Lady Gaga gave a free concert Saturday night in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach for the biggest show of her career.

“Tonight, we’re making history. ... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd.

The Mother Monster, as she is known, kicked off the show with her 2011 song “Bloody Mary.” Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder- to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show.

Lady Gaga performed her classic hits, including “Poker Face” and “Alejandro,” switching between an array of dresses, including one with the colors of the Brazilian flag.

Some fans arrived on the beach at the crack of dawn to secure a good spot, armed with snacks and drinks. They spent the day under a blazing sun, while others perched in trees, determined to get a panoramic view.

“Today is the best day of my life,” said Manoela Dobes, 27, a designer who was wearing a dress plastered with a photograph from when she met Lady Gaga in the United States in 2019. “It’s surreal to be here.”

Madonna also turned Copacabana Beach into a massive dance floor last year. Similar concerts are scheduled to take place every year in May at least until 2028.

Lady Gaga arrived in Rio early Tuesday. A free exhibition celebrating her career sold out. The city was alive with Gaga-mania as it geared up to welcome the pop star for her first show in the country since 2012.

Among those present Saturday were admirers who remember their disappointment in 2017, when the artist canceled a show at the last minute because of health issues.

Ricardo Filho, 25, who has been a fan since childhood, said it was worth the wait.

“She’s the best artist in the world,” he said as chants of “Gaga, I love you” in Portuguese rose from the crowd behind him.

‘Thunderbolts*’ opens with $76M: Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts*” opened with $76 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, kicking off the summer box office with a solid No. 1 debut that fell shy of Marvel’s more spectacular launches.

All eyes had been on whether “Thunderbolts*” — a team-up of antihero rejects similar to “Avengers” — could restore the Walt Disney Co. superhero factory to the kind of box-office performance the studio once enjoyed. The results suggest that Marvel’s malaise won’t be so easy to snap out of.

Some had expected a bigger opening because of the film’s good word-of-mouth. Unlike most recent Marvel Cinematic Universe entries, reviews (88% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) have been excellent for “Thunderbolts*,” directed by Jake Schreier and starring Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Sebastian Stan.

May 6 birthdays: Singer Bob Seger is 80. Actor Richard Cox is 77. TV host Tom Bergeron is 70. Actor Roma Downey is 65. Actor George Clooney is 64. Guitarist Chris Shiflett is 54. Actor Adrianne Palicki is 42. Comedian Sasheer Zamata is 39. Rapper Meek Mill is 38. Actor Naomi Scott is 32. Actor Noah Galvin is 31.