrid in 2008, 2010 and 2012; and one in Las Vegas, in 2015. Brazilian entrepreneur and advertiser Roberto Medina was responsible for the inception and organization of the festival, as well as moving the 2004 edition to Lisbon, while controversially keeping the brand "Rock in Rio". In 2011, Rock in Rio returned to its original location, Rio de Janeiro, with a new line-up of singers and groups. Rock in Rio is one of the largest music festivals in the world, with 1.38 million people attending the first event, 700,000 attending the second and fourth, about 1.2 million attending the third, and about 350,000 people attending each of the three Lisbon events. In May 2018, Live Nation Entertainment acquired a majority stake in the festival (including from previous stakeholder SFX Entertainment), with Medina continuing to manage the festival's operations. Live Nation stated that it intended to "[integrate] their industry expertise" into their overall business. In 2022, Lisbon hosted the 9th edition on several dates in June at Bela Vista Park. Rio de Janeiro hosted its edition on several dates in September.

History

Rio de Janeiro

Rock in Rio (1985)

The first edition of the festival was held from 11–20 January 1985. Queen, George Benson, Rod Stewart, AC/DC, and Yes were the headliners, each occupying top spot for two nights (Benson, however, ceded it to James Taylor for their second night in the same bill, due to the huge delay Taylor's extended performance had caused to his concert two days before). About 1.38 million people attended the 10-day-long festival.

Rock in Rio in numbers

The full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio:

Rock in Rio 2 (1991)

The second edition was held from 18–27 January 1991 at the Maracanã stadium. Headliners were Guns N' Roses, Prince and George Michael, each being top billed for two of the event's nine nights. INXS, New Kids on the Block and A-ha also had top billing, for one night each. The third night, headlined by Guns N' Roses, attracted more than 100.000 people to the stadium, the biggest audience of the nine-day event. A-ha broke the record for largest paying attendance at a concert with 198,000 fans in attendance. Full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio 2: Guns N' Roses's 20 January concert was their first ever with then new drummer Matt Sorum and keyboard player Dizzy Reed. George Michael's second concert, on 27 January, the festival's closing day, featured his ex-Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley, who joined Michael for a few songs at the encore.

Rock in Rio 3 (2001)

The third Rock in Rio festival took place in 2001. Its seven nights were headlined, respectively, by Sting, R.E.M., Guns N' Roses, 'N Sync, Iron Maiden, Neil Young and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Once O Rappa complained about their assigned time, as the contract predicted a night concert that wound up scheduled for 6:30 PM while the lesser known in the country Deftones remained in the evening, they were expelled, and five other Brazilian bands, Jota Quest, Raimundos, Charlie Brown Jr., Skank and Cidade Negra, withdrew from the festival in protest. Iron Maiden released their set as Rock in Rio. Profits from the sale of the album were donated to the Clive Burr fund, helping their former drummer pay mounting medical bills for his multiple sclerosis. A notable appearance at Rock in Rio 3 was that of American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, their first large show since 1993, with a new line-up featuring vocalist Axl Rose, guitarists Buckethead, Robin Finck & Paul Tobias, bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Brain and keyboardists Dizzy Reed & Chris Pitman. Carlinhos Brown, the opening act on the day Guns N' Roses performed, was attacked by water bottles throughout his performance. Bassist Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age performed nude for part of their set and was arrested for indecent exposure after the concert, being released soon after. Full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio 3:

Rock in Rio 4 (2011)

The fourth edition of Rock in Rio, back to its origins, was held on 23, 24, 25, 29 and 30 September, and 1 and 2 October 2011, at an area (pt) to be built next to the old City of Rock – which was the site of the Olympic Village for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Three different stages were employed, with the headlining concerts at the Palco Mundo (World Stage), the secondary ones in Palco Sunset (Sunset Stage), and DJs playing at a specialized stage for electronic music. The closing acts, Guns N' Roses and System of a Down, entered following a poll on the festival's website. Maroon 5 was a last hour addition, following Jay-Z leaving for personal reasons. Full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio 4:

Rock in Rio 5 (2013)

Rock in Rio 5 was held in September 2013. The headline acts, chronologically, were: Beyoncé, Muse, Justin Timberlake, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and Iron Maiden.

Rock in Rio 6 (2015)

The sixth Brazilian edition was held from 18 to 27 September 2015 at the City of Rock. The headliners were Queen + Adam Lambert, Metallica, Rod Stewart, Elton John, System of a Down, Slipknot, Rihanna and Katy Perry.

Rock in Rio 7 (2017)

The seventh Brazilian edition was held in the City of Rock from 15 to 24 September 2017. The headliners were Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, The Who, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Singer Lady Gaga was scheduled to perform on 15 September, but had to cancel 24 hours before due to fibromyalgia. Maroon 5 performed a second concert due to her absence. Shawn Mendes and 5 Seconds of Summer also performed.

Rock in Rio 8 (2019)

The eight Brazilian edition was held from 27 September to 6 October 2019. It marked the first performance of singer Pink in Latin America

Rock in Rio 9 (2022)

The ninth edition of Rock in Rio in Brazil took place between 2–11 September 2022.

Rock in Rio 10 (2024)

The tenth edition of Rock in Rio in Brazil took place between 13–22 September 2024. It was the first Rock in Rio to dedicate an entire day of its line up to Brazilian artists only, with musical spectacles called "Forever...", featuring multiple artists from different genres.

Lisbon, Portugal, and Madrid, Spain

Rock in Rio Lisboa (2004)

After the huge success of Rock in Rio 3 in Brazil, Roberta Medina decided to organize a festival of the same stature in Lisbon. The decision to maintain the name Rock in Rio was controversial, and detractors of the idea in Brazil started calling it Rock in Rio Tejo, after the Tagus river (rio Tejo, in Portuguese) which runs through the Portuguese capital. The first edition of Rock in Rio Lisboa, as the festival was officially called, took place in 2004. Although the festival had a slight change of name, it kept the same structure as the Brazilian editions. An entire City of Rock, with an area of over 260,000 audience was erected at the Bela Vista park, with a large centre stage and several tents where different artists would perform, simultaneously. Full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio Lisboa:

Rock in Rio Lisboa 2 (2006)

The second edition of Rock in Rio Lisboa was held in 2006, on 26/27 May and 2/3/4 June.

Rock in Rio Lisboa & Madrid (2008)

The third edition of Rock in Rio took place in Lisbon, Portugal, on 30 May 31 and 1 June and 5–6. The dates for Arganda del Rey, Madrid, were 27 June 28 and 4–6 July.

Rock in Rio Lisboa 3

30 May 31 May 1 June 5 June 6 June

Rock in Rio Madrid

27 June 28 June 4 July 5 July 6 July

Rock in Rio Lisboa & Madrid (2010)

==== Rock in Rio Lisboa 4 ==== 21 May / 82.000 22 May / 45.000 27 May / 85.000 29 May / 88.000 30 May / 38.000

Rock in Rio Madrid 2

4 June / 51.000 5 June / 90.000 6 June / 40.000 11 June / 30.000 14 June / 48.000

Rock in Rio Lisboa & Madrid (2012)

==== Rock in Rio Lisboa 5 ==== ==== Rock in Rio Madrid 3 ====

Rock in Rio Lisboa 6 (2014)

Rock in Rio Lisboa 7 (2016)

Rock in Rio Lisboa 8 (2018)

24 June sold out almost three months prior to the festival.

Rock in Rio Lisboa 9 (2022)

The festival was originally set to take place in June 2020, but was postponed to 2021 and again to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rock in Rio Lisboa 10 (2024)

Las Vegas

Rock in Rio USA (2015)

"Rock in Rio USA" was the first North American edition of the festival, being held in Las Vegas on 8, 9, 15 and 16 May 2015. The festival took place on two weekends, oriented towards rock and pop music. Rock Weekend took place on 8 and 9 May, and Pop Weekend took place on 15 and 16 May. It took place in the City of Rock (Las Vegas), located north of the Las Vegas Strip.

Live broadcasts

The TV Globo Networks broadcast selected Rock in Rio concerts in Brazil, with cable affiliate Multishow broadcasting live concerts. In Nigeria, TNT and A&E broadcasts the festival live. In Portugal, Rock in Rio Lisboa is broadcast by SIC Radical.

Footnotes

Citations