Chart Scene: Lizzo Surges On Artist Power Index

Lizzo powers forward on the Artist Power Index to score the 11th ranking after making her first appearance on last week’s chart at No. 24. Her debut followed the launch of the new tour supporting her latest studio album Special, released on July 15. This week, her 13-position leap follows seven performances at the first six arenas on the North American leg of the tour.

An opening night concert at FLA Live Arena near Fort Lauderdale, Florida marked the “Special” tour’s debut on Sept. 23 with shows following at Tampa’s Amalie Arena, Washington’s Capital One Arena, Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and TD Garden in Boston. New York City’s Madison Square Garden is the first of two venues on the tour with shows booked on two nights. Her concerts there Oct. 2-3 also contributed to this chart’s rankings, while her next two-night run will be in the Los Angeles market with shows on Nov. 18-19 at Inglewood’s Kia Forum.

Although Lizzo’s Live rank on APX shows her as the 36th highest in the category on the chart’s qualifying metrics, she had her strongest showing in the Airplay category where she ranked sixth among all recording artists. She has seen critical acclaim and charting success in 2022 for her new album as well as its lead single “About Damn Time” that bowed on April 14 and the second single “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)” that was released in the summer.

Ed Sheeran’s stand at No. 1 on the Artist Power Index follows top-10 finishes in three of the four qualifying categories of chart eligibility: Live, Streaming and Airplay – along with the 38th highest score in Social. This marks his 19th week with the top ranking in 2022 and his 12th consecutive No. 1 on the chart where he has appeared every week since APX made its inaugural appearance in Pollstar’s Feb. 7 issue.

Garth Brooks makes it three weeks in a row atop LIVE75 following his return to Dublin’s Croke Park after a 25-year span. His five shows at the stadium in September produced a colossal per-show ticket average of 80,200 to retain a firm grip on No. 1. It is also a three-peat for Bad Bunny who is ranked second, but he retains the highest gross average of the week: $11.6 million from 12 performances on his ongoing stadium tour. His hold on the “Heavy Hitter” status on the chart continues for a seventh consecutive week.

Journey enters both charts in this issue, taking the “Hot Shot” tag on LIVE75 with the highest debut among the top-ranked touring artists. The veteran rockers are at No. 7 based on box-office results reported from three Latin American dates on their “Freedom” tour that kicked off in February. Attendance at San Juan’s Coliseo de Puerto Rico, Arena Monterrey in Mexico and Arena CDMX in Mexico City averaged 14,691 sold seats per night to earn the ranking.

The band also returns to the Artist Power Index (No. 43) for the first time since charting in the Sept. 12 issue on the strength of the “Freedom” tour’s final August performance: a sellout on the 8th at Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua, New York. 

Brooklyn-based Cigarettes After Sex owns LIVE75’s “Breakthrough” classification with the best sellout percentage among the artists ranked outside the top 25. Landing at No. 48, the band sold out concerts at McMenamins Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon and Fox Theater in Oakland, California along with two at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club in September to average 1,715 tickets per night.