Katy Perry to perform at 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race-day concert

American singer promises high-energy show at Etihad Park

Katy Perry is returning to the UAE to perform at the 2025 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. AFP

Katy Perry is set to perform the race day concert as part of the 2025 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The American pop star will close out the four-night after-race concert series at Etihad Park on Sunday, December 7, with the preceding shows taking place nightly from December 4. Access to all concerts is exclusive to Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix ticket holders and tickets for the event are now available online. The next headlining artist will be announced soon.

While the occasion marks Perry’s UAE F1 debut, it will be the singer’s second concert in Abu Dhabi. She performed a New Year’s Eve gig at Etihad Park, then called Du Arena, in 2017. In The National’s review, Perry was praised for delivering a “fun pop music spectacle,” with a set full of emphatic hits including Roar, Dark Horse, and California Gurls.

Katy Perry last performed in the UAE on New Year's Eve 2017. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Her return to Abu Dhabi follows last year’s seventh studio album 143, in which she revisits her dance-pop roots and reuniting with longtime collaborators Max Martin, Dr Luke and Stargate. The album has produced three singles so far, including Woman’s World and I’m His, He’s Mine. By the time she arrives in the capital, Perry and her band will be a well-oiled machine, having performed more than 80 shows on The Lifetimes Tour, which begins in Mexico City on April 23 and spans the US, Europe, Australia and South America.

Perry says fans should expect a high octane show. “I’ll be singing a hybrid of songs … I feel a total responsibility to give the audience that singalong feeling, but I’ll also be introducing a few new ones, which I’m really excited about. Please wear sensible shoes and stay hydrated,” she told USA Today.

Perry joins a select group of artists who have headlined the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix race day concert since its launch in 2009, widely regarded as the pinnacle of the weekend. Past performers include rock acts Muse and Foo Fighters, pop luminaries Beyonce and Rihanna, and veterans Paul McCartney, Prince and Aerosmith.

Last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix attracted more than 190,000 fans over four days at Yas Marina Circuit.