Beyonce fans have faced huge online queues today (Tuesday) as tickets for the singer's first world tour in seven years went on general sale. Ticketmaster confirmed earlier that a fifth date to see the most decorated Grammy artist of all time at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was being put on “due to high fan demand”.
The additional show for the Renaissance World Tour - on June 1 - was added to previously announced dates on May 29 and 30 and June 3 and 4. Since the announcement of the new date, numbers queueing on Ticketmaster’s website have grown to nearly 500,000, reports PA.
Beyonce, 41, will also perform at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on May 17, Murrayfield in Edinburgh on May 20 and Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on May 23. Last week, O2 apologised to fans who faced “difficulties” when pre-sale tickets were made available, after experiencing “huge demand”.
Some customers reported issues in buying tickets on the O2 Priority app and website on Thursday (February 2). Prices range from £56 for a seated ticket to £2,400 for a VIP “on stage” front row experience.
Tickets on resale sites have since been listed at between £179 and £10,517. Last year, Ticketmaster apologised after Taylor Swift fans in North America faced massive delays and error messages when trying to buy tickets for The Eras tour.
The firm blamed the issues on bots and unprecedented demand. In January, US senators grilled Ticketmaster and the company it merged with, concert promoter Live Nation, over their role in the fiasco.
A law firm representing Swift fans asked Beyonce ticket buyers on Monday to get in touch if they encounter issues during the general sale. Beyonce’s world tour kicks off on May 10 in Stockholm before visiting stadiums throughout Europe over spring and summer.
Named after her recent album, the Renaissance World Tour will help students at colleges and universities in 10 cities through scholarship funds. Beyonce’s last global tour was named after her hit song Formation, an R&B track with trap and bounce influences which celebrated her success and culture.
Renaissance, her seventh studio album which was released last year, went in another musical direction by incorporating house music and dancefloor-focused Afrobeats. On Sunday (February 5), Beyonce collected her 32nd trophy at the Grammys which took her one higher than the previous record, held by the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti.
