Lady Gaga: Fans gather in Rio de Janeiro for the free concert

Rio de Janeiro's iconic Copacabana Beach was filled with excited Lady Gaga fans, hours before the American pop diva's free concert Saturday night in the southeastern Brazilian city.

The mayor's office of the "Marvelous City" estimates an audience of 1.6 million people , which is expected to inject $100 million into the local economy, almost 30% more than what was earned by Madonna's free show at the same venue a year ago.

Some Lady Gaga fans, affectionately called "little monsters," arrived almost at dawn.

From the nearest subway exit, the following waves of fans were approached by a succession of street vendors offering fans or sarongs bearing the image of their idol.

They then had to wait in a long line to pass through police checkpoints with metal detectors and gain access to the beach, on an intensely hot day.

Local authorities deployed more than 5,000 security officers , assisted by drones and facial recognition cameras.

Saturday's concert is part of the promotional tour for "Mayhem," Lady Gaga's eighth album.

Singles from the album, such as "Abracadabra" and "Die with a Smile" —recorded with Bruno Mars and awarded a Grammy, the 14th for the 39-year-old singer and actress—are popular on streaming platforms.

"I arrived at 7:40 in the morning," Alisha Duarte, 22, told AFP. She was trying to cool off with a fan decorated in the colors of the rainbow, a symbol of the LGBTQ community, which is widely represented in Copacabana.

"It's quiet for now. It'll be tougher at night when it starts to get crowded, but we'll survive. Lady Gaga deserves it," he added.

Alan Jones, a hairdresser from the southern state of Santa Catarina, has tattooed a blue skull on his left arm, inspired, he says, by "Born This Way," his favorite song by the American singer.

"It was the song that made me accept myself as I am," he said, days before his 30th birthday.

For his part, Luan Messias, 28, traveled all night from Itanhaém, in the neighboring state of Sao Paulo, to attend the concert.

"I hope he sings Abracadabra, it's a very danceable song, like the ones at the beginning," he said.

Lady Gaga hadn't performed in Brazil since 2012. She was scheduled to headline the Rock in Rio festival in 2017, but had to cancel at the last minute due to health reasons.