Many years ago, the whole idea of an artist doing a Las Vegas residency was pretty much an announcement that the artist had given up and no longer had any cultural or musical relevance. That has changed significantly in the past twenty years, especially because so many top-tier musical talents would much rather have their fans come to them, rather than touring all over the world. Celine Dion, Adele, Britney Spears, Usher, Bette Midler, Cher, and on and on, they’ve all gotten paid huge sums for multi-year residencies in Vegas. Katy Perry did it too – she had a three-year residency at Resorts World, a residency which ended last year. Apparently, no one in Las Vegas wants to ever see Katy again:
It’s a good thing Katy Perry is on the road — because she no longer has a home in Las Vegas. The bubblegum popster had called the entertainment capital of the world her second home after sealing a residency deal at Resorts World for over three years, ending in 2024 — and at first, hopes were high.
”There was a bidding war between Resorts World and Caesars … and Caesars technically lost out — but in the end, Caesars won,” a source said. “The residency was a disaster for Resorts World, a complete failure.”
The source added, “Katy was getting paid between $750,000 and $900,000 a show because of the bidding war and the entire run she underperformed and Resorts World lost money.”
While Perry does have a show planned for Vegas in this tour, it’s considered a one-off. Not a coveted residency, which my source says won’t happen again. The pop singer had a failed album last year, was the center of ridicule after the Blue Origin space flight and her tour has had lagging sales — none of which has endeared her to any future Vegas endeavors.
”At the end of the day, Caesar’s won by losing the (Perry) residency,” the source added. “No one wants to lose money like that in Vegas.”
It feels like a national pastime at this point, dunking on Katy Perry. But some of it is deserved. Maybe most of it is deserved. Katy had an excellent run, hit after hit, she was a one-woman pop factory. But something really shifted – the culture shifted away from Katy, as she tried to churn out the same old stuff with the same old problematic producers. There are plenty of pop stars who figure out what’s next after their audience grows up and grows out of their music. Katy isn’t one of them. Anyway, this NewsNation piece feels like a much-delayed gloat from Caesar’s because they lost their bid. It’s also worth pointing out that with artists’ residencies, it’s not purely about ticket sales – it’s about getting people to travel to Vegas and getting them to gamble at the casino. You can’t judge any residency purely on ticket sales.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red, Cover Images.
