© 2024 Public Radio Tulsa
800 South Tucker Drive
Tulsa, OK 74104
(918) 631-2577

A listener-supported service of The University of Tulsa
classical 88.7 | public radio 89.5
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

George Strait sets a new record for the largest ticketed concert in U.S. history

George Strait performs at the Coal Miner's Daughter: A Celebration Of The Life & Music Of Loretta Lynn at the Grand Ole Opry on October 30, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Jason Kempin/Getty Images
/
Getty Images North America
George Strait performs at the Coal Miner's Daughter: A Celebration Of The Life & Music Of Loretta Lynn at the Grand Ole Opry on October 30, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Country singer George Strait just smashed another record in his chart-topping musical career.

On Saturday, the Texas native played the largest ticketed concert in U.S. history before a crowd of 110,905 fans, according to Billboard.

The performance at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field in College Station beat out the previous record held by the Grateful Dead, which jammed before 107,019 attendees during a 1977 show at Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.

Though Strait nabbed the record for the largest ticketed musical performance, there have been bigger crowds at some music festivals and free concerts held in the U.S., such as the 1986 performance by the New York Philharmonic in Central Park that drew an estimated 800,000 people.

And according to American Songwriter, perhaps the largest audience for a concert in history goes to the reputed 3.5 million fans who crammed onto Brazil’s Copacabana Beach in 1994 to hear Rod Stewart perform.

Strait is no stranger to setting records. The singer has the most No. 1 singles of any artist in any genre and is the only artist to boast a Top 10 hit every year for three decades, Billboard reported.

According to Strait’s website, the country music star also holds more than 20 attendance records at music venues across the U.S.

Strait, whose new album Cowboys and Dreamers drops in September, will perform in Salt Lake City later this month, followed by concerts in Detroit and Chicago in July.

Copyright 2024 NPR

Joe Hernandez
[Copyright 2024 NPR]