Celebrating 40 years after the festival’s first edition back in 1985, this year’s Rock in Rio had performances from artists like Katy Perry, Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran, Travis Scott, Imagine Dragons and more. Around 700,000 fans attended the “Cidade do Rock” (City of Rock), in Rio de Janeiro, during all seven days of the event.
The festival’s organizers dedicated its anniversary to the fans and wanted the public to feel special and seen. For that reason, they created a day for Brazilian artists only, and a special day celebrating women in music, in which all the performers were women.
All music genres are welcome at Rock in Rio, but to make it easier for the audience, the festival usually picks at least one or two per day to show up. In 2024, the festival started with the Trap, Rap and Funk day and finished with R&B and Pop. Get to know all the highlights of this iconic 40-year edition.
13/09 – trap and funk
The first day of Rock in Rio had Kayblack and Veigh, both Brazilian rappers, playing together at the Sunset stage with a performance that cheered the audience up. The singers started the show dressed like boxers in a fight and sang the fan favorites, “Confissões PT2”, their feat, “Melhor só” and “Meca Cereja” at the beginning of the concert. “Ballena” finished the set with fans screaming the lyrics, and a hug between the two artists to end their ‘battle’.
Ludmilla followed at the World stage with an amazing performance, balancing between the multiple genres that the singer has present in her discography, and the fans went crazy when the beat of the songs “Rainha da favela”, “Onda diferente” and “Sintomas de prazer” started. Later on, Ludmilla covered the song “Snooze” from the American singer, SZA, before her own song “Não quero mais” and finished with the songs “24 horas por dia” and “Favela chegou”.
The headliner of the night was the North American trapper, Travis Scott, whose concert made the audience jump, sing out loud and have a lot of fun. He played the hits “BUTTERFLY EFFECT”, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM”, “SICKO MODE” and between the tracks, Travis invited some fans to come over to the stage and sing with him while they enjoyed the songs “Type shit” and “Nightcrawler” beside the trapper.
Travis played the song “FE!N” five times in a row, and that was the most special moment not only for the artist but for the fans too, who sang along from the top of their lungs. The set ended with the massive hit “Goosebumps”, followed by “TELEKINESIS”.
14/09 – pop-rock
Zara Larsson caught the public’s attention by coming up on stage wearing Brazilian themed shorts, and inviting Dennis DJ to perform their collaboration song “Ammunition”. The Swedish singer also played her massive hit “Symphony”.
At the World stage, OneRepublic started their set with the band’s latest success “I Ain’t Worried”, as well as the other hits like “Apologize” and “Counting Stars”. On top of that, the vocalist, Ryan Tedder, sang some covers of songs he helped to write, such as “Halo”, “Maps”, “Sucker” and “greedy”.
At the Sunset stage, the Brazilian band, NX Zero, had a giant crowd singing with them. Everyone was feeling nostalgic while the tracks “Só Rezo”, “Cedo ou Tarde”, “Ligação” and “Hoje o céu abriu” were performed. The final song of the incredible concert was “Razões e Emoções”, a massive success.
The headliner of the festival’s second night, the American band, Imagine Dragons, left the audience involved throughout almost two hours with amazing energy. “Thunder”, “Bones”, “Radioactive” and “Demons” were on the setlist, of course, but the highlight of the show was the positive messages about mental health and support for the LGBTQIAP+ community the band shared. The songs made the crowd scream super loud, as usual, “Enemy” and the banger, “Believer”, ended the performance.
15/09 – Rock and metal
The Rock day of the festival started with the Brazilian band Os Paralamas do Sucesso, opening the World stage, celebrating their first performance at the festival, 40 years ago, at the 1985 edition. The band performed their biggest songs “Aonde quer que eu vá”, “Lanterna dos afogados”, “Uma brasileira”, among others, and ended with “Meu erro”, making the public cheer their historic show.
The American band, Evanescence had the fans super excited, and the vocalist of the alternative metal group, Amy Lee, had everyone completely in love with her amazing voice and made the public scream the lyrics to the giant hits “My Immortal” and “Bring Me To Life”.
Closing the Sunset stage, the classic rock band, Deep Purple, delivered an incredible performance to the public that attended the festival on that day because of the genre. The British group is the owner of “Highway star”, a massive success for rock fans, so the artists decided it was the best way to start the set. “Smoke On The Water” and “Black Night” ended the concert.
Now, finishing the day on the main stage was the band Avenged Sevenfold. In Brazil for their 6th time, the artists finally made it as headliners of a big festival, and the loyal fans that stayed to watch the performance sang the songs “Afterlife”, “Hail to the King”, “Nightmare” and “A Little Piece of Heaven” word by word.
19/09 – pop
Jão started the Thursday with a huge structure on the World stage. The Brazilian singer-songwriter tried to recreate a 70s TV variety show, with the dancers, band and also fans that he invited to the top of the stage matching this vibe. Jão performed his biggest successes “Alinhamento Milenar”, “Idiota”, “Me Lambe”, “Meninos e Meninas” and closed with a fan favorite “Essa eu fiz pro nosso amor”.
Charlie Puth’s performance was filled with good beats and people singing his biggest songs. The American singer started the set with “How Long” and followed with hits like “Attention”, “Marvin Gaye”, “We Don’t Talk Anymore” and “Light Switch”. He also sang a cover of “STAY”, a song originally by Justin Bieber and The Kid LAROI. The concert’s last song was “See You Again”, and the massive success created a special moment for the audience to sing as loud as they could.
The British singer-songwriter, Ed Sheeran, closed the fourth night of the festival by performing his biggest hits. A sequence of the ballads “Thinking Out Loud”, “Photograph” and “Perfect” made everyone present feel a little more romantic. His performance with just a guitar and a loop pedal also helped Ed prove how talented he is.
Playing songs from his first album and making the audience sing songs from the top of their lungs such as “The A Team” and “Give me Love”. Besides those, “Castle On The Hill”, “Don’t” and “Bloodstream” were the fan favorites to watch live. Ed finished the set with “Bad Habits”, and his massive hit “Shape Of You”.
20/09 – pop (women’s day)
Performing for the 19th time at Rock in Rio, Ivete Sangalo, enchanted the fans one more time this year, with a setlist filled with bangers like “Macetando”, “Poeira” and “Festa”. The Brazilian singer also sang “Eva” while flying above the audience as she tried to get a little closer to everyone present in the crowd. Liniker was Ivete’s special guest and they announced and performed their brand new collaboration “Seus recados” together.
The final act of the Sunset Stage at the Women’s Day in Rock in Rio was Iza, and the singer, who is 8 months pregnant, delivered a beautiful performance, driving the audience insane. She is the owner of many hits, including “Fé”, “Ginga”, “Brisa”, “Talismã” and “Dona de Mim”, all of which the thousands of fans sang extremely loudly. The choice for closing the concert was the successful “Pesadão”.
Headliner of the night, Katy Perry, had an outstanding performance at the World Stage. After releasing her brand new album, 143, especially in Rio, the fans were super excited to watch her live. Performing sequences of her classic successes like “California Gurls”, “Teenage Dream”, “Part of Me” and “Dark Horse”, Katy also invited the singer Cyndi Lauper on stage and sang “Time After Time”, Cyndi’s song, together.
Katy Perry followed along mixing her old hits and her songs from the new album, “WOMAN’S WORLD”, “GIMME GIMME”, “Tucked” and “Teary Eyes” were some of the new ones performed. To prepare for the end, the American singer performed the classics “Hot n Cold”, “ Last Friday Night”, “I Kissed A Girl” and “Roar” in a row. The final song of the night was “Firework”.
21/09 – brazil day
Celebrating the many genres in Brazilian music, Saturday at the Cidade do Rock had performances from a lot of singers that marked history in the country. At the Sunset Stage, Zeca Pagodinho, Alcione, Diogo Nogueira, Jorge Aragão, Xande de Pilares and Maria Rita were the names picked to represent Samba. They sang together most of their hits, including the classics “Sufoco”, “Deixa a vida me levar”, “Bagaço da Laranja” and “Verdade”. The show was special for fans of the genre and everything it represents to Brazil.
The day was also marked by the debut of the Sertanejo genre being played for the first time at the festival, with Chitãozinho e Xororó was the duo chosen to command the set. With appearances by artists such as Ana Castela, Simone Mendes and Junior, this day at the festival meant a lot to the fans that never had the opportunity to watch those singers on this type of event. The highlight of the entire night was when the duo sang the song “Evidências” accompanied by the giant crowd.
22/09 – r&b and pop
The last day of the festival had Ne-Yo, the R&B icon, delivering an electric performance of his biggest hits. The fans had a great time during “Because of You”, “Mad”, “Sexy Love” and “Miss Independent”, with Ne-Yo also inviting three fans to dance on top of the stage during “Push Back”. He later on announced he was going to play a “classic’s classic” and then, as the first beats of “So Sick” were heard, the crowd went insane. He finished the set with the bangers “Time of our Lives” and “Give me Everything”.
A highly expected attraction of the festival, Mariah Carey, closed the Sunset stage wearing a shiny dress with the Brazilian flag. The first song was her massive hit “Obsessed”, making the fans get super excited and sing as loud as they could.
The whole concert was marked by a passionate crowd having the time of their lives screaming to all the songs, including “Touch My Body”, “My All”, “Emotions”, “Fantasy”, “It’s Like That”, “I Know What You Want” and “Shake It Off”. The ending was magical as Mariah performed “We Belong Together” and “I Want To Know What Love Is”, making all the fans emotional.
The headliner of the last night of Rock in Rio was the Canadian singer Shawn Mendes. The fans waited around five years for him to be back in Brazil, also because the singer had to take some time off the stage to take care of his mental health, but the show did not disappoint. He started with the song “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back” and followed with “Wonder” and “Treat You Better”.
The highlight of the night was when Shawn played unreleased songs from his upcoming album, shawn, making the Brazilian fans feel more than special. The hits “Mercy”, “Lost in Japan”, “Stitches” and his latest single “Why Why Why” were also performed. The final song was “In My Blood” which started quietly on the piano and grew bigger, ending the night with fireworks and lots of confetti.
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The article above was edited by Mariana Aguiar.
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