Las Vegas Strip residency at risk as superstar singer dumps tour

A cancelled concert tour could reportedly doom a superstar singer's proposed Las Vegas Strip residency.

Jun 2, 2024 - 18:30

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Las Vegas Strip residency at risk as superstar singer dumps tour

Las Vegas Strip residency postponements and cancellations have been common since the Covid-19 pandemic shut everything down in Sin City for 78 days from March 17, 2020, to June 4, 2020.

For example, rock star John Fogerty, known for his Creedence Clearwater Revival hits "Fortunate Son," and "Bad Moon Rising," as well as solo tunes "The Old Man Down The Road" and "Centerfield," cancelled nine shows at the Encore Theater at Wynn Resorts' (WYNN) Wynn Las Vegas Nov. 4-21, 2020, because of the pandemic. He returned in October 2021 to resume performances once the pandemic settled down.

Covid also forced a postponement of the opening of the first 24 shows of Adele's "Weekends With Adele" at Caesars Entertainment's (CZR) Colosseum at Caesars Palace. These were scheduled for Jan. 21 through April 16, 2022. Crew members became infected.

Also, some set pieces for the residency weren't ready to go. The residency opening was delayed until Nov. 18, 2022. The residency has been expanded from the original 24 shows to 100, including shows this summer.

Aside from cancelled or postponed residencies, singers and bands occasionally back out of concert tours, such as on May 25 when The Black Keys cancelled their 31-show International Players 2024 tour without any explanation.

The tour was supposed to start Sept. 17 in Tulsa, Okla., and end Nov. 12 in Detroit. They will perform one show July 6 at Chicago's NASCAR Street Race.

The duo said on May 26 that they were making some changes to enable them "to offer a similarly exciting, intimate experience for both fans and the band" as they had in recent European shows on the tour.

The band wasn't scheduled to play Vegas, but could make a stop in Sin City when they reschedule their next tour.

Jennifer Lopez performs during the 2021 Global Citizen Live festival at the Great Lawn, Central Park on Sept. 25, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
ANGELA WEISS/Getty Images

Jennifer Lopez cancels concert tour

Superstar singer Jennifer Lopez and concert promoter Live Nation on May 31 cancelled JLo's 30-show "This is Me...Live" 2024 North American summer tour, claiming the singer was "taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends," the promoter said on the singer's fan club website.

Lopez also sent a message to her fans on the website.

"I am completely heartsick and devastated about letting you down," JLo wrote.

"Please know that I wouldn't do this if I didn't feel that it was absolutely necessary.

"I promise I will make it up to you and we will all be together again.

"I love you all so much. Until next time..."

More Las Vegas Strip:

The tour was scheduled to start June 26 in Orlando, Fla., and end Aug. 17 in New York. Live Nation revealed the refund process on the website.

Lopez was scheduled to perform on the tour on July 20 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. She previously headlined her 125-show Las Vegas Strip residency All I Have from January 2016 to September 2018 at the Axis Theater at Caesars Entertainment's Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.

"For those who purchased through Ticketmaster, tickets will automatically be refunded – there is nothing further fans need to do," said a message from Live Nation.

"For those who purchased via third-party resale sites such as SeatGeek, StubHub VividSeats, etc. – please reach out to your point of purchase for more details."

The website of ticket seller Ticketmaster lists all of JLo's tour dates as cancelled.

Ticketmaster includes a message to ticketholders that states: "Event Cancelled. Unfortunately, the event organizer has had to cancel your event.

"You don't need to do a thing. We'll issue a refund to the original method of payment used at the time of purchase, as soon as funds are received from the event organizer. It should appear on your account within 14-21 days

"Please note: If the tickets were transferred to you, the refund will go to the fan who originally purchased the tickets from Ticketmaster."

JLo's explanation for cancelling the tour may have left out another reason for backing out of the shows – poor ticket sales. A review of Ticketmaster seating charts showed that large amounts of seats for many shows were not selling, Variety said. In March, Lopez cancelled seven shows set between Aug. 20-31 in Cleveland, Nashville, Raleigh, N.C., Atlanta, Tampa, Fla., New Orleans and Houston with no explanation.

The JLo tour cancellation may also lead to some unfortunate future consequences. On May 28, three days before JLo cancelled her tour, New York Post reported that a potential $90 million Las Vegas Strip residency being negotiated between Lopez and MGM Resorts International (MGM) for 2025 was in jeopardy because sales of the singer's new album "This is Me...Now" and tickets for her tour were dismal, according to a source close to the situation.

Now, with the cancellation of JLo's tour, it's highly unlikely that MGM will follow through with booking a Jennifer Lopez Las Vegas Strip residency at a reported $1 million a show. No deal was ever signed, the source said, but a short residency could earn the singer $600,000 to $650,000 per show.

Neither Lopez, nor MGM have ever revealed any plans for a new JLo residency, however.

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