The Year in Music 2023: Beyoncé et al. grace tour stages across the world

First, Beyoncé dropped her Grammy-winning seventh studio album, Renaissance. Then, she embarked on a global trek to major cities with its accompanying road show. Bey set the tone for touring in 2023 with her history-making Renaissance World Tour. 

She kicked off the 39-city, 56-show tour in May, welcoming more than 2.7 million concertgoers over the course of its five-month run. The tour grossed nearly $580 million, earned her the #1 spot on Billboard‘s year-end Top Tours chart and became her most successful concert series to date. 

It all culminated with the blockbuster concert film, released in partnership with AMC Theaters. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé opened in first place with $21 million in North American ticket sales.

But Queen Bey wasn’t alone in rocking show stages. 

Lauren Hill celebrated the 25th anniversary of her debut seminal album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, with a global road show. The Ms. Lauryn Hill & Fugees 25th Anniversary Tour met fans in Chicago, Newark, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and Oakland before a final show in Philadelphia. She played album hits “Everything is Everything,” “Nothing Even Matters” and “Zion,” among others, before ending the tour early due to ongoing vocal issues. 

Drake drew crowds of hundreds of thousands of fans with his It’s All a Blur Tour, accompanied by longtime collaborator 21 Savage. Moments from that tour often went viral, including Drake catching bras thrown onstage, handing out expensive handbags to fans and star-studded walks to the stage with celebs LeBron James, DJ Khaled, Bow Wow and even his former arch nemesis Meek Mill. 

50 Cent ran his final lap on stages around the world with a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of Get Rich or Die Tryin’. He performed hits from his debut studio album, welcoming tour mates Busta Rhymes and Jeremih, along with special guests Jadakiss, J. Cole and his mentor, “best friend” Eminem.  

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