Grupo Firme: Latin Touring Sensation Makes Chart Debut

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INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MAY 28: Eduin Cazares of Grupo Firme performs at SoFi Stadium on May 28, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Timothy Norris/Getty Images)

Grupo Firme has grossed over $100 million on North American concert stages since July of last year when the Tijuana, Mexico-based band headed north to Los Angeles and sold out shows on seven nights at Crypto.com Arena. This week the Latin Grammy-winning septet returns to the Artist Power Index after a four-week absence but makes its debut appearance on LIVE75 at No. 4. The ranking is based on sales at three recent events on their “Enfiestados y Amanecidos” stadium tour that began in the U.S. in May.

Petco Park in San Diego, Houston’s NRG Stadium and Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas all hosted the group with a collective total of 116,428 tickets sold in all three American markets. The sold-ticket average of 38,809 per show gives the band “Hot Shot” status as the highest-ranked debut of the week.

The best attendance for Grupo Firme at a single venue in the past year is a massive 301,456 ticket count recorded at Mexico City’s Foro Sol stadium from three shows March 24-26 and two more in early May. Stateside, the most tickets sold was 79,261 from two performances at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, May 28-29. The Los Angeles market also produced the highest arena attendance on record for the band with 77,437 total tickets at last summer’s seven-show stand at Crypto.com Arena, then named Staples Center.

Lizzo is the only performing artist to make a debut appearance on the Artist Power Index this week, scoring the No. 24 ranking following the launch of her new tour on Sept. 23. Dubbed “The Special Tour” in support of her fourth studio album released in July on Nice Life and Atlantic Records, the North American trek began with a concert in South Florida at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise. Tampa’s Amalie Arena was next on the schedule the following evening, while a performance held in Washington, D.C. at Capital One Arena on Sept. 27 also contributes to her chart placement.

LIVE75’s three highest-ranked touring artists hold the same position as in last week’s issue with Garth Brooks heading up the list at No. 1. His 80,200-ticket average is the result of five sold-out stadium concerts in Dublin, while Bad Bunny remains at No. 2 with a nine-show ticket average of 44,114. The rapper’s gross total of $10.7 million, though, continues to rank higher than all other artists to claim the “Heavy Hitter” tag for the sixth week in a row.

Iron Maiden repeats at No. 3 based on a 41,838-ticket average from four Latin American venues: Foro Sol along with stadiums in Ribeirao Preto, Curitiba and São Paulo, Brazil. The veteran rockers moved their most tickets at the Mexico City stadium with a sellout crowd of 62,994 in attendance on Sept. 9. All four stadiums welcomed sellout crowds.

The Artist Power Index also sees the top three artists retain their same ranking from last week with Ed Sheeran hanging on to No. 1 on the strength of 10 stadium shows in three European countries. Bad Bunny’s hold at No. 2 is based on nine stadium performances in U.S. cities including two at Petco Park and two at Allegiant Stadium.

Harry Styles keeps the third slot for another week on APX based on the last 10 performances of his five-week engagement held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, along with two of the six shows he has booked at Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

R&B artist Giveon is the LIVE75 chart’s “Breakthrough” act based on a 100% sellout average at five concerts in three cities. Ranked No. 33, he averaged 3,868 tickets from the shows that included two-night stints during August at New York’s Radio City Music Hall as well as House of Blues Boston. A September performance at Fox Theater in Oakland, California also added to his overall ticket count of 19,342 and a five-show gross totaling just over $1 million.