New record set for largest ticketed gig in US history

NME

The record for the all-time largest ticketed crowd for a live music concert in the United States was broken last week.

Country legend George Strait played at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas on June 15, in front of a staggering crowd of 110,905 fans.

It surpassed the longstanding record of 107,019, set by the Grateful Dead back in 1977 for a show at Raceway Park, New Jersey.

Inevitably, it set a new record for Kyle Field too, with local hotels and accommodation being overwhelmed by demand, selling out within 30 minutes of the show’s original announcement.

Strait and his Ace In The Hole Band are currently touring ahead of the release of new album ‘Cowboys And Dreamers’, which is out September 6.

Strait has more Number One singles on the US Country Charts than any other artist, and his legacy continues to be felt in pop music, as evidenced by Post Malone including a cover of his song ‘Check Yes Or No’ in his set at Stagecoach Festival back in April.

Country is seeing a resurgence in pop culture in 2024, as reported by the Official Charts Company last month, who noted a 67 per cent jump in sales and streaming in the genre in the UK compared to last year.

Leading examples of this phenomenon they cite are ‘I Had Some Help’, the collaborative single by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen – which debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number two – along with Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’, and TikTok viral hits like Shaboozey’s ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ and Dasha’s ‘Austin’.

Another star set to delve into country is Lana Del Rey, who will release her 10th album ‘Lasso’ later this year.

“The music business is going country,” she declared to attendees of a pre-Grammy event in January during her album announcement. “We’re going country. It’s happening.”

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