Last week, Billboard revealed its year-end Boxscore charts, ranking the top tours, venues and promoters of 2023. That coverage included analysis of the new wave of genre diverse artists crashing stadium stages, and in turn, our charts. This week, we are breaking down the year’s biggest tours, genre by genre. Today, we begin with Latin.
Throughout the 2010s, Latin acts – here, defined as artists who primarily perform in Spanish – were consistently supporting players on the Boxscore charts. Strong supporting players, with generally a combined 3-6% share of the yearly top 100 tours’ total gross, but supporting, nonetheless. But as the many subgenres that comprise Latin music’s growing global footprint gained international recognition and popularity, acts from Puerto Rico, Colombia, Mexico and more returned from the pandemic with a strengthened touring audience.
Latin’s top-100 share rose from 5.3% in 2019 to 12.1% in 2022. That was thanks, in large part, to Bad Bunny’s record-breaking year atop the year-end Top Tours chart, plus fumes from Daddy Yankee’s farewell tour. In 2023, the genre dips to 11.5% in 2023. But in the absence of Bad Bunny’s $373.5 million from last year, Latin’s deepening bench picked up the slack to remain relatively steady, signaling the potential for even more growth in the years to come.
While reggaetón and pop acts continued to power Latin touring, 2023 marked the rise of regional Mexican music, on streaming services and on stages. Eslabon Armado, Fuerza Regida and Peso Pluma conquered Billboard’s global charts, while those acts, Grupo Firme and others were selling out arenas across the U.S. and Central America.
Scroll to check out the top 10 highest grossing tours by Latin artists, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. All reported shows worldwide between Nov. 1, 2022 – Sept. 30, 2023 are eligible.
$39.5M / 284K tickets / 29 shows
All-Genre Top 100 Rank: No. 64
The Mexican singer-songwriter played most of his reported shows in the U.S., plus a show with more than 9,000 fans at Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional. His biggest concert was a Sept. 16 date at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, which grossed $2.4 million from 13,359 tickets sold.
$48.1M / 451K tickets / 30 shows
All-Genre Top 100 Rank: No. 50
For the third year in a row, Grupo Firme is among the 10 biggest Latin touring acts. Up 66% from the band’s 2022 gross, the ensemble mixed U.S. arenas with Latin American venues, earning $7.5 million from a string of five shows in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
$48.7M / 306K tickets / 29 shows
All-Genre Top 100 Rank: No. 48
Luis Miguel’s 2023 tour began late in the Boxscore tracking period but made up for it with robust runs in South America. First, there was 10 shows at Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires, bringing in $13.9 million from 105,000 tickets. Then, another 10 at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile, adding $14.3 million and 122,000 tickets.
$48.8M / 372K tickets / 39 shows
All-Genre Top 100 Rank: No. 47
Peso Pluma went from zero to 60 in 2023. His first-ever reported Boxscore was an April 8 concert at the Toyota Center in Ontario, Calif., where he grossed $988K and sold over 8,000 tickets. Already selling out arenas, his touring business grew from there, finishing the 2023 tracking period with two $2M shows in Hidalgo, Texas, and Chula Vista, Calif.
$50.1M / 551K tickets / 36 shows
All-Genre Top 100 Rank: No. 46
Alejandro proved himself as a sell-out arena star in 2023, with a full U.S. tour that broke 15,000 tickets in Miami, Brooklyn, San Jose and many more. But the real trick was leveling up to a stadium, with more than 58,000 tickets sold at Mexico City’s Foro Sol.
$59.8M / 567K tickets / 32 shows
All-Genre Top 100 Rank: No. 35
A veteran Boxscore star, Santos fluctuated between arenas and stadiums, peaking in South America with nine shows in Santiago, Chile; in North America with a date at Citi Fields in Queens, New York; and in Europe with four performances at Madrid’s WiZink Center.
$67.9M / 719K tickets / 18 shows
All-Genre Top 100 Rank: No. 28
After being the biggest touring act of 2022 regardless of genre, Bad Bunny still had more gas in the tank. The last month and a half of World’s Hottest Tour played out at the beginning of the ’23 tracking period. Last November and December, he breezed through stadiums in Latin America, wrapping with two shows in Monterrey and two in Mexico City.
$72.5M / 773K tickets / 29 shows
All-Genre Top 100 Rank: No. 27
The final dates of Daddy Yankee’s farewell tour land him at No. 3 on this year’s Latin recap, after taking the No. 2 spot in 2022. His long goodbye culminated with a $23.6M run at Mexico City’s Foro Sol, selling more than 300,000 tickets over five nights.
$86.7M / 353K tickets / 18 shows
All-Genre Top 100 Rank: No. 21
RBD’s comeback tour began on Aug. 25, which means that its year-end totals are only the beginning of the trek’s overall footprint. Doubling up in New York, Miami and more, the tour is barreling toward becoming the second tour by a Latin artist to gross more than $200 million, following Bad Bunny’s stadium run from last year.
$146.9M / 843K tickets / 19 shows
All-Genre Top 100 Rank: No. 11
Atop a heap of male acts, Karol G reigns supreme among all Latin tours in 2023. The Manana Sera Bonito Tour grossed $138.4 million. Added to the last date of her 2022 tour, plus a one-off three-night run at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium, her $147M year crystalizes her as a sold-out stadium star.
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