las vegas residency
Page: 3
Adele hilariously tried to channel Beyonce during her Las Vegas residency. The 35-year-old British songstress took a moment during her Weekends With Adele show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Friday (Aug. 26) to attempt — and ultimately fail — Bey’s “everybody on mute” challenge. For those who have missed it, Beyonce has been […]
Kelly Clarkson was joined by two very special guests during her Las Vegas residency show over the weekend.
The 41-year-old pop star and television personality welcomed her son, Remington Alexander, 7, and daughter River Rose, 9, to the stage at Planet Hollywood’s Bakkt Theater on Friday night (Aug. 18).
During the Chemistry show, Clarkson performed a duet of 2015’s “Heartbeat Song” with River Rose and cut a rug alongside Remy as she belted out 2017’s “Whole Lotta Woman.” Watch the heart-warming cameos in fan-captured videos here and here.
Leading up to Friday’s concert, the American Idol alum shared an adorable of her smiling children on social media.
“Both of my kiddos backstage getting ready to join me on stage in Vegas nothing will ever be as cool and amazing as these two little humans that will always have my whole heart,” Clarkson captioned the sweet snapshot on Instagram.
Before their big onstage entrance, The Kelly Clarkson Show host told the crowd that her children asked if they could “dance or sing something” with their mother at her residency show, which launched on July 28. She then revealed that River Rose wanted to sing “Heartbeat Song” — which peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2015 — because it held a special place in her heart.
“She’s been jamming to this song since she was a baby,” Clarkson said. “She loves this song so much, so she was like, ‘Can I sing this song?’” After the lively duet, the proud mother excitedly congratulated her daughter. “You look gorgeous! You did amazing. I love you,” she said.
Earlier in the week, Clarkson announced a deluxe version of her 10th studio album, Chemistry, which is scheduled for release on Sept. 22 through Atlantic. The 22-song set will feature eight new songs and remixes, including the ballad “You Don’t Make Me Cry” featuring River Rose. Chemistry peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in July.
Clarkson shares Remy and River Rose with her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, a music manager, whom she divorced in 2020. The couple was married for about seven years and had also been raising Blackstock’s two children from a previous marriage, daughter Savannah, and son Seth.
See Clarkson’s post on Instagram below.
Shania Twain is inviting fans to “Come On Over” when she launches her latest Las Vegas residency in May 2024 at the 7,000-seat Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.
The upcoming slate of 24 shows — titled Shania Twain: COME ON OVER – The Las Vegas Residency – All The Hits! — are set for May, August, September, November and December. This marks Twain’s third career residency, following her Still the One residency (2012-14) and the more recent Let’s Go! Residency (2019-22).
“If you want to change things or you want the show to evolve, it’s as if the whole building, the whole theater is my playroom for a while,” Twain told Billboard via Zoom of why she loves residencies. “I love that I get consistency that I can build a show that I don’t have to worry about moving around. It’s a very different approach to the production when you have the luxury of things being maybe a little more fragile and if there are things you couldn’t take on the road. It’s a controlled environment, no variables you have to worry about — you can get the sound and lights the way you want it. That custom element of the production is a luxury.”
Of her Planet Hollywood venue, she adds, “The Bakkt Theater feels more intimate to me than some other theaters. It’s a real party vibe and inspires me to be close to everybody. This residency is going to be more interactive, with more fan interaction.”
The new slate of shows will take place in May (10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 23, 25 and 26), August (23, 24, 29 and 31), September (1, 4, 6 and 7), November (29 and 30) and December (4, 6, 7, 11, 13 and 14).
General on-sale begins Monday, Aug. 21, at 10 a.m. PT at Ticketmaster.com, while Citi card members will have access to presales beginning Aug. 16 at 10 a.m. PT through Aug. 20 at 10 p.m. PT, and Live Nation/Caesars Entertainment presales will happen Aug. 17-20. Twain’s fans will have access to a presale beginning Aug. 16 at 2 p.m. PT.
Shania Twain: COME ON OVER – The Las Vegas Residency – All The Hits! takes its name from Twain’s 1997 album Come On Over, which yielded massive international hits including “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” “Man! I Feel like a Woman!,” “You’re Still the One,” “From This Moment On” and “Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You).” On Aug. 25, Twain will release the multiple expanded U.S. and International “Diamond” editions of Come On Over, in celebration of the project’s 25th anniversary.
Twain, who was named the Country Music Association’s entertainer of the year in 1999, recalls of those heady music-making and tour years, “It’s funny, because I don’t have very vivid memories of that time, because it was such a whirlwind. It was single after single, and video after video. It was as if I couldn’t keep up. And I was on tour for the first time since I had had my first radio hit. Everything bottlenecked, so it was the tour, trying to fit in choosing the next single, and what the video would be like, styling the videos, editing the videos. I was hands-on with everything, and it exhausted me. So I didn’t get to enjoy a lot of it in the moment. But I’m celebrating now.”
Twain tells Billboard that fans can expect the Come On Over residency to be filled with many of her classic hits — including, of course, songs from Come On Over — but also songs from her recently released Queen of Me album.
“On the Queen of Me Tour, I change out the set list quite often, so it’s giving me ideas [for the residency],” Twain says. “I haven’t settled in entirely to my set list for the Come On Over residency because of that exact factor, so I’m still working that out. Everyone loves ‘Giddy Up!,’ and ‘Waking Up Dreaming’ is a total bop for everyone. I have kids come up onstage and their parents would’ve grown up with Come On Over, and a few times I will ask the little kid, who might be like 5 or 6 years old. I’ll ask them what their favorite song is, and they will say ‘Queen of Me.’”
Whether on her current tour (which will launch its second leg in September in the United Kingdom) or as part of a residency, Twain’s concerts are known to be eye-popping spectacles of color, upbeat music and high fashion — something Twain says won’t change during the upcoming residency.
“I’m in a new chapter of creative expression that I’m obsessed with,” the five-time Grammy winner says. “For the Queen of Me Tour, I went through all my boxes, and deep in to all my closets and in storage, for all the fabulous garments. I hadn’t touched a lot of them in 25 years. It’s re-imagining them, and in some cases dismantling them and putting them back together in a new way. I have this new passion for how I see myself in them onstage, and that’s going to apply to the residency as well.
“I have so much experience, from touring, with performing in fashionable clothes and thinking about how they move, how they wear when I’m sweating. I’m always thinking, ‘Can I kick and run in them? How do they look in motion and in still photographs?’ I enjoy building these clothes. I’m great with the scissors. I’m not a good sewer, but I have a great team. I’m a great pinner and I’m in there literally designing the looks for every show.”
As a hands-on, creative professional, Twain says she still has more ideas she would love to incorporate into her residencies.
“I haven’t done this yet, and I don’t know if I can. I’ll have to find a way. I want to have a huge, inflated sphere that I can run around in over the audience — I should never have said that out loud,” she says with a laugh. “But I really want to do that, because I think the fans always have so much fun when balls are thrown into the audience, and I want to be in that. I’m gonna make a giant transparent beach ball and I’m gonna get in it and roll around while I’m still young enough to do it without getting hurt. I don’t know how I would do it — I always get a ‘No’ from production; they’re like, ‘That’s not even possible.’ I’m gonna figure out a way to do it at some point, so I can get out there and go everywhere in the room.”
Outside of the residency, Twain has other dreams — including one very collaborative one she has her sights set on.
“One of my dreams is to do a whole album of duets,” she says. “It’s a common dream, I think, to sing with your favorite singers, and I would get a chance at quite a few by doing a whole album of duets.”
However, she notes, one of those dream collaborations would have included the late Country Music Hall of Famer Glen Campbell, who died in 2017 after his battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. “Glen was one of my dream duet singers,” Twain says, “so that isn’t going to happen now and that’s sad. So I better get to it while everybody else on my list is still around.”
Lady Gaga is rebooting her Jazz & Piano residency show at the Dolby Live at Park MGM. The singer announced on Monday morning (July 31) that the show will be back for 12 dates between August 31 and Oct. 5. Gaga launched Jazz & Piano in Jan. 2019, playing shows interchangeably with her more elaborate […]
Kylie Minogue is headed to Las Vegas. The “Padam Padam” singer announced on Thursday (July 27) that she has scheduled her first-ever residency at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas’ Voltaire this fall. “VEGAS BABY! [star emoji],” she tweeted in a video set to her latest global dance smash. “So excited to headline the all-new @VoltaireLV at starting this fall. See you there! #MoreThanJustAResidency.”
The gigs for the first headliner run at the 1,000-seat cabaret-style space at the Venetian are slated to kick off on Nov. 4, with tickets going on sale on August 9. The space was described in a press release announcing the shows as “blurring the line between an intimate club, concert, and non-stop entertainment venue.”
“Today is the day where it all becomes, beautifully real,” Minogue said at the Los Angeles event announcing her residency according to EW. The singer said she and the resort have been “living with” their plans for the residency for nearly three years. “So to finally be able to say, yes, I am doing a show in Vegas and to be at Voltaire at the Venetian Resort, it’s just, it’s such a good match. And, yeah, I couldn’t be more excited.”
Minogue is prepping her 16th studio album, Tension (Sept. 22), which has been set up by the global hit “Padam Padam.” The Australian singer hinted at her plans to join Adele, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson and other current Vegas residency artists earlier this month during an episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in which the host asked if she had any plans to do a “tour or Vegas residency.” Squinting her eyes mischievously, Minogue teased, “very possibly.”
“The spirit of Voltaire is one of pure, authentic fun. It’s one I resonate with as a pop artist. My new album Tension is all about the space where the intimate and universal come together and Voltaire represents just that,” Minogue said in a statement announcing the residency on Friday morning (July 28). “The creative team has designed an environment where people can get up and dance at their tables and revel in the night – that’s what my music is for.”
Producer Michael Gruber described his vision for Voltaire as an “interactive night out with some of the world’s biggest superstars” in an intimate setting where “anything can happen and no two evenings are the same.”
With a theme of “Belle de Nuit” (Beauty of the Night), Voltaire aims to capture a spirit “evocative of veils and mystery, of come-to-play and dress-to-express,” with table service that will include everything from champagne and caviar to cookies. “The creative team has designed an environment where people can get up and dance at their tables and revel in the night,” said Minogue. “That’s what Voltaire is and I can’t wait to perform in this intimate and exciting setting.”
Venetian president/CEO Patrick Nichols said that, “Voltaire will lead a revival in high-caliber nightlife giving guests an unexpected night out, but also the opportunity to see some of their favorite artists in an intimate way.” Gruber added, “Everything about Kylie reflects the essence of Voltaire. Her music is fun. Her spirit is absolutely infectious. And she’s at the top of her game, which makes this a truly special moment for fans to connect in such an intimate environment.”
Minogue will wear custom high-fashion costumes for the residency created by a designer who has worked with her before, as well as with Beyoncé and Mariah Carey, for what is described as a “heavy couture influence [that] lends the entire evening an unforgettably glamorous lens.” Emmy- and Tony-winning production designer Derek McLane (Moulin Rouge, MJ on Broadway) conjured the “immersive key-hole themed room design, centered around modern-day art deco fantasy.”
“I really wanted it to feel like an escape from the environment of the casino floor. Something that felt like a completely different world. An intimate, exciting, and inviting world,” said McLane. Information on tickets, tables and packages for the opening show and residency run is available here.
Watch the residency announcement below.
Adele is asking her Las Vegas audience to weigh in on the tragic Titanic submersible story.
The British songstress paused her residency show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Friday (June 23) to ask concert-goers whether they’d visit the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean if given the opportunity.
In a fan-captured TikTok video, the “Easy on Me” singer began the question by noting that the deadly implosion of OceanGate’s Titan vessel was “so sad and so tragic.”
“But I have been debating with my friends on our group chats. Everyone’s like, ‘I would never do that.’ But that’s a lie, ’cause a lot of people would do that,” Adele told the crowd. “I want do a vote — not in mind of what happened, ’cause that was so sad and so tragic — but before this week, how many people would, if they could, would go down to the very, very bottom of the ocean to see the Titanic? Raise your hands.”
Not surprisingly, many attendees cheered loudly in favor of not seeing the Titanic wreckage under water. The 35-year-old then upped the ante by asking whether they’d be interested in flying to outer space.
“I wouldn’t do it either but only because I’m a bit of a p—-. I’m a scaredy cat of everything,” Adele said. “I wouldn’t even go on roller coasters. But also, I just genuinely don’t have an interest in the deep sea or space, so that’s why.”
Earlier in the week, news broke that the five passengers aboard the 21-foot submersible Titan were presumed dead following a “catastrophic implosion,” according to Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger.
In 2018, Adele celebrated her 30th birthday in blockbuster style with a Titanic-themed bash. Photos from the celebration showed the diva standing at the top of an elaborate Titanic-style staircase and donning glittering gown with her hair curled into tight ringlets à la Kate Winslet’s character Rose in the epic 1997 romance-disaster film.
“Thank you to everyone for coming along for the ride the last 11 years with me. My family and friends for entertaining my super fandom of the Titanic movie. Last night was the best night of my life,” Adele captioned her Instagram post.
Adele is legendarily an open book when she chooses to share the details of her life. But on Saturday night the singer got way honest with the crowd at her “Weekends With Adele” show in Las Vegas when she shared a recent diagnosis that sent her to the doctor for a problem she didn’t even […]
There’s a reason that Garth Brooks won entertainer of the year a record-setting seven times from the CMA Awards. It’s because he simply has few peers when it comes to live performance.
Brooks proved that again Thursday night (May 18) at the opening night of his Garth Brooks/Plus ONE residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The 2 1/2-hour performance spanned 33 songs and combined the best of his previous one-man show at The Wynn — which ended in 2014 after running for five years — and the full-band, three-year stadium tour that he completed last year that drew more than three million people.
Brooks started off solo backing himself on acoustic guitar, under the guise of saying he needed to sound check how the room sounded full of people. He opened with Bob Seger‘s “Against the Wind,” which he sang partially a cappella. While it’s understandable to focus on his overall talents as an engaging entertainer and his almost supernatural ability to connect with his audience, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that his voice is a tremendously supple and powerful one, which he proved over-and-over throughout the night. He followed with “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” from Keith Whitley, one of his other musical heroes, and his own 1995 hit, “She’s Every Woman,” before bringing on his 11-piece band for a muscular, full-bodied “Rodeo.”
For the rest of the evening, he nimbly toggled back and forth between solo and band performances in what seemed to be a spontaneous set list. While his band was in fine form throughout, they especially shone on a particularly menacing “The Thunder Rolls.” His permanent Plus One, wife Trisha Yearwood, also joined him for four songs, showing off her peerless vocals throughout, but especially on “Shallow.”
Unlike the Wynn show where he narrated a version of his life from the perspective of his youth with a sense of awe of the musical marks his early influences had left on him, this time when he referenced George Strait, James Taylor and Seger, it was as often as a peer. That includes a moving segment where he recounted how stunning it was for him to hear his holy trio sing his own songs back to him when he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It also proved a clever device to perform three of his biggest hits: “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” “The River” and “That Summer.”
Audience members had to lock up their phones upon entry, which meant no photos, no video, and, certainly, no recording. The simple move kept everyone in the moment, but also allowed Brooks to debut a stunning new song, a dark ballad about finding pleasure in the pain, without worrying it would show up online within minutes.
But the moments of darkness were few (and included a stripped-down, emotional version of “Wolves” from 1990’s No Fences) because, as Brooks has said for decades, there is no one having more fun at his shows than him. His exuberance at being back on stage, embraced by adoring fans who gave him a long standing ovation simply for walking out before he sang a note, was palpable at every turn. Brooks joked earlier in the day that tonight would be the worst of the 27 shows in his 2023 residency; on Friday morning (May 19), he added an additional 18 shows for 2024 that go on sale later this month. If that is the case, fans attending upcoming concerts have got plenty to look forward to as opening night will be hard to beat.
See below for the full setlist from the residency’s opening night.
“Against The Wind”
U2 announced the dates for their upcoming residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere at the Venetian venue on Monday morning (April 24). The veteran UK Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will kick off the U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere run on Sept. 29, marking their first live run of gigs in four years.
Erika Jayne’s love affair with Las Vegas started with a playbill. When she was just a child, the future reality star’s mother and stepfather took a weekend getaway to Sin City and brought back a program for Lido de Paris, the famous revue boasting topless showgirls that ran for decades at the now-demolished Stardust Resort and Casino, as a souvenir.
“I fell in love with this program,” Erika tells Billboard from her home in Los Angeles. “So much so that when I did my book report, we had to pick a city and I picked Las Vegas.”
Bringing her beloved program filled with topless performers didn’t exactly go over well in her Georgia classroom, but the then-elementary schooler flooded her class with dice and other Vegas-themed paraphernalia instead, only to learn after she gave her report that the glitzy metropolis wasn’t actually the capital of Nevada. (For the record, that’s Carson City.) But the point remained: Erika officially had her sights set on Vegas.
This summer, that longstanding dream of seeing her name in the lights of Sin City will be fully realized as Erika launches Bet It All on Blonde, her very own residency at House of Blues Las Vegas inside the Mandalay Bay.
“It just feels right. It is right. It’s over the top like Erika Jayne,” the blonde bombshell said of bringing her act to the famous Strip starting Aug. 25 for a run of 11 dates over five weekends through Dec. 2. “Fantasy, love, escape, glitz, glamour and fun — that’s what we’re gonna bring to you and I’m so f—ing excited.”
Erika Jayne
Courtesy Photo
Those six individual keywords make up what the singer refers to as the guiding “ethos” of her stage persona, whom many fans first met when she joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast back in 2015. Erika Jayne became an instant fan favorite upon her introduction to the Bravosphere, and in her seven seasons and counting, Bravoholics have watched the dance-club diva perform in gay clubs in San Diego, Chicago and New York City, to far-flung locales like Mykonos. In season 9, she even headlined her very own tour, which included a sold-out show at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles attended by her fellow Housewives.
But even before she was living out her fantasies in front of Bravo’s cameras, Erika had already gained a passionate, mainly LGBTQ+ fanbase and a string of dance-driven chart hits — including nine No. 1s on Billboard‘s Dance Club Songs chart. It’s an undeniable accomplishment she notes hasn’t fully translated in the minds of Housewives fans, even as they’ve watched her record music, hold auditions, cast dancers and film music videos for singles like “How Many F–ks” (her most recent No. 1) and “Xxpensive” on the show.
“They’re all special,” the self-described “musical theater kid” says of her nine chart-toppers, the number of which actually rivals the likes of Christina Aguilera (10), Britney Spears (11), Kylie Minogue (14) and Lady Gaga (15). (Madonna, meanwhile, holds the unparalleled record on the chart, as revisited on Her Madgesty’s excellent 2022 compilation Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones.)
“Like, think about ‘Roller Coaster,’ which was in 2007 or 2008 or whenever it was,” Erika continued. “You know, it was my first record out. And I just remember creating in the beginning with such freedom and making music that I liked to dance to. … As I think here, there are so many [songs] that I wish had a bigger look. But now they will, ’cause they’ll be back in the show.”
As she prepares for her residency, the RHOBH star has no qualms about taking a cue from recent smash engagements like Spears’ Piece of Me, Aguilera’s The Xperience or Gwen Stefani’s Just a Girl to find inspiration for what makes a Vegas show sparkle. “Obviously, it’s going to be Erika Jayne,” she says. “But let’s be honest: Everybody’s looking at Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez. Those women have done a great job. And I’m gonna do a great job too.”
It’s also a safe bet to expect Erika’s preparations for Vegas won’t simply stay in Vegas, either. Expect to watch the process play out on season 13 of RHOBH, which is currently in production, and possibly beyond the Bravo franchise too, into a spin-off of its own. “I remember watching Blonde Ambition and being so fascinated by the inner-workings of a tour,” she says, referencing Madonna: Truth or Dare, the 1991 documentary directed by Alek Keshishian that brought fans behind the scenes of Madonna’s now-iconic, boundary-breaking Blonde Ambition Tour. “I want to give the fans a different look at my artistry, putting a show together, where I am in my life, outside of Housewives.
“Because it has its own life,” she continues. “You know, the show, the residency, everything that goes into it. The personalities around it, the pressure. Making the show is fascinating to a lot of people. It certainly is to me. And I think that that needs to be captured.”
Along with past cuts like “Give Me Everything,” “Stars” and “Painkillr,” the Pretty Mess author promises her residency will also include new music filled with “big, anthemic, fun moments,” which she’s currently hard at work recording in the studio, as well as covers of some of her favorite songs by other artists. “It’s a new era of Erika Jayne,” she teases. “And I think that’s important because the journey continues on as a musician, as an artist. Things have changed, but I will never not be happy onstage. Does that make sense? I will never not celebrate onstage, I will always have a good time and always bring the party. But it’s just a new party.”
What’s changed exactly? Well, first the pandemic ravaged the world, bringing Erika’s thriving performing career to an abrupt and devastating halt just weeks after she’d made her celebrated Broadway debut playing Roxie Hart in Chicago. (“I think that anyone that calls themselves a performer should have to go to Broadway. … Every night I stood onstage, I just was honored to be there.”)
Then, as anyone who’s followed the drama on RHOBH or read the news in the past two years knows, her personal life imploded as she was caught in the legal riptide of her estranged husband Tom Girardi’s very public fall from grace. The onetime powerhouse of the L.A. legal and political worlds, who earned his reputation winning high-profile cases like 1993’s Anderson et. al. v. Pacific Gas & Electric — which inspired the movie Erin Brockovich — stands accused of misappropriating at least $2 million in funds meant for the families of victims of a 2018 airplane crash in Indonesia, funneling more than $20 million in additional victim compensation to the LLC created for Erika’s entertainment career and various other financial crimes. He has since been disbarred, placed in a legal conservatorship, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and lives permanently in a memory care facility.
Erika, meanwhile, has maintained she had no knowledge of Girardi’s misdeeds — a controversial plot point that has fueled much of the can’t-miss drama on the past two seasons of RHOBH. Last fall, she won a decisive victory in a $5 million lawsuit filed against her for allegedly “aiding and abetting” her husband, with the judge finding no evidence of “wrongdoing” on her part, per the L.A. Times.
Determined to come out on the other side of her world being upended, Erika says the title of Bet It All on Blonde symbolizes not only the next chapter of Erika Jayne, but also her hard-fought independence and steadfast commitment to herself.
“Look, I think it’s no secret what I’ve been going through these last couple years,” she says. “And you do, in life, have to bet on yourself. Especially in this business. You have to be willing to take risks, and Vegas is a betting town, so I bet it all on myself. I rolled the dice and I’m cashing in.”
Tickets for Erika Jayne’s Bet It All on Blonde residency go on sale Monday (April 24) at 10 a.m. PT via the House of Blues Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay or Ticketmaster, or by calling (702) 632-7600. A special fan presale will begin Thursday (April 20) at 10 a.m. PT with additional presales for members of MGM Rewards, MGM Resorts’ loyalty rewards program, as well as House of Blues, Live Nation and Ticketmaster customers will start one day later on Friday (April 21) at 10 a.m. PT. All presales will end Sunday (April 23) at 10 p.m. PT before the general on-sale.