Billboard Boxscore

It’s a big week for Usher. On Friday (Feb. 9), he’ll release Coming Home, his first studio LP in eight years. Two days later, he’ll perform as the official headliner of the 2024 Apple Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show. On Tuesday morning (Feb. 6), he announced Usher: Past Present Future, his first solo headline tour in a decade.

But that doesn’t mean that Usher has been away from the concert stage. In July 2021, he kicked off Usher: The Las Vegas Residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. A year later, he moved down the strip to MGM’s Dolby Live for My Way: The Vegas Residency. As he looks forward to a new album and some of the biggest performances of his career, he can celebrate the success of these two residencies: According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Usher has grossed more than $100 million across these Vegas stints.

The Caesars residency was relatively brief, with 14 shows in July and August 2021, and another six around the turn of the new year. Those 20 dates earned $18.8 million and sold 84,000 tickets. The MGM run was more extensive, hitting 80 shows between July 15, 2022, and Dec. 2, 2023. There, he grossed $95.9 million and sold 394,000 tickets.

Altogether, these theater shows grossed $114.6 million and sold 479,000 tickets across 100 dates. That’s a higher revenue total than any of Usher’s prior tours, previously topped by the OMG Tour, which brought in $76 million in 2010-11. That lined up with Usher’s other Super Bowl halftime appearance, when he made a cameo during the Black Eyed Peas’ 2011 set.

On a per-show scale, My Way: The Vegas Residency has averaged $1.198 million each night, surpassing $1.026 million from the OMG Tour and $698,000 from Truth Tour (2004-05). The latter run supported Confessions, the 2004 album that spawned four Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s and was the top Billboard 200 album of the year.

By almost any metric, that album and tour was a rare commercial peak for an artist with multiple No. 1 singles before and after. To improve upon his demand as a live act by more than 70% with his Vegas residencies proves the strength of his talent, discography, and brand, more than 30 years after he first hit the Billboard charts with “Call Me A Mack (From “Poetic Justice”)” in the summer of 1993.

Of course, inflation and an ever-changing ticketing market make comparing concert revenues from 20 years apart a difficult task. But in a Vegas theater a third the size of most North American arenas, Usher is a high-demand destination ticket. Both residencies have averaged a $239 ticket, far beyond the post-pandemic highs at Resorts World Theater and Caesar’s Bakkt Theater.

And while Usher arrived in Vegas in 2021 with new-and-improved demand, he leaves Sin City with even bigger momentum thanks to word-of-mouth around both residencies, a well-received Tiny Desk Concert and a run of single releases. His first stretch of shows at Caesars averaged $928,000, before increasing on almost every leg, peaking at $1.5 million on his last run of 21 shows from Oct. 11-Dec. 2.

After he releases Coming Home and plays the Super Bowl stage this weekend, he will embark on Usher: Past Present Future later this year. The arena trek launches on Aug. 20 in Washington D.C. and is scheduled through two shows in Chicago on Oct. 28-29. The initial announcement’s 24 North American stops could yield more than $50 million at the box office. But a successful album rollout and Super Bowl performance could lead to additional dates, extending his routing and pushing potential earnings further toward the $100 million threshold that he cleared after two and a half years in Las Vegas theaters.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) once again rules Billboard’s monthly Top Tours chart in December, with the act now ringing the No. 1 bell for the final month of the year in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2019. (Of note, there was no chart in 2020 due to COVID-19’s impact on touring.) Over 73 shows between Dec. 1-30, the classical holiday collective grossed $51.5 million and sold 657,000 tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.

With ensembles on both the East and West Coasts, TSO was able to play at least two shows per day — and used the additional bandwidth to its advantage, squeezing the most performances into this December than it has in any year since 2016. Despite a 6% dip in attendance compared with last year, revenue increased by 1%, marking the highest grossing month for TSO in its illustrious 25-year touring history.

Overall, TSO grossed $68.2 million and sold 873,000 tickets on its 2023 tour. The group saw consistent increases in its annual grosses through the end of the 2010s, up 10%, 13%, and 18% in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

The 2021 season, flanked by the first wave of COVID-19’s Omicron, dipped back by 18%, while last year’s tour came within half a percentage point of the 2019 peak. Finally, with the effect of COVID in the rearview mirror, this year’s revue establishes a new high dating back to the collective’s 1999 touring debut.

TSO hit 21 markets in November and another 42 in December. As always, major markets prime for double-headers are saved for mid-to-late December when seasonal hype reaches its apex. The average gross per city in November was $835,000, while December’s pace rose to $1.2 million.

Cleveland and Tampa were standout markets, and the first to ever generate more than $2 million in TSO history. Two shows at the former’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse grossed $2.02 million from 26,000 tickets, and a double-header at the latter’s Amalie Arena earned $2.08 million from 25,600 tickets.

Including its Y2K launch (Dec. 10, 1999, to be exact), TSO has grossed a reported $802.4 million and sold 15 million tickets from 1,893 shows. While that situates it just outside the top 20 grossing acts in Boxscore history, its rank based on attendance makes it one of the top 10 artists since Boxscore’s late-‘80s start.

TSO’s fourth month at No. 1 ties Bad Bunny and Beyoncé. Only Elton John has spent more time on top, having reigned for seven months, spread between 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023. While its annual touring window is limited to holiday months, its dominance is reliable, likely to be repeated in Decembers to come.

Given the sheer abundance of shows in TSO’s calendar throughout all of December — compared with most tours wrapping up halfway through the month — the group’s victory this time of year can feel inevitable. Still, the No. 1 spot was claimed by just a 3% margin, narrowly fending off U2’s eight-show run at Las Vegas’ Sphere.

U2 earned just over $50 million and sold 133,000 tickets during the Dec. 1-16 leg of its residency at Sphere, claiming the No. 1 spot on Top Boxscores. Combined with the first leg, which stretched from late September to early November, the rock legends have earned $159.8 million at the groundbreaking Vegas arena. Beginning this weekend, Bono & Co. are slated for 15 more shows through March 2.

U2 isn’t the only Vegas residency act to impact the December recap. Bruno Mars is No. 4 on Top Boxscores with a five-show return to MGM’s Dolby Live. The pop-R&B chart-topper grossed $10.3 million toward the end of the month, including a New Year’s Eve performance. At the same venue, Usher is No. 30 with the final two shows of a 12-date leg that began in early November. At Resorts World Theatre, Carrie Underwood pops up at No. 22, with $4.1 million from eight of nine shows that kicked off on Nov. 30.

While Vegas leads the way, half of the 30-position Top Boxscores chart took place outside of the mainland U.S., ranging from Latin America (RBD) and Europe (Madonna) to Asia (SEVENTEEN) and Australia (50 Cent). Paul McCartney takes up the most real estate with four appearances, all of which were in Brazil. Shows in Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba rank at Nos. 3, 12-13 and 18, respectively. Three shows at Allianz Parque lead the pack with a $16.2 million gross and 149,000 attendance count over three shows.

And while Sphere enjoys a commanding lead over the Top Venues (15,001+ capacity) chart, it’s a New York theater that reigns over all concert halls in December. Radio City Music Hall crowns the Top Venues (5,001-10,000 capacity) list with $80.6 million and 133 shows. Even more efficient than TSO, The Radio City Rockettes headlined this year’s annual Christmas Spectacular, earning a gargantuan $116.7 million over 193 shows between Nov. 17 and Jan. 4.

After two months at No. 2, a reunited RBD takes the lead as the highest grossing touring act of November. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the group’s Soy Rebelde Tour grossed $71.1 million and sold 734,000 tickets from Nov. 3 to 30. The tour is the act’s first trek since 2008’s Tour del Adios.
Current through Nov. 30, the Soy Rebelde Tour has grossed $197.1 million since launching in August. About half a million dollars shy of Daddy Yankee’s 2022 farewell tour, RBD’s reunion will become the second-highest grossing tour by a Latin act once its December shows are reported, behind Bad Bunny‘s World’s Hottest Tour.

RBD’s monthly crown is due to hustle. Other than Trans-Siberian Orchestra, the perennial holiday favorite that includes two touring ensembles for either coast of the U.S., RBD played more shows in November than any act among the top 30. With 17 shows split between seven markets, the group earned its spot atop the heap by playing hard.

After sitting at No. 2 behind Beyoncé and Pink in September and October, respectively, RBD levels up, and its routing has much to do with it. Not only did the group play more shows than in either of the previous months, but after touring the U.S., RBD took on Latin America in November, transitioning to a primarily Spanish-language audience.

That move allowed RBD to move from arenas to stadiums, multiplying its nightly audience by more than two. In the U.S., the group paced about 18,000 tickets per night before rocketing to more than 43,000 each show in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico.

But the ticket pricing economy is much different in these geographical regions, and RBD’s average ticket price went from $241.30 in the U.S. to $96.81 in Latin America. In all, its average gross stayed almost the same, even dipping by 4%. But the pure volume of seats that RBD could sell made up the difference, giving RBD its first monthly win yet.

At No. 1 for November, RBD is only the third Latin act to lead the monthly Top Tours chart. Los Bukis first broke ground in September 2021, and Bad Bunny pushed the boundaries further, ruling in February, March, August and September of 2022. Aventura, Daddy Yankee, Maluma, and Rauw Alejandro have also hit the top five.

That means that RBD is the source for the genre’s first female artists to hit the top tier. The mixed-gender group’s reunion features original members Anahi, Dulce Maria and Maite Perroni, all hailing from Mexico. Beyond Latin music, they continue a hot streak for women atop the chart: after a nearly four-year drought, Beyoncé, Pink and RBD have kept women at No. 1 for six of the last seven months.

Beyond the No. 1 act, Pink and Madonna add support at Nos. 3 and 5, respectively. Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Ms. Lauryn Hill, and in her monthly Boxscore debut, Doja Cat, follow. While a grand total of seven women acts in the top 30 doesn’t give them a majority, the 23.3% gender split is up from the 2023 year-end wrap, where women’s representation doubled from the previous year.

Doja leads a growing list of hip-hop acts on the Top Tours chart. Travis Scott, Rod Wave, Ms. Lauryn Hill & The Fugees and 50 Cent appear between Nos. 22-29. Though they miss the top 10, five rap acts on the chart foreshadow a promising year, when the genre’s share among the top 100 tours of 2023 dipped below 3%.

Four of RBD’s seven stops in November crack the 30-position Top Boxscores chart. Four shows at Allianz Parque in Sao Paulo, Brazil (Nov. 16-19) earned $17.4 million and sold 191,000 tickets, while another four at Estadio Antanasio Girardot (Medellin, Colombia; Nov. 3-6) took in $17.2 million from 150,000 tickets.

In Sao Paulo, RBD played another two shows at Estadio do Morumbi on Nov. 12-13, grossing $11 million. If the group had consolidated their Sao Paulo run at one venue, the combined gross would’ve given them the No. 1 spot with more than $28 million.

Instead, Mexico City’s Corona Capital festival took top honors among individual engagements, as the three-day festival grossed $26.5 million and sold 216,000 tickets. It’s followed by the final three shows of U2’s first leg at Las Vegas’ Sphere. Those shows earned $19.4 million, making up a small part of the $109 million run that began in late September. It’s enough to put Sphere at No. 4 on the Top Venues (15,001+ capacity) chart and situate U2 at No. 12 on Top Tours.

It was a banner month for Latin American shows. Not only did RBD and Corona Capital dominate Top Tours and Top Boxscores, Luis Miguel, Paul McCartney and Red Hot Chili Peppers all charted from shows south of the U.S. Even on Top Promoters, Mexico’s OCESA is No. 2 with $123.9 million and 1.5 million tickets sold, pushing perennial top-two candidate AEG Presents to No. 3, also above $100 million.

On the venue charts, Mexico City and Sao Paulo take the top four spots on Top Stadiums, plus Medellin’s Estadio Atanasio Girardo and Rio de Janeiro’s Estadio Nilton Santos at Nos. 6-7. The former market adds notices on three of the four capacity-based venue charts, notably with Auditorio Nacional at No. 2 among venues with a capacity between 5,001-10k.

Even more, the November recap captures a thriving global box office. Just among the month’s top five tours, RBD and Red Hot Chili Peppers hit Latin America, Coldplay played in Asia and Australia, Pink toured the U.S. and Canada, and Madonna celebrated in Europe. Only two of the top 10 – Morgan Wallen and The Trilogy Tour, starring Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull and Ricky Martin – played exclusively in the U.S. during November.

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 K-pop, […]

Last week, Billboard kicked off its 2023 year-end Boxscore coverage. Beyoncé led reported tours, Taylor Swift is poised for a record-setting finish and BLACKPINK and Karol G are helping usher in a new generation of genre diverse headliners. Plus, Boxscore breaks down the highest-grossing venues in the world, split between four capacity categories, plus a chart for stadiums.

New York City is spotlighted atop two of these lists. Madison Square Garden reigns supreme amongst venues with a capacity of 15,001 or more (excluding stadiums), while Radio City Music Hall is tops for venues with a capacity of 5,001-10,000.

For Madison Square Garden, 2023 marks its 15th year at No. 1 in its capacity category, dating back to 1999. It’s been No. 1 for six of the last seven years, after dipping to No. 2 in 2021. And for the second consecutive year, it’s the highest-grossing venue, regardless or capacity or structure. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, MSG’s 116 shows grossed $223 million and sold 1.6 million tickets between Nov. 1, 2022 and Sept. 30, 2023.

For Radio City Music Hall, it’s back at No. 1 for the first time since 2020, after Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater led in 2021-22. Over 231 shows in the tracking period, the theater earned $122 million from 1.2 million tickets.

Red Rocks remains the venue with the most tickets sold in the 5,001-10k category (1.4M), while London’s O2 Arena takes top honors for 15,001+ (2.4M).

In between, Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, Texas) completes a steady climb to its first year-end No. 1 in the 10,001-15,000 category. After opening in November 2019, the arena was No. 10 on the 2020 year-end recap, and No. 4 in 2021 and 2022. With $70.5 million, it narrowly takes the gold over Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena ($69.3M), Austin’s Moody Center ($67.8M) and Glasgow’s OVO Hydro ($67.3M).

Even newer, Las Vegas’ Resorts World Theatre claims the top spot among venues with capacity of 5,000 or less. It opened in December 2021 and remains undefeated after crowning last year’s chart. Bolstered by residencies by Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Carrie Underwood, the theater hosted 90 shows and grossed $45.3 million.

Finally, the Top Stadiums chart is led by SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., outside Los Angeles. Like Dickies, it’s a relatively new building, after launching in September 2020. This year marks a return to the top, after leading in 2021 and sitting at No. 2 last year behind Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The venue reported 19 shows that collectively earned $175.1 million and sold more than 1 million tickets.