A huge rush to buy tickets for Beyonce’s Revival world tour in the UK caused the O2 Priority website to crash on Thursday morning.
Moments after the popular tickets went on sale before 10am, desperate fans complained of the booking website and app going down, while others said there had previously been queues of 200,000 people.
O2 has issued an apology to customers struggling to get tickets amid “overwhelming” demand, and confirmed that some people were able to make bookings.
Beyonce fans were delighted on Sunday when she announced a world tour – her first in seven years – to promote the release of her latest album, Renaissance.
She will perform six concerts in the UK at the end of May and early June, including three at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, as well as shows in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Sunderland.
The tickets went on pre-sale to O2 Priority customers at 10am on Thursday, five days before they went on general sale on February 7.
But fans reported that the app and website were crashing even before the pre-sale started.
Other social media users reported how they managed to get through to the ticket booking site before it “kicked out”, while others reported huge queues of people waiting to access the website.
“The tickets are not on sale, I had them in my basket 3 times and it wouldn’t let me check out,” wrote one fan on Twitter.
“My sister managed two tickets. I had them in my basket twice and then I made an error while paying,” said another.
“200,000 people in front of me for O2 priority tickets,” wrote one Twitter user named Luti at around 10.15am.
In an apology on Thursday morning, a Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said: “We apologize to any customers who have experienced difficulties trying to get Beyonce tickets through our Priority platform today.
“We are seeing great demand and we are doing everything we can to help ensure all our customers.”
The Crazy in Love singer recently performed for Beyonce at a private event in Dubai, attended by celebrities and influencers, but has not toured since 2018’s On the Run II Tour with husband Jay-Z.
Her last solo headline tour was seven years ago – the Formation World Tour in 2016.
She announced the news of the latest tour on Instagram, with a photo of her wearing a disco cowboy hat, riding a silver horse.
Beyonce UK tour dates
Beyonce will perform six UK shows across England, Wales and Scotland:
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Principality Stadium Cardiff, 17 May
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Murrayfield in Edinburgh, 20 May
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Sunderland Stadium of Light, 23 May
Beyonce will perform three shows at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London:
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Monday, May 29
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Tuesday, May 30
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Friday, June 2
She will also perform in European cities including Stockholm, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lyon, Marseille, Cologne, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Warsaw.
In the United States, Beyonce will visit major cities such as Philadelphia, Nashville, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
How to get tickets to Beyonce’s tour
Tickets for Beyonce’s UK dates are available to buy on the O2 presale from 10am on Thursday, February 2. O2 and Virgin Media customers can access Priority via the Priority app.
The Live Nation presale will then take place on Friday, February 3rd, at 10am, followed by the BeyHive presale on Monday, February 6th, at 9am. Tickets will go on general sale on Tuesday, February 7, at 10am.
During the pre-sale, tickets will be limited to four per customer, but during the general sale, customers will be able to purchase up to eight tickets each.
Tickets will be available to purchase for the May 29 and May 30 shows but the June 2 date is not yet available. Although this third date appeared on Beyonce’s website on February 1st, it has since been removed, and may be a surprise bonus show to be announced later – so keep your eyes peeled.