Kanye West's Jakarta concert generated $25 million, governor says

American rapper and designer Kanye West's first concert in Indonesia generated about 450 billion rupiah ($25 million) for Jakarta's economy, the city's governor said, after the show drew one of the largest foreign crowds ever recorded at a concert in the country.

Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung said about 60,000 people attended the performance at Gelora Bung Karno stadium on Saturday night and that roughly 30,000 of them came from abroad. Ticket sales alone brought in about 328 billion rupiah ($18.2 million), he said on Monday.

"Yang hadir kurang lebih 60.000, 30.000 orang asing semua," Pramono told reporters on Sunday, which translates as "Around 60,000 attended, 30,000 of them foreigners." He added that such a turnout "never used to happen" in Jakarta.

The concert, billed as Ye Live in Jakarta 2026, was the only Southeast Asian stop on the tour by West, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021. He performed about 30 songs, opening with "King," on a 360-degree globe-shaped stage that promoter Raw Vision Collective shipped in from overseas.

Fans from 73 countries

Raw Vision Collective put the number of confirmed foreign visitors at more than 20,000, alongside about 30,000 domestic fans, a lower figure than the governor's. The promoter had projected about 11,000 foreign visitors when it briefed officials at Jakarta City Hall in September, then raised its estimate as sales came in.

Buyers from 73 countries snapped up 52.8% of the tickets on the first day of sales in late July, with demand from Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, the Philippines, the U.S., Japan and the U.K. Karen Tjahja, a marketing executive at the promoter, said earlier this month that it was the first time foreign fans had made up more than 5% to 9% of the audience at a concert in Indonesia.

Tickets ranged from 1.875 million rupiah ($104) for the cheapest seats to 9.85 million rupiah ($548) for VIP places. The promoter sold packages that bundled tickets with hotel stays and proposed cheaper fares on Jakarta's metro for ticket holders.

Indonesia has long lost out to Singapore and Thailand on big international tours. Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga each chose Singapore as their only regional stop. Pramono said Jakarta's economy grew 5.52%, faster than the national rate of 5.29%, and that large events were feeding spending on hotels, restaurants, transport and retail. Indonesia's Minister of Tourism, Widiyanti Putri Wardhana, backed the concert as a draw for foreign spending.

The rupiah figures are converted at about 17,990 rupiah to the dollar.

A tour shaped by bans

The Jakarta date came after West was shut out of several European markets. The British government barred him from entering the U.K. in April, saying his presence would not be "conducive to the public good," a decision that led organizers to cancel London's Wireless Festival, where he had been booked to headline all three nights. Planned stadium dates in Marseille, the Polish city of Chorzow and Italy were also cancelled.

West, 49, has faced a backlash over antisemitic remarks and songs. In a full-page newspaper advertisement in January he apologized, said he was not a Nazi or an antisemite, and blamed his behavior on a brain injury from a 2002 car crash that he said led to a bipolar disorder diagnosis.

The shows that have gone ahead have sold well. Two concerts at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in April grossed about $33 million, and the tour has since played Istanbul, the Netherlands, New Orleans and Chicago. He is due to perform in Houston on Oct. 31, in Dallas on Nov. 7 and in Phoenix on Nov. 21.

The stadium tour is a key source of income for West, whose fortune shrank after Adidas ended its Yeezy sneaker partnership with him in October 2022 over his remarks. The split cost him his billionaire status, because the Adidas deal accounted for most of his wealth.