Rock in Rio Lisbon entrance. |
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| Location(s) | Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Madrid |
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| Years active | 1985-present. |
| Founded by | Roberto Medina |
| Genre | Rock, pop, Heavy Metal |
| Website | Official Rock in Rio website |
Rock in Rio is a series of music festivals held in three cities: Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Lisbon in Portugal and Madrid in Spain.
Four incarnations of the festival were in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, 2001 and 2011, four in Lisbon, in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010, and two in Madrid in 2008 and 2010. The shows were organized by Brazilian entrepreneur Roberto Medina. 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 has been the largest music festival in the world, with 1.5 million people in the first edition, 700,000 in both the second and fourth editions, about 1.2 million in the third, and about 350,000 people in each of the 3 Lisbon editions.
Future editions of the festival will intercalate an international edition with one in Brazil, returning in Lisbon in 2012 and Rio in 2013. Pre-sales for the 2013 tickets started during the 2011 edition, and have already reached 15,000 orders.[1]
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| Year | Name | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Rock in Rio | Rio de Janeiro Brazil |
| 1991 | Rock in Rio II | Rio de Janeiro Brazil |
| 2001 | Rock in Rio III | Rio de Janeiro Brazil |
| 2004 | Rock in Rio Lisboa | Lisbon Portugal |
| 2006 | Rock in Rio Lisboa II | Lisbon Portugal |
| 2008 | Rock in Rio Lisboa III | Lisbon Portugal |
| 2008 | Rock in Rio Madrid | Madrid Spain |
| 2010 | Rock in Rio Lisboa IV | Lisbon Portugal |
| 2010 | Rock in Rio Madrid II | Madrid Spain |
| 2011 | Rock in Rio IV | Rio de Janeiro Brazil |
| 2012 | Rock in Rio Lisboa V | Lisbon Portugal |
| 2012 | Rock in Rio Madrid III | Madrid Spain |
| 2013 | Rock in Rio V | Rio de Janeiro Brazil |
| 2014 | Rock in Rio Lisboa VI | Lisbon Portugal |
| 2015 | Rock in Rio VI | Rio de Janeiro Brazil |
| 2016 | Rock in Rio VII | Barcelona Catalonia |
The first edition of the festival was held from January 11–20, 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 1.4 million people attended the 10-day-long festival.
The full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio:
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The second edition was held from January 18–27, 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 got top billing, for one night each. A-ha later made a video for "Early Morning" from this concert.
Full list of artists who performed at Rock in Rio 2:
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Guns N' Roses's January 20 concert was their first ever with then new drummer Matt Sorum and keyboard player Dizzy Reed. George Michael's second concert, on January 27, the festival's closing day, featured his ex-Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley, who joined Michael for a few songs at the encore. A-ha shocked the international entertainment press by drawing an audience of 198,000 at Maracanã stadium for their top-billed evening concert—a Guinness World Record for paying audiences. Again a misplaced Brazilian act suffered from bad reception, with Lobão being pelted with beer cans and being forced to cut his performance short.
The third Rock in Rio festival took place in 2001 and 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.
Iron Maiden recorded their set and released it as the live album Rock in Rio. The profits from the sale of the album were donated to the Clive Burr fund, which would help the former drummer pay mounting medical bills for treatment of his multiple sclerosis.
Another notable appearance at Rock in Rio 3 was that of American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with a new line-up featuring guitarist Buckethead, original member Axl Rose (vocals), and longtime member Dizzy Reed (keyboards). Carlinhos Brown, the opening act on the day Guns N' Roses performed, was attacked by water bottles throughout his whole performance.[4] Bassist Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age performed in the 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:
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The fourth edition of Rock in Rio, back to its origins, was held on September 23, 24, 25, 29 and 30, and October 1 and 2, 2011, at an area (pt) to be built next to the old City of Rock - which is currently the site of the future Olympic Village of 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, System of a Down and Guns N' Roses, entered following a poll on the festival's website.[5] 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:[6][7]
After the huge success of Rock in Rio 3 in Brazil, Roberto 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 [1] [2], 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 200,000 m² 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:
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The second edition of Rock in Rio Lisboa was held in 2006, on 26/27 May and 2/3/4 June.
The third edition of Rock in Rio took place in Lisbon, Portugal, on May 30, 31 and June 1 and 5-6. The dates for Arganda del Rey, Madrid, were June 27, 28 and July 4–6.
May 30
May 31
June 1
June 5
June 6
June 27
June 28
July 4
July 5
July 6
May 21 / 82.000
May 22 / 45.000
May 27 / 85.000
May 29 / 93.000
May 30 / 38.000
June 4 / 51.000
June 5 / 85.000
June 6 / 78.000
June 11 / 30.000
June 14 / 48.000