Chart Beat

17 Dec 2024

Top 10 Highest-Grossing Rap Tours of the Year

Earlier this week, Billboard revealed its year-end Boxscore charts, ranking the top tours, venues and promoters of 2024. We’re breaking it down further, looking at the biggest live acts, genre by genre. Here, we kick things off with rap.

Hip-hop had its biggest year ever on stage. Rap artists accounted for 5.7% of the top 100 tour grosses in 2024, way up from 2.7% in 2023 and 3.4% in 2022. It’s the genre’s biggest market share ever, with seven acts on the Top Tours chart.

Women played a bigger role than ever, with four of those entries. Previously, there had never been more than one female rapper in the all-genre top 100, which hadn’t happened since 2015. Dating back to the inaugural year-end recap in 1991, only four women had previously appeared on the year-end list, which means that this year’s quartet doubles women’s total representation in just one year.

The year’s biggest rap tour set new records for the highest year-end gross and attendance for a solo rapper, eclipsing Drake’s $141 million last year. Jay-Z’s On The Run II Tour earned and sold more, though that was a co-headline run with Beyoncé, a stadium star in her own right.

Keep reading to check out the 10 highest-grossing tours by rap acts, with such acts qualifying due to recent performance on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums and/or Hot Rap Songs charts. Rankings are determined according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. All reported shows worldwide between Oct. 1, 2023 – Sept. 30, 2024, are eligible.

17 Dec 2024

Rosé Blooms at No. 2 as Taylor Swift Secures ARIA Chart Record

K-pop powerhouse Rosé has stormed the ARIA Albums Chart with her debut solo album, Rosie, landing at No. 2 and equaling her highest-charting success in Australia as part of BLACKPINK with The Album and Born Pink.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Rosé’s lead single, “APT.” featuring Bruno Mars, isn’t letting go of its grip either. The track continues its impressive run at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart for a sixth non-consecutive week, well and truly marking its place as one of 2024’s biggest hits. Her newest offering, “Toxic Till the End,” debuts at No. 31, boosted by a cinematic music video starring Gossip Girl’s Evan Mock.

Taylor Swift’s chart reign Down Under shows no signs of slowing down, with The Tortured Poets Department holding strong at No. 1 for a seventh non-consecutive week. That’s a record-breaking run for 2024, nudging past Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, which spent six weeks on top earlier this year.

Trending on Billboard

It’s yet another triumph for Swift in Australia, where she continues to shatter records. The Tortured Poets Department is now her 11th No. 1 album down under, more than any other female artist.

The album also pulled in the biggest opening week of the year, moving over 100,000 units, and set a new high for the most first-day Spotify streams in Australia.

Sabrina Carpenter keeps her streak alive as well, with Short n’ Sweet holding at No. 3. But she’s also bringing the holiday spirit, as her festive EP Fruitcake debuts at No. 59. The release features a playful Christmas version of her hit “Nonsense,” which hit No. 23 last year.

In a surprise comeback, Aussie hip-hop legends Bliss N Eso cracked the charts with their 2004 debut album, Flowers In The Pavement, appearing for the very first time at No. 46. Nearly two decades since its release, the record’s resurgence proves the trio’s lasting legacy, furthered by their three No. 1 albums over the years.

Meanwhile, the Christmas classics are creeping back into the mix as the holidays approach. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” climbs to No. 8, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” jumps to No. 10, and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” shakes up the chart at No. 16.

The ARIA charts are a melting pot of heavyweights and holiday hits, with Taylor Swift still calling the shots, Rosé carving her solo path, and timeless anthems ringing in the festive season. The question now? Can anyone knock Swift off her throne, or will The Tortured Poets Department keep rewriting the record books?

16 Dec 2024

Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Fruitcake’ Hits Top 10 on Billboard 200 With Record-Breaking Vinyl Sales

Sabrina Carpenter collects her second top 10-charting effort on the Billboard 200, as her holiday set Fruitcake reenters the Dec. 21-dated tally at No. 10, prompted largely by its wide physical release on CD, vinyl and cassette on Dec. 6. It joins her chart-topping Short n’ Sweet in the top 10, as it holds at No. 5. Fruitcake had previously peaked at No. 121 in 2023.

Fruitcake cooks up a big reentry thanks to major sales – the biggest sales week for any holiday album in four years, and the largest sales week for a holiday album on vinyl in the modern era (since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991). Fruitcake also got a big promotional boost from the debut of Carpenter’s Netflix holiday special, A Nonsense Christmas, on Dec. 6.

Fruitcake was initially released in November 2023 as a digital download album for purchase and through streaming services. The next month, it garnered a limited vinyl release, exclusively through Carpenter’s official webstore. On Dec. 6 of this year, the album became widely available on CD, cassette and three vinyl variants (including one exclusive to Target).

Trending on Billboard

In the tracking week ending Dec. 12, Fruitcake earned 54,000 equivalent album units (up 1,040%) in the U.S., according to Luminate, with album sales comprising 39,000 (up 27,326%; it debuts at No. 4 on Top Album Sales) and SEA units comprising 15,000 (up 210%, equaling 19.65 million on-demand official streams of set’s songs). Of the album’s 39,000 sales – vinyl sales comprise 31,000 copies.

The last holiday set with a bigger sales week overall (across all formats, physical and digital) was when Carrie Underwood’s My Gift debuted with 41,000 copies sold on the Oct. 10, 2020-dated chart.

Previously, the biggest sales week in the modern era for a holiday set on vinyl came just two weeks ago, when The Philly Specials’ A Philly Special Christmas Party bowed with 22,000 vinyl copies sold (Dec. 7 chart).

Back on the Billboard 200, with albums at Nos. 5 and 10, Carpenter is the sixth artist in 2024 to have at least two albums in the top 10 at the same time. Previously this year, Zach Bryan, Future, Metro Boomin, Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen all notched multiple projects in the top 10 concurrently.

Elsewhere on the charts, Fruitcake makes a sweet debut across multiple tallies: No. 1 on Indie Store Album Sales, No. 2 on Vinyl Albums, No. 2 on Top Catalog Albums and No. 4 on Top Album Sales. The set also zooms 47-3 (a new peak) on Top Holiday Albums.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. All Dec. 21, 2024-dated charts will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

Top Album Sales and Vinyl Albums ranks the week’s top-selling albums and vinyl albums, respectively. Indie Store Album Sales ranks the top-selling albums of the week at independent music stores. Top Holiday Albums ranks the week’s most popular holiday albums by equivalent album units. Top Catalog Albums ranks the week’s most popular catalog (older) albums across all genres, by equivalent album units.

16 Dec 2024

Bad Bunny Extends Top 10 Record on Hot Latin Songs Chart With ‘El Club’

Just a month after Bad Bunny bagged his 77th top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, the Puerto Rican adds a new top 10 to his roster of songs, as “El Club” debuts at No. 2 on the Dec. 21-dated list. The new arrival extends his scope to 78 top 10s across a seventh calendar year, dating back to his first in 2017.

“El Club,”, along with its music video, was released Dec. 5 on Rimas Entertainment. The song launches at No. 2 as the Hot Shot Debut of the week largely to its streaming activity –9.5 million official U.S. streams in the tracking week of Dec. 6-12, according to Luminate. The sum also sparks a No. 2 entrance on Latin Streaming Songs for a record-extending 83 top 10s there.

Trending on Billboard

“El Club,” Benito’s second solo single of the year, follows “Una Velita,” a song that addressed the destructive effects of hurricane María on his native Puerto Rico in 2017, which launched at No. 4 on Hot Latin Songs with 6.6 million official U.S. streams (Oct. 5-dated list). The multi-metric tally combines streaming data, digital sales and audience impressions into its formula.

Despite a negligible number of downloads in its first week, “El Club” advances 11-2 on Latin Digital Song Sales, also Benito’s 78th top 10 there.

With “El Club,” Bad Bunny stacks his 78th top 10 on Hot Latin Songs, further extending the distance from the next competitor, Enrique Iglesias, who last secured a top 10 through his Anuel AA collab, “Fútbol y Rumba” (No. 8 debut and peak in 2020).

As Bad Bunny’s top 10 collection grows, here’s a look at the artists with the most top 10s on Hot Latin Songs since its inception in 1986:

78, Bad Bunny
39, Enrique Iglesias
39, Luis Miguel
37, Daddy Yankee
37, Shakira

Further, “El Club” starts at No. 66 on the overall Billboard Hot 100, for Benito’s 97th entry there, still the most for a Latin artist. It also makes its No. 39 entrance on both the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, with 31 million global streams and 22 million clicks outside the U.S., respectively.

All charts (dated Dec. 21, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 17). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

16 Dec 2024

Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s ‘Bitter Vacances’ Rises to No. 1, Number_i Debuts at No. 3 on Japan Hot 100

Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Bitter Vacances” hits No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, rising from No. 6 where it debuted last week.

On the chart released Dec. 11, the theme for the upcoming live-action movie Saint Young Men (due in domestic theaters Dec. 20) comes in at No. 2 for streaming (up 182% week-over-week) and radio airplay (up 1,381％), No. 5 for video views (up 136％) and No. 3 for downloads.

Rosé & Bruno Mars’ “APT.” slips to No. 2 this week after holding the top spot for three straight weeks. After peaking last week, streams are down to 95%, downloads to 79%, and videos to 85%, but the global hit continues to dominate streaming and video.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Number_i’s “HIRAKEGOMA” debuts at No. 3. The new track off the three-man group’s album No. I (Deluxe) released Dec. 2 launches at No. 1 for downloads and radio, No. 4 for video, and No. 40 for streaming. The album No. I rises to No. 2 on the download albums chart and to No. 7 on the Hot Albums chart this week.

Trending on Billboard

Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” holds at No. 4. Downloads for the Oblivion Battery opener gained 119%, streaming 104%, and radio 229% from the week before.

BALLISTIK BOYZ from EXILE TRIBE’s “SAY IT” bows at No. 5. The track produced by T.Kura, Chaki Zulu and DJ DARUMA comes in at No. 4 for sales and No. 3 for radio.

In other news, the tragic death of Japanese actress and singer Miho Nakayama at age 54 was reported on Dec. 6, and fans turned to her collaborative single with the band WANDS from 1992, “Sekaiju no dareyori kitto,” (roughly, “probably more than anyone in the world”) to celebrate her life. The karaoke favorite debuted at No. 56 on the Japan Hot 100 this week, coming in at No. No. 6 for downloads, No. 91 for radio, and No. 88 for karaoke. Seasonal staples are also coming back in full swing, with back number’s “Christmas Song” rising 19-15, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” jumping 72-46, and Keisuke Kuwata’s “White Love” returning at No. 66. Also, a new Christmas love song by REIKO featuring JUNON of BE:FIRST called “First Christmas” debuts at No. 54.

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Dec. 2 to 8, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.

16 Dec 2024

ROSÉ & Bruno Mars’ ‘APT.’ Adds Eighth Week at No. 1 on Billboard Global Charts

ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” resides in the penthouse of both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts for an eighth week. The song debuted as the stars’ second leader on each survey.

Plus, six seasonal songs decorate the rankings’ top 10s, while ROSÉ adds a second concurrent and third total Global Excl. U.S. top 10 with the debut of “Toxic Till the End” at No. 6. The song is from the BLACKPINK member’s first solo album, Rosie, which launches at No. 3 on the U.S.-based Billboard 200.

Trending on Billboard

The Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

“APT.” rules the Global 200 with 147.7 million streams (down 1%) and 18,000 sold (up 4%) worldwide Dec. 6-12. The hit now claims eight of the top nine global streaming weeks among songs released in 2024:

  • 224.5 million, “APT.,” ROSÉ & Bruno Mars, Nov. 2
  • 207.5 million, “APT.,” Nov. 9
  • 176.8 million, “Fortnight,” Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone, May 4
  • 162.2 million, “APT.,” Nov. 16
  • 160.6 million, “APT.,” Dec. 7
  • 149.9 million, “APT.,” Dec. 14
  • 147.7 million, “APT.,” Dec. 21
  • 146.4 million, “APT.,” Nov. 23
  • 132.7 million, “APT.,” Nov. 30

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” holds at No. 2 on the Global 200. Released in 1994, the song has spent a record 18 weeks at No. 1 dating to the chart’s start (five each over the 2023 and 2022 holidays and four in both the 2021 and 2020 holiday seasons).

Four other carols rank in the Global 200’s top 10: Wham’s “Last Christmas” (11-4), Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (6-5), Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” (8-6) and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (13-10). The songs have hit respective Nos. 2, 2, 4 and 5 highs.

Plus, Lady Gaga and Mars’ “Die With a Smile” dips 3-4 on the Global 200, following eight weeks at No. 1, the most for any song this year, beginning in September. It drew 120.6 million streams (up 5%) worldwide in the latest tracking frame and has tallied over 100 million streams globally in each of the last 15 weeks, the longest such streak since the chart began.

“APT.” concurrently tops Global Excl. U.S. with 129.9 million streams (down 2%) and 12,000 sold (down 3%) outside the U.S. Dec. 6-12.

“Die With a Smile” holds at No. 2 on Global Excl. U.S.. following eight weeks at No. 1 starting in September; Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” repeats at No. 3, having spent a record-tying 13 weeks at No. 1; Wham’s “Last Christmas” keeps at No. 4, after reaching No. 2; and Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” lifts 6-5, following three weeks at No. 1 in August.

ROSÉ’s “Toxic Till the End” debuts at No. 6 on Global Excl. U.S. with 50.4 million streams and 4,000 sold outside the U.S. The BLACKPINK member achieves her third solo top 10 on the chart; the quartet and members Jennie and LISA as soloists have each notched four top 10s, while the act’s Jisoo has scored one top 10 solo.

Meanwhile, three more holiday hits make sleigh rides through Global Excl. U.S. top 10: Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (10-8); Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” (16-9); and Sia’s “Snowman” (12-10). The songs have reached highs of Nos. 3, 5 and 4, respectively.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Dec. 21, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Dec. 17. For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

16 Dec 2024

Mariah Carey Ties Her Longest Hot 100 Rule With 16th Week at No. 1 for ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’

Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” crowns the Billboard Hot 100 for a 16th total week. The song matches her longest command on the chart, first set by “One Sweet Day,” with Boyz II Men, in 1995-96.

The carol, which tops the Hot 100 for a second consecutive week this holiday season, also ties for the third-longest total domination in the chart’s 66-year history, after only the 19-week No. 1 runs of Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” this year and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, in 2019.

Notably, with “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and “One Sweet Day,” Carey has logged the Hot 100’s two longest-leading No. 1s by a woman artist. She’s also tied for the third-longest reign among women, thanks to 14 weeks at No. 1 for “We Belong Together” in 2005.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” additionally leads the Streaming Songs chart for a record-tying 20th total week, equaling “Old Town Road” for the longest No. 1 stay dating to the chart’s 2013 start.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” was originally released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in November 1994 and, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017, and the top five for the first time in the 2018 holiday season. It led at last, prior to the past two weeks, over the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two), 2021 (three), 2022 (four) and 2023 (two).

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” became Carey’s 19th Hot 100 No. 1, the most among soloists and one away from The Beatles’ overall record 20. It also made Carey the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades (1990s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s).

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Dec. 21, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 17). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

16 Dec 2024

Rock Stays Strong on Tour, But Latin & Rap Make Gains

Coldplay crowns Billboard’s year-end Top Tours chart. Not far removed, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Rolling Stones, U2 and Metallica follow in the top 10. Half of the ranking’s upper tier is made up of rock acts, allowing the long-dominant genre to have the biggest piece of the Boxscore pie. Among all dollars earned by 2024’s top 100 touring acts, rock is responsible for 36%, more than any other genre.

Rock’s rule is easily explained by its five acts in the top 10. But among artists between Nos. 11-20 on Top Tours, there is just one more name to add: Eagles at No. 19. Dominated by classic rock acts with chart-topping albums from the 1960s and ‘70s, the genre’s towering lead on stage has shrunk considerably over the course of the 21st century.

For every year but one between 2000-2010, rock acts represented more than 50% of Top Tours revenue, peaking at 68% in 2003. It’s only managed that once in the years since, when U2, Guns N’ Roses and Coldplay lined up at Nos. 1, 2, and 3, respectively, in 2017. Throughout the 2010s and into the 2020s, rock’s share bumped up and down year-to-year, but generally shifted from the majority to the mid-40% range, and now to the mid-30% range.

Watch the clip below to see how the genre makeup of Billboard’s top 100 tours has evolved over the course of the 21st century.

Rock’s share of the top 100 tours is actually up from last year, bumping from 32.4% to 36%. Still, it’s been below 40% for four of the last five years (excluding 2020 and 2021 because of venue closures due to COVID-19), off from an average of 57% throughout the 2000s decade. The genre’s reliance on legendary bands has left a gap as younger acts from other styles elevate to stadium status.

Pop is next in line, with 16.4% of 2024’s top 100 grosses. P!nk, Madonna and Olivia Rodrigo lead the charge, ticking up from last year’s 15.8%. One major caveat is the absence of Taylor Swift and the gargantuan grosses of The Eras Tour. While overall tour figures were published by The New York Times, data was not submitted to Billboard Boxscore for chart eligibility, which means that its earnings are excluded from this equation. It’s estimated that if this year’s grosses were reported, pop would reign supreme with 27-28%, sending rock into the 20%s in both 2023 and 2024.

Pop and rock have been the top two touring genres for every year this century, with the lone exception of 2003, when country music narrowly out-paced pop, 13% to 12.2%. But while they remain on top, the spread has become significantly more even in the post-pandemic years.

Latin music and rap both posted record highs this year, up to 15.8% and 5.7%, respectively. The former hit a new peak in 2022, when Bad Bunny had the year’s biggest tour, becoming the first artist who doesn’t primarily perform in English to earn top year-end honors. While no Latin act has reached those heights since, his stadium success is no longer an anomaly. Luis Miguel grossed $290.4 million this year, and four other Spanish-speaking artists crossed the $100 million threshold. At 5.3% in 2019, Latin artists returned from the pandemic at 12.1% in 2022, then 11.5% in 2023, and now approaching 16% in 2024.

Rap artists have yet to scale their touring business to the extent of their streaming prowess, but this year made quite a dent. The genre’s top-100 share shot from 2.7% to 5.7%, more than doubling its representation and eclipsing its prior peak from 2019. Four women helped push hip-hop’s boundaries, with Doja Cat, Missy Elliott, Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj outnumbering male rappers on the Top Tours chart for the first time. Plus, Travis Scott scores the genre’s biggest year-end gross ever, at $168 million.

The oscillations of each genre’s performance from one year to the next often comes down to scheduling. Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour was impactful enough to shift R&B artists from 5.3% in 2022 to 15.2% in 2023 and back to 5.9% in 2024. But the progression from pop and rock owning a combined 78.5% in 2000 to 52% in 2024 is indicative of gradual growth from a wide variety of diverse artists harnessing the power of their global audiences.

16 Dec 2024

Nicki Minaj, Missy Elliott & More Lead Banner Touring Year for Women in Hip-Hop

For the first time in Boxscore history, four female rappers land among the year’s top 100 touring artists. Further, women rappers outnumber male rappers for the first time on the all-genre list. Nicki Minaj (No. 30), Doja Cat (No. 61), Missy Elliott (No. 70), and Megan Thee Stallion (No. 76) finish on the year-end Top Tours chart, while closing at Nos. 2, 5, 6, and 7, respectively, on Top Rap Tours.

This year marks the first year with more than one female rapper among the top 100, let alone four. In fact, there had only been four instances of women in hip-hop ever making the all-genre list, dating back to the first year-end roundup in 1991.

Salt-N-Pepa did it first, at No. 53 in 1994 with a gross of $3.9 million, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.

Five years later, fresh off five Grammy wins for her R&B-rap-hybrid The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the titular rapper was No. 43 with $7.1 million.

Then, two of this year’s group made their debuts: Missy Elliott in 2004, as a co-headliner alongside Beyoncé and Alicia Keys on the Verizon Ladies First Tour ($21.8 million), and Nicki Minaj in 2015 on The Pinkprint Tour ($15.5 million).

That means that representation for female rappers across 34 year-end editions has doubled with just this year’s tally. This count excludes year-end appearances by pop and R&B acts who occasionally rap, such as Beyoncé, Lizzo or SZA.

2024 goes down as a banner year for the touring industry overall, with record grosses surpassing $9 billion among the top 100 artists. And amid that enormous success, rap makes up a bigger piece of the pie than ever before, responsible for 5.7% of those dollars, up from 2.7% last year. The genre’s seven tours in the top 100 matches 2019’s high and improves upon last year’s count of three. Nicki, Doja, Missy and Megan made that possible, not only disrupting hip-hop’s gender monopoly — it’s been nine years since a woman was among rap’s top-100 finalists — but taking over and pushing hip-hop over the edge, outnumbering male rappers for the first time on the all-genre list. Travis Scott (No. 15), $uicideboy$ (No. 48) and 50 Cent (No. 49) round out rap’s representation on the chart.

Minaj is No. 30 on Top Tours with $99.8 million and 712,000 tickets, marking all-time highs for year-end rank, gross and attendance among female rappers, barely outdoing the No. 31 finish for Elliott’s Verizon co-headline 20 years ago. Notably, the Pink Friday 2 World Tour continued beyond the confines of the 2024 tracking period (Oct. 1, 2023 – Sept. 30, 2024), finishing in mid-October with a final gross of $108.9 million from 788,000 tickets, making it the first tour by a female rapper to cross the nine-figure milestone.

Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion each made their mark on their debut arena tours. Both acts experienced major breakthroughs in 2020 while concert venues were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They scored their first No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 just two weeks apart, as “Say So,” hot off a remix with fellow arena titan Nicki Minaj, topped the chart dated May 16, 2020, and “Savage,” boosted by a re-up with rare rap verses by Beyoncé, hit the summit on May 30.

Doja and Megan’s tours reported earnings of $46 million and $40.2 million, respectively, both primarily in the U.S. and Canada, with a sprinkle of European headline shows.

This year also marked the first solo headline tour for Missy Elliott, though it comes nearly 30 years after her debut studio album. Though she wasn’t a road warrior, she amassed major chart success, with six top 20 albums on the Billboard 200 and 10 top 10s on the Hot 100 from 1997-2005.

Beyond hip-hop’s year-end elite, a small handful of female rappers provide promise for the years to come. Ice Spice sold thousands of tickets in Boston, Oakland, and Washington, D.C., while Sexyy Red graduated from clubs last fall (972 tickets in Boston; 1,580 in Richmond, Va.) to arenas, approaching 10,000 tickets in Fort Worth, Texas (9,703 at Dickies Arena on Aug. 30), and Brooklyn (9,631 at Barclays Center on Sept. 17). GloRilla, with eight Hot 100 hits this year, spent hot girl summer as direct support on Megan Thee Stallion’s sold-out trek.

Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, Missy Elliott and Megan Thee Stallion grossed a combined $227.8 million from 1.7 million tickets across 148 shows in the 2024 tracking window.

16 Dec 2024

Sphere Dominates Year-End Venues Ranking With Record-Setting $400M Gross

Sphere rules Billboard’s Top Venues (15,001+ capacity) chart for 2024, with a monstrous gross of $420.5 million from 1.3 million tickets sold. Not only does that secure the top spot among venues in its capacity range, but it’s also the highest gross for any venue of any size this year. Beyond the scope of the year-end charts, it’s the biggest annual gross for any venue in Boxscore history.

Sphere is the first venue to register a year-end gross of more than $300 million and $400 million. Only four artists ever grossed more than Sphere’s total in one year-end period: The Rolling Stones in 2006, Ed Sheeran in 2018, Beyonce in 2023, and, based on overall finals for The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift in 2023 and 2024.

The Las Vegas room attracts residency acts just like The Colosseum at Caesars Palace or Dolby Live, pushing high ticket prices for stadium artists in a more intimate setting. But unlike those theaters’ four-digit capacity, which ultimately keeps total grosses within the stratosphere, Sphere is a full-sized arena, selling 15,000-17,000 tickets per show. With a floor-to-ceiling wrapround LED screen, 4D physical effects and immersive audio, it’s a high-ticket attraction for once-in-a-career productions.

U2 launched Sphere’s calendar in September 2023, kicking off with a 17-show run that brought in $109.8 million from 281,000 tickets sold. Two more legs followed on U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, ultimately closing in March with $244.5 million and 663,000 tickets. That makes it the fourth highest-grossing residency in Boxscore history, despite running for just six months with 40 shows. Billy Joel’s Madison Square Garden tenure, above it at No. 3 on the all-time tally, played for 10 years with 104 shows.

Phish followed with a long weekend of shows from April 18-21, bringing in $13.4 million and selling 66,700 tickets.

Dead & Company was next, with a seasonal residency, playing 30 shows between May 16 and Aug. 10. Ultimately, it earned a spot in the top 10 of the all-time residency list, with $131.8 million and 477,000 tickets. That’s a bigger gross than any of Dead & Co.’s annual tours, dating back to its 2015 inception.

Sphere’s current residents are the Eagles, in the middle of an ongoing stint that is scheduled well into 2025. The band’s first eight shows scored $42.2 million and sold 131,000 tickets.

The Top Venues chart is not the only place where Sphere shines on Billboard’s year-end report. U2 lands at No. 7 on the Top Tours list, exclusively from its Vegas shows. Bono’s boys are joined by Dead & Company on Top Rock Tours, with both acts in the top 10 — U2 at No. 4 and Dead & Company at No. 8. On Top Boxscores, which measures individual shows, or a run of shows at the same venue, U2 blocks out the top three with its Sphere legs.

In all, including shows by U2 and the Eagles that fit into the 2023 and 2025 Boxscore tracking periods, and an additional non-music event, Sphere’s 83 reported shows have brought in $452.3 million and played to 1.4 million fans.