Chart Beat
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For the first time in over two years, a woman with no accompanying artists leads Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Lainey Wilson scores her third No. 1, as “Watermelon Moonshine” hits the summit on the chart dated Oct. 7. In the tracking week ending Sept. 28, the song advanced by 5% to 27.2 million audience impressions, […]
The growing popularity of Calle 24’s riveting corridos number “Qué Onda” with Chino Pacas and Fuerza Regida caught him by surprise — particularly because he didn’t initially intend for it to be his own track.
Born Diego Millán, he recalls that he wrote the foundation of the song for another group (who he declines to disclose), but when it ultimately didn’t work out for the band, he decided to keep the song for himself. He then showed the song to Fuerza Regida frontman Jesús Ortiz Paz (better known as JOP), and the two immediately decided to grow it even further with the addition of singer Chino Pacas.
The track’s horn-blaring, upbeat feel narrates a rendezvous both passionate and filled with debauchery, which has quickly resonated with listeners. Following its release on Aug. 30, “Qué Onda” has quickly become Calle 24’s biggest hit to date: it debuted at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Sept. 16, marking his first entry on the chart, and has reached a No. 8 high on Hot Latin Songs.
At just 20 years old, the Chihuahua, Mexico-born musician is signed to Street Mob Records — JOP’s record label (which recently inked a deal with Cinq Music) — and is now performing as a solo act, after Calle 24 first formed as a group of four. “The name stayed with me, but my friendship and camaraderie with the others continues,” he says. He’s also quickly becoming an extremely sought-after songwriter within the booming regional Mexican music scene, with credits on Fuerza Regida’s “Sabor Fresa” and “Igualito a Mi Apá,” featuring Peso Pluma. He’s involved in the San Bernardino band’s upcoming work as well.
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Below, Calle 24 tells Billboard about the success of “Qué Onda,” working as a solo artist, his relationship with JOP and more.
What’s your reaction to your first Hot 100 hit?
I’m very excited. I didn’t think this was going to happen to me, but thank God it did. I hope it’s not the [last] time.
How did the song come together?
[Another group] asked me to do the song. Me and my [writing] partner Miguel Armenta, who is also a co-writer for “Bebe Dame,” started working on the song about a month or so ago in California, and midway through it, we said, “It’s coming along very well.” That same day we recorded it, and it was something very impressive. Now that regional Mexican music is expanding, you know when songs are on another level — we thought this could go worldwide because of the lyrics, the rhythm, all of that.
So, the other project didn’t happen, and I was like, “Well, I’m going to take my song,” because I wrote it. [JOP] told me we should do it together, so we uploaded a Reel to Instagram, promoting the song. That day, we added the voices, and we did not imagine [the results]. That night it accumulated several million [streams]. It was something crazy.
Tell me about the other people that worked on the song.
Cristian Humberto, and Jonathan Caro, who is a co-writer on “Sabor Fresa.” JOP also participated a little bit in the lyrics. We are a team. We’d rather work together: they say that more heads think better than one, so we set out to do that. That’s how we come out with more quality work. We are like a family, really. It’s better when people get along well because things come out much better with more enthusiasm.
How did Calle 24 form?
I am now a solo artist. We used to be a group, but it disintegrated because I believe that my colleagues had their own visions and work plans — and it is understood. Calle 24 started here in Cuauhtémoc, where I live in Chihuahua, with me, Ezequiel Rodriguez, Santiago Castillo and Angel Rivera. When I started four years ago, I was a solo artist like now. But they knew how to record at home, and I was impressed because I had gone to record in a studio and my song sounded worse than theirs. I was one of the first ones who approached them, and we started working together. The name stayed with me [now that I’m a solo artist]. I am Calle 24. But my friendship and camaraderie with the others continues.
How did you meet JOP?
Me and Ezequiel were in Chihuahua, and [JOP] was looking for underground artists from California or Texas. He contacted a colleague called Güero X to do a song and we began talking. We didn’t know that Güero X had just signed with JOP, [but] we did the song we were going to release, and out of the blue Güero X said, “I just signed with Street Mob and Jesús wants to connect with you”. So I sent him a load of songs, and after a week, he said, “Sign them!” I was over the moon. That was in July 2020. Imagine, I was 17 years old at the time. It was this great opportunity. In January 2021, I wrote [Fuerza Regida’s] “¿Qué Está Pasando?”
Since 2021, you’ve done extremely well on streaming platforms.
The truth is that it has been very nice. It’s difficult, but little by little, people are accepting more of what we do. Since the first song we released, which was “¿Qué Está Pasando”, the reception has been very good and we try to improve every day. It has been an incredible process.
Did you always think you would do corridos or regional Mexican music?
Never. In my childhood, I never listened to corridos. My mom was more into country and pop, so I listened more to Luis Fonsi, Caballo Dorado, things like that. One day, when I was about 8 years old, a friend came and told me, “Check out this song,” and it was a corrido. I got that little itch for that music, and from then, I never let it go. I made my first song when I was 11 years old with the help of my parents. To this day, they still support me — that’s what motivated me the most. When I was 13, they bought me my first guitar on my birthday. I knew it was going to be something. The truth is that I always had that hunch. You have to believe in yourself. Now I see that it was not in vain.
A version of this story originally appeared in the Sept. 23, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” becomes her sole longest-leading No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart, topping the tally (dated Oct. 7) for an eighth week. The song one-ups her seven-week reign with “I Knew You Were Trouble.” in 2013. Here’s an updated look at Swift’s record 12 Pop Airplay No. 1s, ranked by most weeks […]
Australia’s very own “princess of pop,” Kylie Minogue, is now queen of Australia’s albums chart as Tension (via Liberation/Universal) opens at No. 1.
Tension becomes Kylie’s eighth leader on the ARIA Chart, and fourth in succession. The pop legend previously led the national tally with Light Years in 2000, Fever in 2001, X in 2007, Kiss Me Once in 2014, Golden in 2018, Step Back In Time: The Definitive Collection in 2019 and Disco in 2020.
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“All hail the queen,” comments ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd. “On behalf of everyone at ARIA, and as a superfan, it is my absolute pleasure to congratulate Kylie for her fourth consecutive No. 1 album debut. It’s a thrill to see an ARIA Hall of Fame artist continue to dominate, reinvent and represent Australian music on such a global scale. We can’t wait to celebrate her success at this year’s awards.”
Across her 35-year recording career, Kylie has bagged 10 No. 1 singles, and collected 16 ARIA Awards.
She can add to that tally at the 2023 ARIA Awards this November, where’s she’s nominated for four categories – best solo artist, best pop release, best independent release and song of the year, all for “Padam Padam,” the first single lifted from Tension.
Back in 2011, Minogue was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, with then-prime minister Julia Gillard doing the honors.
Minogue’s 16th studio album, Tension has been clocking impressive numbers around the globe. In her adopted homeland, the U.K., the album was outselling the rest of the top 20 at the midweek stage, and Tension placed at No. 3 on Spotify’s Top Albums Debut U.K. Chart. The set also this week cracked the top 5 of the DSP’s Top Albums Debut USA and Top Albums Debut Global Chart.
Kylie’s Tension isn’t the only new arrival on the ARIA Chart, published Sept. 29. Homegrown indie rock act Holy Holy debuts at No. 4 with Cellophane (Wonderlick/Sony), the group’s fifth studio album and third top 10. That’s an equal career high for Holy Holy, drawing level with Hello My Beautiful World, which hit No. 4 in 2021.
Close behind is Doja Cat with Scarlet (RCA/Sony), her fourth studio album. It’s new at No. 5 for the U.S. star’s second top 10 album in Australia, after 2021’s Planet Her peaked at No. 2.
Doja Cat continues to paint the ARIA Singles Chart red; her Scarlet hit “Paint The Town Red” enters a sixth consecutive week at the No. 1.
Finally, South African-born, U.K.-based artist Kenya Grace continues to make her mark on the national singles survey with “Strangers” (Warner). Grace’s breakthrough drum ‘n bass-fueled single, and first through a major label, leaps 6-2 for a new peak position.
Music legend Willie Nelson may be best known for as a country superstar, but some might not realize he’s visited many other Billboard album genre charts outside of the Top Country Albums chart — where’s racked up a record 53 top 10s, with 18 of them hitting No. 1. Over the years, Nelson has placed high-charting efforts on these genre-specific album rankings: Blues Albums, Kid Albums, Reggae Albums, Traditional Jazz Albums, Jazz Albums, Americana/Folk Albums and Top Christian Albums.
Now, Nelson’s new Bluegrass album, released on Sept. 15, appropriately debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums chart (dated Sept. 30), marking his first appearance on the 21-year-old tally. On the album, Nelson reinterprets a dozen of his older songs, joined by a bluegrass ensemble. Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums chart ranks the top-selling bluegrass albums of the week in the U.S., based on traditional album sales, as tracked by Luminate. In the week ending Sept. 21, Nelson’s Bluegrass sold 3,000 copies.
Below is a recap of Nelson’s history on Billboard’s major album genre charts, aside from Top Country Albums. (In addition, Nelson has logged 83 entries on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.)
Chart NameAlbum Title, Peak Position, Peak Date
Blues AlbumsMilk Cow Blues, No. 2, Oct. 7, 2000
Kid AlbumsRainbow Connection, No. 7, June 30, 2001
Reggae AlbumsCountryman, No. 1 (nine weeks at No. 1), July 30, 2005
Traditional Jazz AlbumsTwo Men With the Blues (Nelson and Wynton Marsalis), No. 1 (four weeks), July 26, 2008Here We Go Again: Celebrating the Genius of Ray Charles (Nelson & Wynton Marsalis featuring Norah Jones), No. 1 (five weeks), April 16, 2011Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin, No. 1 (five weeks), March 19, 2016My Way, No. 2, Sept. 29, 2018That’s Life, No. 1 (two weeks), March 13, 2021
Jazz AlbumsTwo Men With the Blues (Nelson and Wynton Marsalis), No. 1 (four weeks), July 26, 2008Here We Go Again: Celebrating the Genius of Ray Charles (Nelson & Wynton Marsalis featuring Norah Jones), No. 2, April 16, 2011Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin, No. 1 (three weeks), March 19, 2016My Way, No. 2, Sept. 29, 2018That’s Life, No. 1 (two weeks), March 13, 2021
Americana/Folk AlbumsLast Man Standing, No. 1, May 12, 2018Ride Me Back Home, No. 1, July 6, 2019First Rose of Spring, No. 1, July 18, 2020The Willie Nelson Family, No. 12, Dec. 4, 2021A Beautiful Time, No. 3, May 14, 2022
Top Christian AlbumsJust As I Am: 18 Hymns and Gospel Favorites (Willie Nelson and Bobbie Nelson), No. 37, Aug. 27, 2022
Bluegrass AlbumsBluegrass, No. 1, Sept. 30, 2023
FamousSally and YB are the first acts to lead the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart for more than one week, as “Wassup Gwayy” remains at No. 1 on the Sept. 30-dated tally. Rania Aniftos:Famous Sally and YB hold on to the top spot, but a batch of hits make their mark in the top 10, […]
For the first time since 2011, Diddy is back in the top five on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart thanks to his new album, The Love Album: Off the Grid. The set, released on Sept. 15 via the mogul’s own Love Records, earned 27,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 21, according to Luminate.
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Streaming contributes 24,000 units of the 27,000-unit starting sum, equaling 31.7 million official U.S. audio and video on-demand streams of the project’s tracks. Traditional album sales contribute 2,000 of the remaining units, with 1,000 units of activity from track-equivalent album units. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)
The Love Album: Off the Grid gives Diddy his sixth top 10 album on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In total, Diddy has notched seven entries on the chart, all of which reached the top five save for the MMM mixtape, which hit No. 45 in 2016. Here’s a rundown of the collection, which now stretches to 26 years and one month:
Album Title, Artist Billing, Peak Position, Peak DateNo Way Out, Puff Daddy & The Family, No. 1 (five weeks), Aug. 9, 1997Forever, Puff Daddy, No. 1 (one week), Sept. 11, 1999The Saga Continues…, P. Diddy & The Bad Boy Family, No. 2, July 28, 2001Press Play, Diddy, No. 1 (one week), Nov. 4, 2006Last Train to Paris, Diddy – Dirty Money, No. 3, Jan. 1, 2011The Love Album: Off the Grid, Diddy, No. 5 (to date), Sept. 30, 2023
Elsewhere, The Love Album: Off the Grid starts at No. 2 on the Top R&B Albums chart and No. 19 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
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As The Love Album: Off the Grid arrives, six of its tracks debut on the Hot R&B Songs chart. “Stay Long,” with Summer Walker, leads the pack at No. 13, followed by “Moments,” featuring Justin Bieber (No. 16), “Pick Up,” with Jacquees featuring Fabolous (No. 18), “What’s Love,” with NOVA WAV (No. 21), “Need Somebody,” with Jazmine Sullivan (No. 23) and “Tough Love,” featuring Swae Lee (No. 25).
In addition, the album’s new single, the rap-leaning “Another One of Me,” with French Montana and The Weeknd and featuring 21 Savage, enters multiple charts, including a No. 29 start on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and a No. 34 bow on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Submit questions about Billboard charts, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the United States.
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Let’s open the latest mailbag.
That’s What Friends Are For
Hi Gary,
“He slimed me” is what Bill Murray’s character concedes in the original Ghostbusters. Ray Parker, Jr.’s classic title theme song from the 1984 movie hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that August, and while it doesn’t mention slime, it’s an honorary predecessor to “Slime You Out,” Drake’s new No. 1, featuring SZA.
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Speaking of stars, like Murray, now with 14 Hot 100 No. 1s between Drake, up to 12, and SZA, at two, “Slime You Out” has notable star power, with the two acts having made so many visits to No. 1 combined. (Or, put another way, they’re rarely ghosting the chart.)
Thanks,
Pablo NelsonOakland, Calif.
Hi Pablo,
Regarding Drake and SZA, you and Billboard deputy editor Andrew Unterberger are on the same page (great minds think alike). Andrew Slacked on Tuesday: “new Stones + Gaga + Stevie collab = 23 combined Hot 100 No. 1s.”
The new Rolling Stones album, Hackney Diamonds, due Oct. 20, includes the collaboration “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” with Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder. Wonder boasts 10 career Hot 100 No. 1s, the Stones, eight, and Gaga, five.
If the song, released today (Sept. 28), were to top the Hot 100, it would up the legends’ totals to 26 combined No. 1s – which would mark the most for any No. 1 team-up over the chart’s history.
What songs would it overtake?
Here’s a look at the Hot 100 No. 1 collaborations by acts with the most combined leaders at the time of their coronations. Essentially, they’re the Hot 100 No. 1s with the most star power, as measured by the billed artists’ career No. 1 counts to that point.
As noted, for example, “Slime You Out” represents 14 total Hot 100 No. 1s per the list below, as it’s Drake’s 12th and SZA’s second. (A potential leading duet between Taylor Swift and, say … Travis Kelce would equal 11 No. 1s, given 10 for Swift and one for Kelce, should they together become chart chiefs.)
Artists’ Combined No. 1s Upon Each Song Hitting No. 1, Title, Artists (Individual No. 1s), Date Reached No. 1:
21, “That’s What Friends Are For,” Dionne & Friends, Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder (2, 7, 2, 10), Jan. 18, 1986
18, “The Monster,” Eminem feat. Rihanna (5, 13), Dec. 21, 2013
18, “Get Back,” The Beatles with Billy Preston (17, 1), May 24, 1969
17, “Thank God I Found You,” Mariah Carey feat. Joe & 98 Degrees (15, 1, 1), Feb. 19, 2000
16, “Work,” Rihanna feat. Drake (14, 2), March 5, 2016
16, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” George Michael/Elton John (8, 8), Feb. 1, 1992
15, “Heartbreaker,” Mariah Carey feat. Jay-Z (14, 1), Oct. 9, 1999
15, “Say Say Say,” Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson (9, 6), Dec. 10, 1983
15, “Ebony and Ivory,” Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder (8, 7), May 15, 1982
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14, “Slime You Out,” Drake feat. SZA (12, 2), Sept. 30, 2023
14, “S&M,” Rihanna feat. Britney Spears (10, 4), April 30, 2011
14, “One Sweet Day,” Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men (10, 4), Dec. 2, 1995
13, “Die for You,” The Weeknd & Ariana Grande (7, 6), March 11, 2023
13, “Jimmy Cooks,” Drake feat. 21 Savage (11, 2), July 2, 2022
13, “Wait for U,” Future feat. Drake & Tems (2, 10, 1), May 14, 2022
13, “Way 2 Sexy,” Drake feat. Future & Young Thug (9, 1, 3), Sept. 18, 2021
12, “We Found Love,” Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris (11, 1), Nov. 12, 2011
By the metrics above, “Slime You Out” shines with the 10th-brightest star power for a collaborative Hot 100 No. 1, tied with Rihanna’s “S&M,” featuring Britney Spears, and Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day.” “S&M” is the only song above solely by women, while “One Sweet Day” reigned for a then-record 16 weeks.
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The aptly titled “That’s What Friends Are For” leads the list above, marking the only Hot 100 No. 1 whose credited artists total over 20 leaders at the point of its ascent to the summit. Meanwhile, if Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga’s collaboration with the Rolling Stones hits No. 1, he would be a winner either way, as their combined leaders would surpass his, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight and Elton John’s sum of No. 1s when their ballad ruled.
(Further reflecting the everlasting reach of iconic artists, Warwick is heard on the Hot 100’s current runner-up song, and former No. 1, thanks to Doja Cat’s sample of Warwick’s 1964 classic “Walk on By” on “Paint the Town Red.”)
Other takeaways from scanning the stars above:
Among these elite Hot 100 No. 1s, Drake shows with five collaborations; Rihanna, with four; Mariah Carey, with three; and Future, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder with two each.
George Michael and John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” is the only Hot 100 No. 1 above between two artists each with at least eight leaders when it reigned.
On only three Hot 100 No. 1s above, featured acts have more No. 1s than lead acts: “That’s What Friends Are For” (John and Wonder); “The Monster” (Rihanna); and “Wait for U” (Drake).
“Get Back” reflects the greatest disparity between acts’ No. 1 totals on the Hot 100 among the songs above, given The Beatles’ 17 and Billy Preston’s one when it led. Still, Preston went on to earn two more leaders on his own: “Will It Go Round in Circles” in 1973 and “Nothing From Nothing” in 1974. (The Beatles added three more No. 1s, lifting them to a record 20 total.)
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Meanwhile, if we included groups’ totals of Hot 100 No. 1s with solo leaders, McCartney and Michael Jackson’s “Say Say Say” would take the top spot above. Along with their respective nine and six leaders to that point, McCartney would add another 20 No. 1s via The Beatles, and Jackson, another four from the Jackson 5, making for an overall total of 39 visits to No. 1 by the pair at the time.
This summer, Disturbed launched a North American amphitheater tour in support of Divisive, the band’s eighth studio album over a three-decade career. For a group that deep into their journey as live performers, another summer tour can feel like a bit of plug-and-play. But this time around, the band’s Boxscore results were bigger than ever before. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the Take Back Your Life Tour earned $17.4 million and sold 336,000 tickets.
That makes 2023 the biggest year of the band’s touring career, surpassing the $14.6 million earned in 2019.
On a per-show basis, Disturbed averaged $601,000 per night, beating previous career-bests of $473,000 in 2011 and $405,000 in 2019. But as proven by an endless list of post-pandemic examples, inflation and platinum ticketing and dynamic pricing and primary-market re-sale make bulking up tour grosses more possible, if not easier, than ever. But in Disturbed’s case, this peak revenue cannot be explained by exploiting 2023’s chaotic ticketing market.
The average ticket price for the Take Back Your Life Tour was $51.07. That’s actually down by 11% from 2019’s $58.66, and only 7% above the average from 2016 ($48.72). That means that the band’s soaring earnings can be explained by increased attendance.
The Take Back Your Life Tour averaged 11,573 tickets per show, up from 6,901 in 2019 and 4,404 in 2016. Over the last two album cycles, Disturbed has multiplied its ticket-buying fanbase by more than two and a half. Sorted by attendance, the band’s 10 biggest concerts ever all happened this summer, led by the Sept. 2 show at Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center in Noblesville, Ind., marking its first headline show with more than 20,000 fans.
This year’s tour was in key Live Nation amphitheaters, after mostly playing in scaled down arenas. Located just outside of primary touring markets, these outdoor venues have the space to accommodate thousands of fans, often more than the indoor arenas situated in the center of major cities.
Not only did Disturbed have the literal space to sell more tickets, taking advantage of the venues’ large lawns (all dates had a baseline price of $29.50), but the infrastructure around amphitheaters also allows for modest pricing, even up to the first row. Parking, merchandise and concessions are major parts of the experience, especially with bulked-up lineups on long summer days. Breaking Benjamin and Jinjer supported Disturbed on the road this summer.
The decision to level up to amphitheaters did a lot of the heavy lifting for Disturbed’s new career peak, but the release of last year’s Divisive certainly helped as well. Before the tour began, the album had already made “Hey You” the band’s 11th No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, with “Bad Man” reaching No. 2 in March. Throughout the tour, “Unstoppable” climbed the ranks, ultimately becoming the band’s 12th chart-topper in mid-August. “Don’t Tell Me” featuring Ann Wilson is next, set for release in November.
Dating back to the band’s first show in the reported archives, when Disturbed earned $10,000 and sold 682 tickets at Saratoga Winners in upstate New York on Sept. 26, 2000, the metal superstars have grossed $71.2 million and sold 1.8 million tickets across 365 shows.
He’s country, he’s rock, he’s a superstar. Zach Bryan wrapped the Burn Burn Burn Tour at the end of August after touring the continent all summer. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the trek grossed $43.9 million and sold 475,000 tickets across 32 dates.
The Burn Burn Burn Tour took Bryan around the U.S. and Canada in a mix of amphitheaters and arenas, promoted by AEG Presents. The routing mixed primary markets such as New York and Los Angeles with secondary markets including Wilkes-Barre, Penn., and Grand Rapids, Mich., just as his music fuses genres and eschews traditional demographic lines.
With that, the biggest shows on the tour were not major pop stops such as Chicago or San Francisco, nor country hot spots Nashville or Dallas (he didn’t play anywhere in Tennessee). Instead, with roots in each city, double-headers at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center (May 30-31) and Tulsa’s BOK Center (Aug. 10-11) shone the brightest, with earnings of $3.7 million and $3.2 million, respectively.
The Burn Burn Burn Tour was Bryan’s second live outing in two years. Just last year, he mounted the American Run Tour. Each tour was almost identical in length (32 shows in 2023 vs. 31 in 2022) but the results were dramatically different. The average attendance scaled from 5,735 tickets on last year’s run to 14,841 this summer, jumping by 158%. While his reach grew, so did demand. All while endeavoring to control a ballooning ticketing market, the average price jumped from $51 in 2022 to $92.52 in 2023.
Those are stellar improvements for any artist, but even more stark considering the six-month break between tours. And while the Burn Burn Burn Tour ended last month, Bryan has already plotted his next live venture. The Quittin’ Time Tour kicks off in Chicago on March 6, scheduled to run through mid-December with two final hometown shows at the BOK Center.
Even at his current pace, Bryan is already situated to do bigger business in 2024 than 2023. The initial Quittin’ Time announcement included 53 shows, more ambitious than this year’s 32. Just by adding 20-plus dates, next year’s run is on track to land in the $70 million to $75 million range. But he’s unlikely to top out there, as his ’24 routing is bulked up not just in length, but in size.
Bryan will return to some of the arenas from this summer’s tour, coming back to Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena and the Desert Diamond Casino in Glendale, Ariz., playing two shows at each venue rather than one. In other markets, there are clever extensions, like playing two shows at the Prudential Center, N.J., and two at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, compared to this year’s double header at Forest Hills Stadium in New York City’s Queens. Despite its name, the latter venue functions more like a scaled amphitheater, smaller than either of next year’s New York-area arenas.
Elsewhere, it’ll be a whole different ball game. Two 2023 arena dates in Philadelphia will translate to a night at the city’s football stadium (Lincoln Financial Field) in 2024. More stadiums fill out his routing in Atlanta; Foxborough, Mass.; Minneapolis; and Tampa, some of which will be new concert markets for Bryan altogether.
It’s easy to plot Bryan’s transformation from theaters to arenas to stadiums over such a short window. This year’s Burn Burn Burn Tour was plotted, announced and went on-sale amidst the lingering success of American Heartbreak, which debuted and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and then stayed in the top 20 for all but one of the 70 weeks since.
Next year’s Quittin’ Time Tour was announced at the tail end of this year’s run, upon the release of his self-titled album. That one debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spawned a No. 1 arrival on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves. Just last week, he followed it with Boys of Faith, an EP that is currently posting major streaming numbers that are atypical for a seemingly casual release.
Following post-pandemic stadium transformations for Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen, Bryan will likely mount one of the biggest country tours in Boxscore history. The expanded and fortified routing could lead the Quittin’ Time Tour toward $100 million and one million tickets in 2024.