The British Elton John and the Brazilian Gilberto Gil were announced this Tuesday as the first stars confirmed for the 2026 edition of the Rock in Rio festival, which will feature seven nights of concerts between September 4 and 13 at the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro.
The two veteran singers and songwriters will share the Palco Mundo, the main stage of Brazil’s largest music festival, on the night of September 7, Rock in Rio organizers announced at a press conference.
The organization clarified that the presentation of the British musician in the capital of Rio de Janeiro will be the only one by Elton John in Brazil in 2026, which consolidates the exclusive nature of the eleventh edition of the festival in Rio de Janeiro.
“Elton John was retired, but he returned for a few shows, the only one of which in Brazil will be Rock in Rio,” said the festival’s commercial director, Anna Deccache.
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According to Roberto Medina, creator of the event, the headliners on two other of the seven days will also offer exclusive concerts in the country, without other stops in Brazilian territory.
Rock in Río also announced that for next year’s edition it will renovate the Palco Mundo, which will be 104 meters wide and 31.5 meters high, as well as 2,400 square meters of LED screens, a figure higher than that used in all the festival stages in 2024.
Among the novelties is also the return of the air show The Flight, with five planes, the presentation of an unreleased soundtrack and a tribute to bossa nova.
In its most recent edition in this Brazilian city, in September 2024, Rock in Rio brought together some 700,000 people for seven nights of concerts and featured artists such as Ed Sheeran, Deep Purple, Imagine Dragons, Avenged Sevenfold, Travis Scott, Shawn Mendes, Karol G, Katy Perry, Evanescence, Mariah Carey, Cyndi Lauper, Incubus and Joss Stone.
Since the first festival, in 1985, Rock in Rio has had twenty-four editions, ten of which in Rio de Janeiro and the others in Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas, which have been attended by some thirteen million people, according to data from the organizers.
With information from EFE
