Rapper Jul breaks French stadium attendance record

French rapper Jul has smashed the Stade de France’s attendance record after attracting almost 100,000 fans to the Paris stadium.

The 35-year-old pulled in 97,816 fans to the sold-out concert on Saturday (26 April), which was promoted by the live division of French-headquartered music giant Believe.

The previous benchmark was set by pop-rock band Indochine, who played to 97,036 fans in 2022. U2 also drew 96,540 attendees to the Saint-Denis venue in 2010.

Tickets for Jul’s concert were priced from €55, with a reported 25,000 viewers also tuning in to the performance online via a €10 livestream.

Real name Julien Mari, Jul was the most-streamed French artist on Spotify in 2024 and is the most-certified domestic act of all time alongside the late Johnny Hallyday.

Jul opened a pop-up star in Paris to coincide with the Stade de France gig, which is open from 25 April to 4 May. He will also perform two gigs at the Orange Vélodrome (cap. 70,000) in his home city of Marseille on 23-24 May.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Stade de France (@stadefrance)

The venue, which also has upcoming shows by Ninho, DJ Snake, Beyoncé, Linkin Park, Stray Kids and Blackpink this summer, says the record was made possible due to “the stage design, the available floor space, and the stadium’s layout”.

Jul’s Stade de France bow came a week after Burna Boy became the first African artist to headline the stadium, playing to 80,698 concertgoers on 18 April.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Read More Like This

News|10 Dec 2024

French hard rock scene rebounds

Domestic hard rock acts are now starting to break through in the market, according to IQ's Global Promoters Report

News|29 Jan 2025

French live music pioneer Daniel Colling passes

The entrepreneur was involved in the creation of Printemps de Bourges, the Zénith concert venues and MaMA Music & Convention

News|12 Dec 2024

Stadium tours: Why 2025 could be biggest year yet

As an unprecedented array of superstars line up for outdoor headline shows next summer, IQ analyses the stadium concert boom

News|18 Dec 2024

Swedish stadium set to host first concert

All Things Live and Kaliber Live are bringing singer Veronica Maggio to Uppsala's Studenternas next September