A concert tour (or simply tour ) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific tour with a particular album or product. Especially in the popular music world, such tours can become large-scale enterprises that last for several months or even years, are seen by hundreds of thousands or millions of people, and bring in millions of dollars in ticket revenues. A performer who embarks on a concert tour is called a touring artist .
34-398: Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga was a planned co-headlining concert tour by American record producer and vocalist Kanye West , and singer Lady Gaga . For the tour, which would have supported West's fourth album 808s & Heartbreak (2008) and Gaga's The Fame Monster EP (2009), the pair conceived a production that would unite their different musical audiences. The tour
68-575: A Ring on It) " (Choreographers: Frank Gatson Jr. and JaQuel Knight ) Lady Gaga – " Paparazzi " (Special Effects: Chimney Pot) Lady Gaga – " Paparazzi " (Art Director: Jason Hamilton) Beyoncé – " Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) " (Editor: Jarrett Fijal) Green Day – " 21 Guns " (Director of Photography: Jonathan Sela) Beastie Boys – " Sabotage " Nerds in Disguise – " My Own Worst Enemy " Eight local MTV VMA Best Breakout Artist Awards were awarded. The table below lists
102-488: A Ring on It) " won the award for Video of the Year , while Beyoncé and Lady Gaga were both tied for the largest number of nominations with nine, followed by Britney Spears with seven. In the aftermath of his June 2009 death , the show featured various tributes to Michael Jackson , including an opening act featuring a medley of Jackson's biggest hits and a special appearance by Janet Jackson to perform her duet " Scream ", and
136-483: A bit more forgiving than mainstream audiences are. I can see him going on stage and people booing him. It's unfortunate." Less than a week after the ticket sales began, the tour was canceled but no reason was given. Various rumors circulated as to why the tour was canceled. It was suspected that it was canceled due to poor ticket sales, feuding between Gaga and West's management teams, and Gaga's desire to play in smaller venues. Gaga's choreographer, Laurieann Gibson , said
170-538: A fan who can't see the show,' and he's right", she said. A promotional video for the tour was released in September 2009. West posted the video on his blog accompanied by the text, "What happened to all the rock stars? The fame killed them!" The 30-second clip features slow-motion footage of a topless Gaga being carried by a man presumed to be West. Daniel Kreps from Rolling Stone described it as " soft 70s porn ", while adding that he had "no idea what [the text in
204-829: A new form of theatrical entertainment, a fusion of song, performance art, innovative stage craft, and state-of-the-art technology. She managed to popularize the Las Vegas residency as a desirable way for top artists to essentially tour in place, letting their fans come to them. American singer Lady Gaga , who cancelled the 2018 European leg of her Joanne World Tour , signed for a Las Vegas residency to help manage her fibromyalgia illness, which can be exacerbated by touring. The 2015 study by charity Help Musicians found that over 60% of musicians suffered from depression or other psychological issues, with touring an issue for 71% of respondents. Kanye West MTV Video Music Awards controversy The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards , honoring
238-453: A tour are denoted in different ways, dependent on the artist and type of tour, but the most common means of separating legs are dates (especially if there is a long break at some point), countries and/or continents, or different opening acts. In the largest concert tours, it has become more common for different legs to employ separate touring production crews and equipment, local to each geographical region. Concert tours are often administered on
272-485: Is Taylor Swift 's Eras Tour , with $ 2.089 billion earned from 125 shows. In 2024, Coldplay 's Music of the Spheres World Tour became the second tour to gross $ 1 billion in revenue. In third place is Elton John 's Farewell Yellow Brick Road , with a total gross of $ 939 million from 2018–2023. On fourth place is Ed Sheeran 's ÷ Tour , with a gross of $ 776.2 million. On fifth place
306-400: Is U2 's 360° Tour , with $ 736.4 million. Global touring revenue reported to Billboard Boxscore exceeded $ 5.5 billion in 2016. Due to the collapse of record sales in the 21st century, concert tours have become a major source of income for recording artists. Besides the tickets, touring also generates money from the sales of merchandise and meet-and-greet packages. However,
340-443: Is a concert tour intended to signal the retirement of a singer, the disbanding of a band, or the end of a show's run. Many of the tours end up not being the last tour, with frequent regroupings, or revivals of shows. Luciano Pavarotti 's 2004 tour and Kenny Rogers 's 2015–2017 tour are examples of farewell tours which were the last to be staged before their deaths. As of October 2024, the highest-grossing concert tour of all time
374-439: Is a peculiar thing, it doesn't suit me particularly well. I'm a real homebody and I get so much joy in the small things." A concert residency concept is offered as an alternative to performers who just need to stay in one venue and the fans come to see them. The concept has been revitalized in the 21st century by Canadian superstar Céline Dion with the success of her A New Day... residency (2003–2007). Her residency introduced
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#1732790240078408-437: Is a retrospective of her career to that point, where each act of the concert represents one of her albums . In another case, artists embark on a concert tour to celebrate the anniversary of their past albums, such as U2 's 2017 tour to mark the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree (1987) and Janet Jackson 's 2019 tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). A farewell tour
442-537: The award for her " Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) " video. He declared, "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!" West was profusely criticized by celebrities and fans alike over the incident. Following the interruption, the status of Fame Kills was rumored to be in question. A representative from a US urban radio station commented: "I think this could potentially affect his upcoming tour with Lady Gaga. This isn't an urban tour — urban audiences can be
476-545: The best music videos from the previous year between June 2008 to June 2009, were presented on September 13, 2009, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and televised by MTV . The ceremony was hosted by Russell Brand for the 2nd consecutive year. Beyoncé , Green Day , and Lady Gaga were tied for the most-awarded acts of the night, winning three awards each. Beyoncé's " Single Ladies (Put
510-434: The local level by concert promoters or by performing arts presenters . Usually, small concert tours are managed by a road manager whereas large concert tours are managed by a tour manager . The main challenge in concert tours is how to move the performance's logistics from one venue to another venue, especially for a transcontinental tour. Tour logistics should be very organized and everything has to happen on time and in
544-719: The microphone back to Swift, shrugged his shoulders, and walked off stage. West was subsequently removed from the show. Later in the show, Beyoncé won Video of the Year for "Single Ladies" and called Swift back onstage to let her finish her speech. Various celebrities and industry figures, as well as prominent political figures including then United States President Barack Obama , former President Jimmy Carter , and future President Donald Trump condemned West for his verbal outburst at Swift. West apologized on his blog and during an appearance on The Jay Leno Show . Emil Wilbekin , managing editor of Essence magazine, argued that West went too far with his actions, compared to
578-714: The most-watched VMAs since 2004 . Rapper Wale and go-go band UCB served as the house band for the show, performing right before, during, and right after commercial breaks. Throughout the show they also had various special guests and performed the following songs: Winners are in bold text. Beyoncé – " Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) " T.I. (featuring Rihanna ) – " Live Your Life " Taylor Swift – " You Belong with Me " Lady Gaga – " Poker Face " Britney Spears – " Womanizer " Green Day – " 21 Guns " Eminem – " We Made You " Matt and Kim – "Lessons Learned" Green Day – " 21 Guns " (Director: Marc Webb ) Beyoncé – " Single Ladies (Put
612-649: The number of bands considered in each city, the three finalist nominees selected by MTV for each VMA, and the winner in bold. The winners were featured on MTV on local cable during the live VMAs and received featured coverage on MTV and MTV2 (or MTV Tr3́s in the case of the LA contest). of over 190 entries Presented by of 129 entries Presented by of over 150 entries Presented by of over 150 entries Presented by of over 150 entries Presented by of over 150 entries Presented by of over 170 entries Presented by of 116 entries Presented by As Taylor Swift
646-469: The past: "I think that it was not Kanye's place to speak for Beyoncé or to ruin Taylor Swift's moment... It's OK for Kanye to rattle off about himself, but I think he crossed the line when he decided to speak for other people." Los Angeles Times contributor Ann Powers opined that "from one vantage point, it was a case of chivalry gone horribly wrong" as West meant to "stand up for" Beyoncé. Powers
680-420: The premiere of a trailer for the posthumous documentary film Michael Jackson's This Is It . The ceremony was marred by an incident in which Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift 's acceptance of the award for Best Female Video, in order to proclaim that despite her victory, Beyoncé still had "one of the best videos of all time", referring to the aforementioned "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". When Beyoncé
714-474: The right order as planned. Autoweek magazine estimated 30 to 50 trucks were required by Taylor Swift 's The 1989 World Tour to bring all the stage, sound equipment, instruments, props, and clothes. When Beyoncé visited the United Kingdom with her 2016 The Formation World Tour , it took seven Boeing 747 air freighters and a fleet of more than 70 trucks to get her stage set and other gear to
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#1732790240078748-526: The show. West would perform his singles, Gaga would perform hers, and then the duo would perform several duets. Gaga said she enjoyed designing Fame Kills with West, calling themselves "creative kindreds." She explained that they did not plan to tour for themselves, but rather for "everybody else"; the goal of the tour would have been to bring two different groups of fans and music enthusiasts together. "I make pop music and Kanye's fans love pop music because he has changed what hip-hop means", she said. "For me,
782-404: The tour is more about just bringing people together and having a big dance party. The show is a celebration of creativity, art, fashion and choreography." She also noted that West showed her a lot during the creative planning of the show, such as one instance where Gaga wanted to put side panels on the stage that would have obstructed the view for some fans. "He was like, 'I'm not selling a ticket to
816-460: The tour was terminated due to "creative differences" between the singers. Gaga claimed that the cancellation was a mutual decision, and added that she would soon embark on her own headlining tour The Monster Ball Tour in the coming weeks, while West would be taking a break from his career. In 2016, West claimed that Gaga had been solely responsible for canceling the tour following the MTV incident. Gaga
850-460: The tour would be "one of the most groundbreaking moments in touring history." Before the singer agreed to collaborate with West, she demanded that the tour would remain accessible to her gay fans. "I'm gay ", she recalled telling West in an interview with Out magazine, "my music is gay. My show is gay. And I love that it's gay. And I love my gay fans and they're all going to be coming to our show. And it's going to remain gay." The tour's stage
884-499: The touring business suffered in the early 2020s because of the COVID-19 pandemic . Pollstar estimated the total lost revenue for the industry in 2020 at more than $ 30 billion. The mobility of concert tours requires a lot of costs, time, and energy. It is very common for musicians to not see family members for over a year during their touring. British singer Adele expressed her unhappiness of concert tours, saying "Touring
918-577: The venues. The logistics phase of that tour did not include transportation of the backstage staff, musicians, performers, and the singer herself. The majority of concert tours are part of a promotional campaign to support an album release. Hence, new songs from the respective album are included on its tour's setlist . Some tours are known as "greatest hits tours" or "reunion tour" without any new material or specific album release, such as Fleetwood Mac 's 2009 Unleashed tour and No Doubt 's 2009 Summer Tour . Taylor Swift 's The Eras Tour (2023–2024)
952-477: The video] has to do with the 30-second clip, but we're sure it'll start to make more sense as more promos roll out as we approach the tour's launch." At Gaga's Fame Ball tour, she sang a short piano version of West's " Heartless ". Following singer Taylor Swift 's win for the music video " You Belong with Me " at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video , West stormed the stage, grabbed Swift's microphone, and declared that singer Beyoncé deserved
986-487: Was cynical about the onstage embrace Beyoncé and Swift shared, calling it "staged" and stating that it added "another layer of meaning to an already complicated moment. Now this controversy was about women sticking up for each other, too." In 2013, Rolling Stone named the incident the wildest moment in VMA history. The outburst resulted in a meme consisting of images of West being superimposed onto other images with text in
1020-443: Was designed by Gaga and West as a traverse ; "Instead of being on just one end of the arena, the stage traverses the entire arena", Gaga noted. "It's not really in-the-round; it's more of a runway." The concept of the tour was to feature the performers on opposite ends of the stage, with Gaga's end representing "home and humble beginnings" and West's end representing "the fame", with the two fighting for each other's positions throughout
1054-474: Was eventually awarded Video of the Year, she acknowledged the moment when she had won her first VMA as part of Destiny's Child , and invited Swift back onstage to finish her acceptance speech. The incident was highly publicized, with Rolling Stone naming it the "wildest" moment in the history of the VMAs in 2013. The broadcast was seen by a total of 9 million viewers, a 17% increase over 2008 , making it
Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-410: Was giving her Best Female Video acceptance speech for " You Belong with Me ", Kanye West went on stage, took the microphone from her, and said: "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!", referring to the music video for " Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) ". As the live audience booed, West handed
1122-732: Was scheduled to begin The Monster Ball Tour in March 2010, but following the cancellation of Fame Kills, The Monster Ball Tour began in November 2009. Gaga said that while she was inspired by what she and West had planned to do with the Fame Kills tour, she decided not to use any of the ideas and concepts they created together, citing integrity. All tour dates were canceled. Concert tour Different segments of longer concert tours are known as "legs". The different legs of
1156-711: Was scheduled to run from November 2009 to January 2010, but was canceled after public controversy regarding West's interruption of Taylor Swift 's Best Female Video speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards . Shortly after the cancellation, Gaga embarked on her own tour, The Monster Ball Tour , while West went on to make his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy , released on November 22, 2010. In June 2009, Kanye West announced on The View he would be touring with Lady Gaga , but she would not perform as an opening act. "She's talented and so incredible that she's not an opening act", he said. "We're doing it together, with no opening act." In August, Gaga expressed her belief that
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