Chart Scene: Megan Thee Stallion Earns Top Debut On Artist Power Index

Among the performing artists making their first appearance on the Artist Power Index this week, Megan Thee Stallion earns the highest ranking of the three, landing at No. 29. The rapper hits the chart on the strength of top 50 finishes in both Streaming and Airplay following the August 12 release of her sophomore album Traumazine to critical acclaim. Although as a touring artist she has yet to launch her first headlining run, the 2021 ‘Best New Artist’ Grammy winner has not been absent from concert stages this summer.

Her recent appearances have been at festivals both stateside and abroad including an opening night headlining turn at HARD Summer Music Festival in San Bernardino, California the last weekend of July. Prior to that, she also appeared in Europe at Lollapalooza Paris and London’s Wireless Festival which followed July festival events in Ireland, Switzerland and Belgium. And earlier in the summer she performed at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Manchester’s Parklife, Roskilde Festival in Denmark and Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, Somerset, England on June 25.

In this issue, The Killers and Lil Wayne also make their first appearance during the most recent quarter of the year, taking Nos. 37 and 40, respectively, in the APX rankings. Securing The Killers’ chart placement were eight shows at four North American arenas during the band’s current world tour supporting their last two albums that also included a European leg earlier in the year. Lil Wayne debuts after a headlining appearance at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida on Aug. 19. Earlier in the month, he performed in Toronto with Drake and Nicki Minaj and also headlined at Milwaukee’s Summerfest in June.

On LIVE75 the highest debut belongs to this issue’s spotlighted band Imagine Dragons, appearing at No. 7 as the “Hot Shot” touring artist of the week. The group scored a sold-ticket average of 21,446 to land in the top 10 based on sales at six August concerts on their “Mercury” world tour. Top box-office results came from one of two stadiums in the mix: Salt Lake City’s Rice-Eccles Stadium which hosted the tour on Aug. 5, moving 34,487 tickets for a $2.76 million gross.

The band also played the Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania and drew a sellout crowd of 27,117 on the 12th, while the sole arena among the six venues was T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri that logged a sellout with 12,615 in attendance for an Aug. 9 event. Three amphitheater dates round out the list – performances at Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Isleta Amphitheater, Jiffy Lube Live near Washington, D.C. and Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in the Philadelphia market.

Ed Sheeran holds the top ranking on both the Artist Power Index and LIVE75, fueled by success from his ongoing “Mathematics” European tour that is booked through the end of September. With 39 stadium-sized concerts reported to Pollstar since late-April, the trek has already surpassed $186 million at the box office from sold tickets at 15 venues totaling 2,234,199.

Bad Bunny earns the “Heavy Hitter” classification on LIVE75 based on a gross average of $6.2 million from seven concerts on his summer touring schedule, including a three-night engagement at Coliseo de Puerto Rico, July 28-30. Stadium shows at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium and Truist Park in Atlanta followed along with a two-show stint at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. Those shows, produced by Cardenas Marketing Network on Aug. 12-13, racked up a $20.38 million gross from 103,820 sold seats. It is his highest-grossing concert date since the beginning of January, surpassing a $12.4 million gross from 54,998 sold tickets at three shows at FTX Arena, also in Miami, at the beginning of April.