Rod Stewart Concert Draws 3.5 Million

Rod Stewart’s free New Year’s concert at Copacabana Beach may have set an attendance record for an open-air concert.

City authorities and both major Sunday dailies estimated the crowd at 3.5 million.

According to the 1994 Guinness Book, Brazilian singer Jorge Benjor holds the record for largest open air concert, with 3 million attending his Copacabana concert on New Year’s Day 1993.

The concert was one of several events in Rio during the holiday season designed to boost tourism, which has suffered as a result of rising crime.