Beats me, but tickets to see R&B singer Chris Brown and Usher are not selling.
The pair just cancelled shows at the end of this month in Cincinnati, Columbia SC, and Indianapolis for their R&B Tour.
The reason? No sales. The seats maps are filled with blue dots.
Things are not much better in other locations including New York’s MetLife Stadium, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.
The only place where things don’t look dire is Houston, where the pair are performing tonight and tomorrow.
Usher — a genuine star — and Brown, known mostly for beating up Rihanna — are more luck in the South than the midwest or the North. In cities like Tampa, Miami, and New Orleans, they’ve actually found an audience.
What does that say for the South? They’re so hard up for entertainment they’ll pay to see a domestic abuser. Or they just don’t read the papers.
As for Usher, whom I’ve known since the 90s, he’s lacking a hit album or single to tour behind. So his show is a combination of hits and sex. He’s an expert at seducing an audience. He desperately needs a hit, although at 48 years old (next week) it gets very tough. You need a hit tied to a movie, or one that’s so catchy it penetrates the culture.
Usher’s 2024 album, “Coming Home,” could have been a hit coming off a Super Bowl appearance but there was no follow through. He’s had a deal with Gamma/Apple Records that so far has not produced anything.
Brown is only 37, but that’s also ten years older than a top 40 act. He is known more for his legal issues than his music. Brown’s self titled album from this year has sold under 500,000 copies, mostly streaming equivalent.
But who can blame the fans? With gas and grocery prices soaring, these shows are expensive. Verified resale seats down front in Tampa, for example, are going for over $2,000 apiece!
