Chart Scene: Ed Sheeran Returns To LIVE75 With Top Ranking

Ed Sheeran debuts on LIVE75 at No. 1 as the “Hot Shot” artist of the week, heading up the slate of touring headliners who appear for the first time in the past month. In fact, this marks his first time on the chart this year, as his last stand at No. 1 came in the Oct. 31 issue following the wrap of his “Mathematics” world tour’s opening leg through Europe.

The second leg of the tour launched in Oceania in early February and included stadium dates in two New Zealand cities followed by shows in five Australian markets. Boxoffice reports from concerts in Auckland, Sydney and Brisbane show more than 428,000 tickets were sold, fueling his chart-topping performance in this issue with an average sold-ticket count of 61,166 from seven shows. His $6.49 million gross average is the highest among the 75 headlining tours on the chart which earns Sheeran “Heavy Hitter” status.

Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard also score a LIVE75 ranking for the first time this year, taking No. 4 based on performances at three venues during the Latin American leg of their 2023 co-headlining world tour. Mexico City’s Foro Sol drew the largest crowd among the three with almost 55,000 in attendance on Feb. 18, while more than 43,000 fans saw the bands at Simon Bolivar Park in Bogotá, Colombia, Feb. 25, and Bicentenario La Florida Stadium in Santiago, Chile on March 3. The ticket average from all three events totals 32,640 per show.

Among the 75 tours charting on LIVE75, six of the top 10 are new entries. Aside from Sheeran and Def Leppard/Mötley Crüe, Imagine Dragons follows at No. 5 with ticket averages from two of their own Latin American performances along with a headlining stint at Footprint Center in Phoenix. The band was one of three headliners appearing at the arena as part of the “Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest” that ran Feb. 9-11. Kane Brown opened the Saturday show which drew 11,397 fans the night before game day.

Chris Brown has LIVE75’s seventh-highest ranking with a five-show ticket average of 14,879. Four of the concerts were at The O2 in London, Feb. 14-16 and 20. Promoted by Festival Republic, the arena welcomed sellout crowds for each performance and logged a gross of $6.77 million from 64,709 sold seats. Ticket sales from his concert on Feb. 26 at the Hallenstadion venue in Zürich also contributed to his ticket count.

Country touring giant Kenny Chesney bows on the chart this week based on the first four dates on his nostalgic “I Go Back” tour, booked in many of the venues he played in the early years of his longstanding career. Sellouts at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia; Penn State University’s Bryce Jordan Center; INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas and Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center produced a ticket average of 12,085 to take the ninth slot on LIVE75.

Ranked tenth is Guatemalan singer Ricardo Arjona with a debut appearance on the chart based on four shows at two Mexican venues: Arena Monterrey and Auditorio Telmex near Guadalajara. He performed back-to-back nights in mid-March at both buildings, moving 31,698 tickets at the arena and 16,362 more at the theater.

On the Artist Power Index, Taylor Swift has a three-peat at No. 1 on the strength of concerts at the first three stadiums on her massive “Eras” tour. The two-night Phoenix opener at State Farm Stadium, two shows the following weekend at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and her first three-show stadium date on the trek at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex earn the highest Live score among all performers on the chart. She had the fourth-highest Live rank in the previous issue and the 13th-highest in her first week at No. 1. On this chart, she is fourth in both Streaming and Airplay and eighth in the Social category.