Why big music stars are embracing residencies

For Harry Styles’ dedicated audience, it is the can’t-miss event of the year: Tens of thousands have descended on New York City’s Madison Square Garden each night of his 30-date residency, rushing to catch the show before it concludes Halloween weekend. The stint follows the artist’s 2022 blockbuster run, when he performed 15 consecutive nights at the famous arena. And he’s not the only one embracing the format.

Residencies in Las Vegas, once viewed as the final stop at the end of a long career, have attracted younger performers like Usher, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. In 2024, Adele embarked on a 10-date Munich residency. And last year, Bad Bunny’s 31-date residency in Puerto Rico single-handedly boosted the island’s fragile economy, generating over $200 million while extending his efforts to elevate the US territory’s global profile.

Celine Dion, who holds the record for the highest-grossing residency in Vegas, recently embarked on one just outside Paris. It’s her first concert series since revealing her diagnosis with stiff-person syndrome. Industry insiders and artists alike say there are many reasons why residencies have taken hold in the music business, despite arguments that the format may shift costs to fans who could save money attending a tour in their hometown rather than spending the cash on travel.

Residencies aren’t exactly a novel concept, explains Mitch Rose, Creative Artists Agency’s head of North American touring, who represents artists including Styles and Perry. “Go back in time to early Vegas, in the ‘60s when Frank Sinatra had a residency and Tony Bennett had a residency,” he said. “They played multiple shows across a year at a hotel. That was the birth of a residency.”

Over time, however, Vegas residencies became synonymous with a particular kind of artist: one close to retiring. That changed in the 2000s, when Dion revitalised the format with her yearslong “A New Day ...” and “Celine” runs. John Meglen, co CEO of Concerts West, was instrumental in both the Vegas residencies and the one in France. “Most people thought we were crazy,” he said, noting the expense. “It was 200 shows a year, 40 weeks a year. Five shows a week.”

But it worked. Across 16 years and 1,141 performances, Dion grossed $681.3 million, according to Billboard. Nowadays, residencies are commonplace. Rose says attendees treat them like festivals: destination experiences. “Think of Coachella,” he says. “People from all around the world come to the desert mid-April to share an experience. And residencies are the same vibe. When we announced Harry’s residency, the Garden was the only place in America that we were playing in 2026. ... There’s a uniqueness.”

And often, residencies inspire artist pop-up shops and fan meetups, adding to the festival-like atmosphere.

R&B singer Usher hosted his popular “Usher: My Way The Vegas Residency” in 2022 and 2023, part of a high-profile run that included a 2024 Super Bowl halftime show. At the time, he told The Associated Press that part of the appeal was the consistency.

“I like the idea of what I’ve found in Las Vegas. It gives me an opportunity to settle. I have children now. I got a life,” he said. There are clear financial benefits, too. Residencies save on the major expense of transporting production, people and equipment, Meglen said. Another upside? “If you do a residency in one city, you’re not on an airplane or in a bus. It’s good mental healthcare for the artist,” Rose said.

Residencies also offer an opportunity to develop massive stage productions that don’t have to be hauled around the world. Nowhere is that more clear than at the 516-foot-wide Sphere in Las Vegas, with its state-of-the-art technological attractions and high-resolution LED screen that wraps halfway around a 17,500-seat audience.

In 2026, Carín León became the first Latino artist to hold a residency there. “It’s a venue that lets you express a lot of stuff because of all of the tools,” he said. “For me, it was perfect.”

Styles’ New York audience spends anywhere from under $100 to $1,000 to attend, not counting the cost of travel for out-of-towners.

Associated Press