Kanye West claims to have broken audience record during Turkey gig amid bans in EU countries
The "largest stadium performance of all time," according to Kanye 'Ye' West, who is attempting an EU comeback after 12 years away and amid recent cancellations in several European territories.
Published on 01/06/2026 - 15:44 GMT+2
Controversial American rapper Kanye ‘Ye’ West had his first performance in Europe in more than decade over the weekend, playing to a stadium crowd of more than 100,000 fans in Turkey.
The gig on Saturday at Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium was his first EU concert since 2014 and comes amid ongoing controversy that has seen several concerts cancelled – including in France, the UK, Poland and Switzerland.
The rapper is attempting a comeback of sorts, following backlash to his long history of antisemitic remarks.
According to state-run Anadolu Agency, West reportedly drew a crowd of 118,000, which he claimed was the largest stadium performance in history.
“I just want to tell y’all, we just broke the record, 118,000, largest stadium performance of all time,” West told the audience.
It remains to be seen whether West did set a new record, but what's certain is that free solo concerts have drawn much larger crowds – including Lady Gaga’s 2025 Rio de Janeiro gig, which reportedly had an audience of 2.5 million, and Shakira drawing an estimated 2 million people to her Copacabana Beach concert last month.
Going back further, French electro pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre has claimed that his 1997 concert in Moscow had the world’s largest audience – at 3.5 million.
More of West’s European gigs have been axed, with the most recent being two Italian shows set to take place next month in the northern city of Reggio Emilia. Italian authorities announced that West and fellow rapper Travis Scott’s gigs would not go ahead, citing public order and security concerns.
Only a handful of dates on the tour will go ahead, including two shows in the Netherlands. Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Bart van den Brink said last week that “solid grounds” are needed to bar people from entering the country, noting West’s “past statements are not, at this moment, a reason to deny him entry.” West will be playing in Arnhem on 6 and 8 June.
West’s anti-Semitic remarks began in 2022, when he made a series of offensive comments on social media which ended up getting him booted off both X and Instagram. The musician was dropped by his talent agency and fashion brands like Adidas and Balenciaga also distanced themselves from West.
West went on to post a picture of KKK robes, rescind his previous apology to the Jewish community, declare himself “a Nazi” and assert that he has “dominion over his wife”.
In February 2025, West started selling swastika t-shirts, and in May, he released a song titled ‘Heil Hitler’, which praised the Nazi leader. This led him to be stripped of a visa to enter Australia and faced with immediate arrest in Brazil.
West apologised for his actions and took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year. He addressed his past antisemitic comments, reflecting on a "four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour" and saying that he “lost touch with reality.”
Still, many questioned the timing of his apology, considering the 2026 release of his new album ‘Bully’.
So far, the remaining EU dates for West are the Netherlands (6 and 8 June), Georgia (12 June), Albania (11 July), Spain (30 July), and Portugal (7 August).
