Chart Scene: Lil Nas X Earns Top Chart Debut

Lil Nas X makes his debut appearance on the Artist Power Index following the launch of his first concert tour that kicked off in September with a run of North American dates planned through October. The Georgia-born rapper/singer is on the road in support of his debut studio album, Montero, which was released on Columbia Records in September of last year.

With 13 shows at 11 venues during the early days of the trek eligible to be included in the APX tallies, he has the highest-ranked debut in this issue at No. 8. Announced in April, the “Long Live Montero” tour began in Detroit with two shows, Sept. 6-7 at the 4,800-seat Fox Theatre, originally scheduled at the 2,888-seat Fillmore Detroit but moved to the larger venue because of ticket demand.

Other U.S. dates included a two-show engagement at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall and another for hometown fans at Atlanta’s Coca-Cola Roxy concert hall, both in September. He also performed in Boston last month as one of the inaugural slate of artists booked this year at the new MGM Music Hall at Fenway Park which opened in August.

On LIVE75, Ed Sheeran returns to the chart for the first time since the Sept. 12 issue and resumes his stand at No. 1 following reported box office stats from the last eight shows on his “Mathematics” tour’s European trek. A total of 478,880 sold tickets at Munich’s Olympiastadion, Stadion Letzigrund in Zürich, and Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park averaged 59,860 sold seats per show to reclaim the top ranking. He replaces Garth Brooks who falls off the chart this week following the completion of his tour.

Sheeran also retains his No. 1 hold on the Artist Power Index this week following his final European tour performance in Frankfurt on Sept. 25. According to box office figures reported, he grossed more than $250 million from a run of 52 stadium performances that began in Dublin April 23. His overall attendance in Europe during the summer run topped 3 million.

Puerto Rican rapper/singer Daddy Yankee is LIVE75’s “Noisemaker” following a 12-position jump to No. 3 in his eighth consecutive weekly appearance on the chart. He debuted in the Aug. 29 issue following initial box office reporting from his “La Última Vuelta” world tour and ranked between 14th and 18th each week until this issue.

Much of the fuel for his rise to the chart’s third position comes on the strength of a three-show engagement at Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos in Santiago, Chile, Sept. 27-29. His combined ticket count there reached 196,917 with a gross totaling $19.4 million. As the first three-night stadium event on the South American leg of the tour, the gross and ticket count is his highest so far.

On the tour’s North American leg, Kia Forum in Inglewood, California produced the best box office numbers among the arenas on the schedule. Daddy Yankee fans from the Los Angeles market numbered 59,226 at five performances: three on July 27, 28 and 29 and two more Aug. 13 and 15. Together, the shows produced a $9.6 million gross.

Comedy giant Jerry Seinfeld, No. 39, owns the highest sellout percentage among artists outside the Top 25 to score “Breakthrough” status on LIVE75. Two-show stints in Worcester, Massachusetts; San Diego and Riverside, California moved 99.8% of the available tickets for a six-show average of 2,274.