Chart Scene: Luke Combs Takes No. 1 On LIVE75 With New Tour

Luke Combs makes his 2024 debut on LIVE75 at No. 1 with the first box-office results reported from his “Growin’ Up and Getting’ Old Tour” that began in Milwaukee in April. The country hitmaker earns “Hot Shot” status as the touring artist with the highest-ranked chart debut and also scores the “Heavy Hitter” tag as the headliner with the highest gross average among the 75 ranked tours.

His $7.14 million average gross, based on five sold-out stadium concerts, surpasses the $4.48 million gross average for Bad Bunny who claimed that status for eight consecutive weeks based solely on grosses earned at arenas on his “Most Wanted Tour.” The Puerto Rican touring star ranks fourth this week with a 15,319-ticket average from 17 reported concerts on the trek.

Combs’ 2024 tour consists primarily of two-night stadium engagements on Fridays and Saturdays in a different American city each weekend. His No. 1 LIVE75 ranking in this issue is based on a sold-ticket average of 52,967 from the first three stadiums on the tour.

American Family Field, the home of Major League Baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers, was the first stadium on the schedule, hosting the tour opener on April 12-13. The two concerts there drew 90,828 fans and grossed $12.98 million. The following weekend, the tour headed to Orchard Park, New York, for a two-night run at the first NFL venue on the trek, the Buffalo Bills’ Highmark Stadium where 100,671 tickets were sold for a $13.49 million box-office take. Then, Combs completed his April itinerary with a single performance on the 27th at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania, playing for a crowd of 73,339.

The “Growin’ Up and Getting’ Old Tour” will continue with stadium dates planned through Aug. 9-10, wrapping with a final two-night event at Houston’s NRG Stadium. A string of country festival appearances will follow through the end of that month.

Combs also appears in the top 10 on the Artist Power Index after scoring the third-highest Live rank among all the performers on the chart. He also has the third-best Airplay score this week. He made his first appearance on APX, following the launch of the current stadium tour, in the April 22 issue where he entered the ranking at No. 11 but moved up to the ninth position in his second week. And, on this week’s chart, he remains at No. 9.

Holding on for a second consecutive week at No. 1 on the Artist Power Index is Nicki Minaj who has earned the top ranking on the chart three times so far in 2024 after making her debut nine weeks ago following the launch of her “Pink Friday 2 World Tour.” Fueled by 16 arena performances in North American cities, she has the fifth-highest Live rank among the charted performers, along with the 27th rank in Streaming and 31st in Airplay.

Reported box-office figures from six of those concerts also earn the rapper a top-10 appearance on LIVE75. She is ninth on the chart this week based on a per-show sold-ticket average of 12,942. Her gross average of $2.06 million per concert also makes her one of four female headliners with an average in the $2 million range. She joins SZA, Olivia Rodrigo and Madonna in that select group.

Justin Timberlake makes his first appearance on the Artist Power Index since kicking off “The Forget Tomorrow World Tour,” his fifth as a solo headliner and first in five years. The opening performance on April 29 at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena falls in the eligibility time frame for APX, earning the pop star the No. 13 ranking. His tour is set to remain in North American cities through early July before heading to Europe in the summer and back to the U.S. and Canada for the rest of the year.

LIVE75’s “Breakthrough” artist with the highest sellout percentage is Christian comedian Tim Hawkins who ranks No. 47 with a ticket average of 1,699 per show at 19 performances. He has the most shows of any artist on the chart, all of them sellouts.