Burna Boy’s scheduled arrival at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on April 18, 2025, marks a milestone for African music as the Nigerian singer prepares to perform a solo concert at the 80,000-capacity venue, according to event organizers at the stadium. All tickets for the Paris date sold out within days of going on sale in September, underscoring the international reach of Afrobeat.
From Port Harcourt to Global Stages
Born Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu on July 2, 1991, in Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria, the artist grew up with a welding engineer father and a translator mother, according to background details published by the Stade de France. After completing his schooling in Lagos, he moved to London to continue his education before launching his recording career.
At age 22, he released his debut studio album, LIFE (an acronym for Leaving an Impact For Eternity), in the summer of 2013 through Aristokrat Records. The project featured contributions from Wizkid and sold more than 40,000 copies on its release day, records show. He subsequently founded his own label, issuing his second album, On a Spaceship, in 2015 and a seven-track EP in September 2016.
International Breakthroughs and Collaborations
Burna Boy’s career expanded globally in 2018 when he teamed up with rock band Fall Out Boy on the track “Sunshine Riptide.” That same year, his third studio album, Outside, featured the song “More Life,” which Canadian rapper Drake later sampled. Rather than pursuing legal action, the two musicians collaborated directly on the track “Balling.” Singles such as “Ye” further established his footprint in Nigeria and abroad.
His fourth studio album, African Giant, arrived in 2019, earning him an Apple Music New Artist designation and a placement on Beyoncé’s curated soundtrack album, The Lion King: The Gift. In 2020, he released Twice as Tall, featuring guest appearances from Youssou N’Dour, Chris Martin of Coldplay, and the American hip-hop group Naughty by Nature. The album won the 2021 Grammy Award in the Best World Music Album category.
Milestones at Madison Square Garden and Wembley Stadium
In 2022, Burna Boy released his sixth studio album, Love, Damini, marking ten years in the music industry with contributions from Ed Sheeran on the single “For My Hand.” That April, he headlined and filled Madison Square Garden in New York, followed by a concert in 2023 at Wembley Stadium in London, which holds a capacity of 90,000, according to venue figures.
Stade de France documents note that his upcoming Paris appearance positions him as the first African artist to headline a solo concert at the national stadium, drawing on a decade of expanding international touring and crossover appeal.
Worth a look
