After fans waited more than three hours for the finale in Jay-Z‘s three-night stand at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, the rapper addressed the extensive delay early in the show, telling those in the crowd there were thousands of people outside and that the show was pushed back to back to avoid crowd safety issues.
“Let me explain the delay to you guys,” Jay said after finally kicking off the show after 12 a.m. ET Monday. “It was like 10,000 people outside, and we closed all the doors, and somebody rushed the door. They closed the door for you guys’ safety and everyone’s safety outside. There’s 10,000 people outside; I don’t want to start the music and people get trampled. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, but I had to make sure everyone was OK. I appreciate your patience.”
Inside the stadium, concertgoers were frustrated by the delay but an incredibly enthusiastic audience once the show got underway. The vast majority of the fans stayed through most of the show, which was initially scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET and instead wrapped around 2:45 a.m. ET, with celebratory fireworks going off over Yankee Stadium.
Roc Nation, Yankee Stadium and LiveNation released a joint statement after the show, saying: “The Yankees, Roc Nation and Live Nation express our deep gratitude to the NYPD and to Yankee Stadium security personnel for their leadership and direction throughout the evening, putting the welfare of attendees above all other considerations.”
The delay marked a rocky start for what had been the most hotly-anticipated of Jay-Z’s historic three-night hometown stand at Yankee Stadium. Fans had been anxiously awaiting what the hip-hop icon had in store after already bringing out Beyoncé, Nas and Alicia Keys during night one and Eminem for night two.
Special guests on the final night’s show, dubbed “Extra Innings,” included Rihanna, who joined Jay-Z on “Run This Town” and then offered a solo rendition of “Bitch Better Have My Money,” making a rare concert appearance; Beyoncé, who performed “Drunk In Love” near the end of the show; Teyana Taylor, joining Jay-Z on “Can’t Knock the Hustle”; Usher; and Pharrell Williams.
Concerts have been a bit of a rarity for Jay-Z since wrapping his 4:44 Tour back in 2017. The Yankee Stadium shows are a full-circle moment for him, a celebration of the 30th anniversary of his seminal album Reasonable Doubt and the 25th anniversary of The Blueprint.
While the Yankee Stadium concerts have extra meaning taking place in his hometown, Jay will also be performing in London, Paris and Los Angeles in the months ahead. He’s also the subject of a Rick Rubin-directed docuseries set to hit HBO this fall.
July 13, 12:55 a.m. This story has been updated with more details from the Yankee Stadium concert.