Raye blasts AI ticket bots that generated 1.8 million fake sign-ups for her 5,000-seat Royal Albert Hall show

From the Newshound archive · first published 13 October 2026 · last updated 14 October 2026.

Raye, who said she had "never witnessed bots on this scale" after 1.8 million people signed up for her 5,000-seat Royal Albert Hall show on 23 October.

Scalpers deployed AI bots to flood Raye's Royal Albert Hall ticket sign-up with 1.8 million entries for just 5,000 seats, forcing the singer to scrap her planned pre-sale entirely. Her team manually reviewed every registration to identify genuine fans, who received pre-sale codes by email Tuesday morning. Raye said she had 'never witnessed bots on this scale' and warned the experience had 'really opened my eyes' on the future of ticketing.

The Royal Albert Hall said it 'invests heavily' in fighting automated attacks but admitted 'the law needs to catch up'.

Raye's one-night show, 'This Symphony May Contain Hope', is set for October 23 and reimagines her Mercury-nominated album with an orchestra.

Fans who missed the pre-sale code can still enter the general sale, which is expected to open Thursday October 15 at 10am.

BBC News - TechRaye hits back at ticket touts who took over Albert Hall sign-up The IndependentRAYE condemns scalpers who ‘overwhelmed’ sign-up for Royal Albert Hall show: ‘This experience has really opened my eyes’Clash MagazineRAYE Decries Ticket Touts Who “Overwhelmed” Royal Albert Hall Sale - Clash Magazine NMERaye Royal Albert Hall show “overwhelmed by scalpers using AI bots” after receiving nearly 2million sign-ups Far Out MagazineTickets for Raye’s Royal Albert Hall show “overwhelmed by scalpers” and “AI bots” as 1,800,000 sign-up Evening StandardRaye says sign-up process to Royal Albert Hall concert was ‘overwhelmed’ by bots BillboardRAYE Blames ‘AI Bots’ After Presale For Intimate London Show Clocks 1.8 Million Sign-Ups: ‘This Experience Has Really Opened My Eyes’ - Billboard

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