The Live World: The Weeknd's $1.3B Record, Harry Breaks MSG Record, Rush Head to Sphere

Each week, we track major tour announcements and live world news across ROSTR & NIF. The Live World is your weekly Thursday wrap-up of the live music biz stories you should know about. Let's take a look at this week's…

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The Weeknd wrapped the "After Hours Til Dawn" tour in Kuala Lumpur on November 5 after 176 shows across 4 years; per Live Nation, it grossed $1.3B+ from 9M+ tickets, passing Elton John's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" ($939M+) as the highest-grossing tour ever by a male solo artist.

Rush are bringing the "50 Something World Tour" to Sphere in Las Vegas next May with "Elevate From the Norm," a 5-show residency, months after reports first had the band in talks with the venue.

Ozzfest is back for the first time since 2018, with shows at Milton Keynes' National Bowl next July and San Bernardino's Glen Helen Amphitheatre & Mexico City's Estadio GNP Seguros next September; lineups are still to come.

Martin Garrix is heading back to India for a 10-city tour with Sunburn Arena, timed to Holi next March.

📈 By the Numbers:

• Harry Styles' 30-night run helped Madison Square Garden break its record for concerts in a single quarter, as MSG Entertainment's revenue rose 37% to $217.1M in calendar Q3

• Céline Dion's first 16 shows at Paris' Plenitude Arena, her first full concerts since 2020, grossed $125.5M per Billboard Boxscore from 539K tickets; 10 more dates follow next May

• Kanye West drew a reported ~80K to Houston's Reliant Stadium on Halloween, which the stadium announced as a US stadium rap attendance record

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Morgan Wallen's Sand In My Boots returns to Gulf Shores, Alabama next May for its 2nd edition, with Kings of Leon, Ella Langley & Kygo joining Wallen at the top of the bill

• Countdown NYE's lineup dropped with DJ Snake & Tchami playing December 31 and Marshmello & Alesso playing January 1 at San Bernardino's NOS Event Center

• Zach Bryan, Kacey Musgraves & Nathaniel Rateliff will headline Under The Big Sky in Whitefish, Montana next July

• ILLENIUM tops the bill at the 8th Ubbi Dubbi in Fort Worth next April, with Steve Aoki, Galantis, MK & more under the theme "Canditopia"

• Thornhill curated & will headline the inaugural Surf's Up! at Melbourne's Riviera Beach Club next February, with Stand Atlantic & Alpha Wolf on the bill

• M:E Entertainment & DAPO are bringing Black Coffee to Lagos on December 19 for THIS IS ME, a new 12-hour electronic event

• Canada's summer country circuit is filling in: Riley Green, Tim McGraw & Sam Barber top Cavendish Beach Music Festival on P.E.I., Jon Pardi, Alabama & Luke Bryan lead Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta, and Megan Moroney, Jon Pardi (pulling double duty) & Collective Soul headline Country Thunder Saskatchewan

❌ Cancellations:

• KATSEYE postponed their Detroit show at Little Caesars Arena ~30 minutes before showtime, saying "Megan is unwell and unable to perform tonight"; no new date has been announced

• Deep Purple postponed the rest of their UK & European tour "until further notice" after "a medical emergency involving Ian Gillan" in Leipzig; the run was due to wrap in London on November 25

• The Chicks rescheduled their November 2 show at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre "due to illness," moving it to November 4

🔥 Check out this week's hottest tours in the gallery below: