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AP and AFP, RIO DE JANEIRO
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Colombian superstar Shakira on Saturday night gave a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, an event that the city’s mayor said drew 2 million people to one of the world’s most iconic waterfronts.
The performance followed similar shows by Madonna in 2024 and Lady Gaga last year, which also were attended by huge crowds that danced on the sprawling sands. For Shakira, it was part of her world tour for her 2024 album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Women No Longer Cry).
The 49-year-old Colombian superstar took the stage dressed in Brazil’s national colors shortly after 11pm, more than an hour behind schedule, as skywriting drones flew overhead, spelling out “I love you Brazil” in Portuguese.
People attend a concert by Colombian singer Shakira on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday.
Photo: EPA
The megastar spoke fondly about the first time she came to Brazil, three decades ago.
“I arrived here when I was 18 years old, dreaming about singing for you,” Shakira told the crowd shortly after coming on stage. “And now look at this. Life is magical.”
The much-loved pop star sang fan favorites such as Hips Don’t Lie, La Tortura and La Bicicleta on a stage outside the legendary Copacabana Hotel measuring 1,345m2.
Colombian singer Shakira, front, left, performs alongside Brazilian singer Maria Bethania, front, right, during a concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday.
Photo: EPA
She also celebrated women’s resilience during the show.
“Us women, every time we fall we get up a little wiser,” she said.
Rio Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere wrote on X that 2 million people attended the performance.
“The 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 amazing connection with the Brazilian public, said Felipe Maia, an ethnomusicologist pursuing a doctoral degree on popular music and digital technologies at Paris Nanterre University.
That success in Brazil “has a lot to do with the fact that she comes from Colombia, a country whose culture has many similarities with Brazil,” Maia said, adding that Saturday’s performance “crowns the relationship she has had with Brazil for a very long time.”
Erica Monteiro, a 38-year-old accountant, said she has listened to Shakira since childhood.
“For me she represents the strength of our Latino community,” Monteiro said ahead of the concert. “We’re treated as if we were inferior but in fact we have much more strength.”
Heading home after Saturday’s show, Hellem Souza da Silva said Shakira’s performance, like Bad Bunny’s concerts in Sao Paulo in February, helped consolidate Brazil’s Latino identity.
These artists “are making it clear that Brazil, Puerto Rico, Colombia and other countries are part of Latin America — and that America is not the United States,” she said.
Crowds started piling onto the beach Saturday morning to nab a good spot for the show.
“She loves Brazil so much and the love she has for us is the love we have for her,” said superfan Graciele Vaz, who slept on the beach Friday night after traveling four hours from the resort town of Paraty.
“I’ve been a Shakira fan for more than 20 years,” the 43-year-old said, sporting a large she-wolf tattoo on her back.
