Swedish pop star breaks NZ arena record

Author: Mitchell Hageman,
Publish Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2026, 2:29pm

Swedish singer Zara Larsson received a pōwhiri from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei before her record-breaking Spark Arena show. Photo / Te Whare Karioi, Instagram

Swedish singer Zara Larsson has eclipsed Linkin Park’s record for New Zealand’s largest indoor arena concert, with 12,798 fans flocking to her Monday night show in Auckland.

The 28-year-old singer, known for her chronically online persona, colourful performances and radio hits like Lush Life and Midnight Sun, performed twice at Auckland’s Spark Arena over Labour weekend, with 25,594 punters attending across two nights.

Larsson’s Sunday show, her first ever in New Zealand, attracted 12,769 people, just two shy of Monday’s record.

She had previously performed her biggest show to almost 18,000 fans at Sydney’s Afterpay Arena last Friday.

Zara Larsson has set New Zealand's indoor arena record for a single show. Photo / Robin Boee

Live Nation tour promoter Mike Ross said the singer has had a “meteoric rise” due to her stage presence and genuine connection with her fans.

“Breaking the all-time record at Spark Arena is a rarefied achievement amongst the many legendary names who have played the venue over the last 19 years – to do it twice, on consecutive nights, is incredible.”

Spark Arena’s general manager, Mark Gosling, said the figure “may be hard to beat”.

The promoter said Larsson and her touring crew were welcomed to Auckland with a pōwhiri from local iwi Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, followed by a presentation celebrating the record being broken.

Larsson’s love of New Zealand was on show throughout the two performances, walking out on Sunday to Pātea Māori Club’s 1987 hit Poi E and performing a brief cover of Royals by Kiwi singer Lorde at a VIP soundcheck.

“Thank you Auckland night 1!!!!!! I LOOOOVE YOU!!!!!” she posted to Instagram on Tuesday, together with a montage of her performance and crowd reception.

Larsson, who was born in Stockholm, first rose to prominence in 2008, when she won the second season of Swedish talent show Talang.

Her 2017 album So Good was one of the highest-charting albums of that year, and her most recent album, Midnight Sun, garnered critical acclaim and spurred the current record-breaking tour of the same name.

Many of her older songs also reached audiences on content creation platform TikTok over the last few years, sparking renewed interest in her music.

Spark Arena opened 19 years ago and is New Zealand’s largest indoor arena.

The previous attendance set by Linkin Park in 2026 was 12,736. US singer P!nk set the all-time multi-night attendance record for the venue, with 73,087 fans across six sold-out shows of her Beautiful Trauma World Tour.