Zach Bryan has made history with a performance that drew the largest ticketed concert audience in U.S. history. 

On Saturday night, the country star became the first artist to ever play Michigan Stadium, where 112,408 fans filled The Big House. 

According to AEG Presents, the show’s promoter, the event also set a record in merchandise sales, bringing in $5 million.

Bryan was joined by special guest John Mayer, along with support from Ryan Bingham and the Texas Gentlemen and Joshua Slone. 

The record-breaking crowd surpassed George Strait’s 2024 Kyle Field concert in Texas, which drew 110,905 fans. 

Strait also held the No. 3 spot with 104,793 attendees that same year in New Jersey.

Before Bryan’s show, the second-largest U.S. ticketed concert had been the Grateful Dead’s 1977 Raceway Park event in New Jersey with 107,019 people, according to Billboard’s touring chart.

While Bryan now holds the record for the largest ticketed audience, the biggest concert crowd overall still belongs to Rod Stewart, who performed for an estimated 3.5 million people at a free New Year’s Eve concert on Copacabana Beach in Brazil in 1994. 

The famous beach has also hosted massive shows from Jorge Ben, Lady Gaga, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones.

Michigan Stadium, the largest stadium in the U.S. and the third largest in the world, had never before been used for a headlining concert. 

Known primarily for college football, it has hosted other sporting events like soccer matches and professional hockey games, but Bryan’s show marked its debut as a music venue.

The milestone comes amid rising tension between Bryan and fellow country artist Gavin Adcock, whose rivalry boiled over at the Born & Raised Festival in Pryor, Oklahoma. 

A video from the event showed Bryan climbing over a barbed wire fence to confront Adcock before his performance, shouting, “Hey, do you want to fight like a man? Come open the gate,” while pounding on the fence. 

Security quickly intervened, separating the two musicians.

Their feud dates back to July, when Adcock criticized Bryan on social media after a teenager shared a negative encounter. 

“If you can’t handle the criticism of a 14-year-old why do you people idolize you?” Adcock wrote at the time. 

Bryan later responded with a post he deleted, saying, “You’re not entitled after someone plays two and a half hours to a picture or a hello.”

Adcock has since doubled down, claiming on a podcast that Bryan is “not that great of a person” and accusing him of “wearing a big mask” around others. 

After the near-brawl in Oklahoma, Adcock explained why he didn’t escalate the fight, writing, “Had a show to play for Oklahoma. Wasn’t going to jail over that psycho.”

Fans remain divided, with some accusing Adcock of backing down while others criticized Bryan’s outburst. 

Despite the controversy, Bryan’s record-breaking concert in Michigan is a reminder of his massive draw, even as drama continues to follow him offstage.