Bad Bunny is no stranger to topping the Boxscore charts. In 2022, it topped four monthly charts and then topped the year-end list of the highest-grossing tours worldwide. Of course, he also topped this year's Top Latin Tours, before Karol G took over in 2023, staging her own sold-out North American stadium tour. Now, like Advertising sign recaps the biggest tours of April 2024, Bad Bunny and Karol G tie for No. 1 and 2 on Top Tours and Top Boxscores.
According to figures reported by Billboard Boxscore, Bad Bunny earned $63 million and sold 210,000 tickets in April, recording his second straight month at No. 1. Most Wanted's three-date tour at Brooklyn's Barclays Center contributed $17.8 million dollars from that total lead in Top Boxscores. Five of his 14 shows in April set all-time highs, among the 16 records he has set since the tour began in February.
Including 14 shows in May, the Most Wanted tour has grossed $207.8 million and sold 703,000 tickets since it kicked off in Salt Lake City. Bad Bunny has three more shows at San Juan's Coliseo de Puerto Rico on June 7-9.
A little further down, Karol G's Mañana Será Bonito tour grossed $45.1 million and sold 419,000 tickets from nine shows. It is No. 2 on the Top Tours gross chart, but is the best-selling tour of the month, being the only tour to sell more than 300,000 and 400,000 tickets. April's highlight was three shows at Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile, which is No. 2 on Top Boxscores with a gross of $15 million from 168,000 tickets sold.
It is the first time that two Latin artists have topped both charts consecutively. In Bad Bunny's five previous No. 1s, stadium rock and country were backed at No. 2 by Elton John, Def Leppard & Motley Crue and Zach Bryan. When Los Bukis and RBD were on top, Dead & Company and Coldplay were second, respectively.
Both artists contributed significantly to Latin's growing prominence on the Boxscore charts in the post-pandemic era. Bad Bunny was the first artist to finish at No. 1 on the year-end Top Tours chart who performs primarily in any language other than English, since BTS finished at No. 3 in 2019. The nine-figure Karol G's gross performance in 2023 ensured that Bad Bunny's success was not isolated or accidental.
Before COVID-19 darkened venues in 2020, no Latin artist had a tour that grossed more than $200 million. Now, there have been five, two of which are Bad Bunny's and Karol G's ongoing bests at the top of April's review. In addition to the $207.8 million Most Wanted Tour, the Mañana Será Bonito Tour has earned $263.8 million and sold 1.8 million tickets since its launch last August.
To add to the current buzz, the 2023-24 Luis Miguel Tour (No. 6) is up to $258.5 million, current through May 19. In addition, RBD completed their reunion tour in December, ultimately grossing $227.1 million.
The other Latin tour worth $200 million is the same Bad Bunny World's Hottest Tour, which earned $314.1 million in 2022. Bad Bunny and Karol G's current tours are both ongoing, but are unlikely to break the all-time high among Latin artists set by the World's Hot Tour. While the former has just three shows, the latter will play 18 dates in Europe in June and July.
Karol G averages $6 million and 41,800 tickets per show across North and South America. That pace would secure her the Latin tour record, but her shows in Europe will be mostly in arenas, which cuts the potential attendance per show by at least half. For starters, ticket prices are lower in Europe than the US, across the board.
Europe is an unusual territory for Latin artists to sell out arenas and stadiums, but the final leg of the Mañana Será Bonito tour, especially the final four shows at Madrid's Estadio Santiago Bernabeau, will likely push her total run very close to or above the $300 million mark.
In addition to Latin's dominance, country artists occupy another three of the top 10 spots on Top Tours. Luke Combs is No. 3 with $35.7 million, Kenny Chesney is No. 7 with $18 million and last month's runner-up, Zach Bryan, is 10th with $12.3 million. Rounding out the top 10, Kane Brown and Tyler Childers follow at Nos. 11-12, with $11.5 million and $11.4 million, respectively.
Madonna (No. 4) and Nicki Minaj (No. 5) round out a female-dominated top five, pacing the month's tours among pop and rap artists, respectively. The first is No. 3 on Top Boxscores, with a five-night engagement at Mexico City's Palacio de los Deportes. Completing her proper run on the Celebration Tour, these shows grossed $14.8 million and sold 82,400 tickets on April 20-21, 23-24 and 26.
While New York is often represented atop the Top Venues chart (15,001+ capacity) via Manhattan's Madison Square Garden, Brooklyn's Barclays Center takes the No. 1 spot for the first time in April, with $26.7 million and 99,200 tickets sold for seven shows. That's an all-time high monthly ranking and gross for the arena after it previously topped the $20 million mark last July when it was No. 2 behind MSG.
