RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters)

American pop icon Lady Gaga takes the stage on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach on Saturday night (May 3) in a free concert that is expected to draw more than 1.6 million people and be one of the biggest of her career.

The 2016 Olympic host city is hosting large-scale free events featuring global stars as a way of filling hotels, bars and restaurants that have been struggling in recent years with an economic and public security crisis.

Madonna’s show on the same beach a year ago attracted 1.6 million people from all over Brazil and was the biggest live performance of her decades-long career.

Officials say Lady Gaga’s performance, scheduled for 9:45 pm local time (0045 GMT Sunday), may attract an even bigger number.

Matheus Silvestroni, 25, endured an eight-hour bus ride from Sao Paulo to be one of more than 500,000 tourists who have travelled to Rio, more than double the expected number.

A fan since he was 12, Silvestroni said Gaga had inspired him to embrace his sexuality and pursue a career as a DJ.

“I was bullied because I was a fat, gay kid, so I was an easy target,” he said. “Gaga was very important because she sent a message that everything was okay with me, I wasn’t a freak, because I was ‘Born This Way'”.

The 39-year-old singer, known for hits like ‘Bad Romance‘ and ‘Poker Face‘, last performed in Brazil in 2012, having cancelled an appearance at the Rock in Rio festival in 2017 over health issues.

The city estimates that Gaga’s visit, funded mainly by private sponsors, could inject over 600 million reais (US$100 million) into Rio’s economy.

Rodolfo Germanotta, among dozens of fans keeping vigil outside Gaga’s hotel in Copacabana, called it all “a dream come true – and a historic moment for Brazil”.