NEWS
(L-R) Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee, Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear and Taylor Hawkins pose onstage as The Foo Fighters reopen Madison Square Garden on June 20, 2021 in New York City.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for FFIt’s here! It happened! After 15 months (and a week or so) of near total darkness for most indoor American concert venues, the lights are back on. Last weekend, the Foo Fighters sold out New York’s Madison Square Garden at full capacity, indoors, in person.
The band sold 15,371 tickets, grossing over $1.4 million on their June 20 comeback performance, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. “Full capacity” can deceptively vary from arena to arena and from show to show, but there is no debating the Foo Fighters’ status. Across 662 shows reported since 2015, MSG’s average cap is 15,140, a couple hundred seats less than Saturday’s show.
While it may feel shocking to have full-fledged arena shows back in action, it is no surprise that Dave Grohl & co. posted such strong numbers. Dating back to 1995, the Foo Fighters have grossed a reported $209.7 million and sold 3.38 million tickets across 300 (exactly) headline shows.
Sunday's return marked the band’s fourth trip to the Garden, and their 10th report of a New York show throughout their career. (Billboard Boxscore may only have reports for a portion of the act’s tour history.)
They started out in relatively humble fashion with an Aug. 13, 1995 performance at The Academy, playing to a sold-out crowd of 1,600 fans who each spent somewhere between $10 and $12.50 for a ticket. The Academy led to Roseland Ballroom, Hammerstein Ballroom and the Beacon Theatre before the Foos took on MSG for the first time in 2008.
The Foo Fighters hit a career high with a double-header in 2018, grossing $2.7 million from 31,000 tickets sold. But on a per-show basis, the June 20, 2021 concert edges it out as the band’s biggest NYC show yet.
The last report from Madison Square Garden was a sold-out show for The Brothers on March 10, 2020. The next scheduled act at the venue is the Eagles on Aug. 22 and 24, followed by Banda MS and Dan + Shay in September.
The Foo Fighters will hit the road again with six shows from July 28 - Aug. 9. They, and many others, are just getting started.
Dua Lipa has described Britney Spears as "an icon".
The Houdini singer also pointed out her personal favorite track from the pop legend.
Dua, 30, said that Britney’s 2003 single Toxic is the song she loves most, sharing that she often plays it every night to relax while spending time on holiday with her extended family.
"You're very silly and giggly and fun and I need to hear 'Toxic' at the end of every single night when I'm feeling like that," she told Vogue Magazine. "It's one of my favourite songs."
The Levitating artist took it even further, calling Toxic "one of the greatest" and saying it has a timeless quality.
"I think it's one of the greatest pop songs ever made," Dua gushed. "It makes me feel nostalgic, but also at the same time, if it came out yesterday, it would be an absolute smash. I love it so much."
She also mentioned that the track’s music video, which shows Britney, 44, as a space-themed flight attendant, played a major role in its appeal.
"The bit that stays in my mind that I remember so well is Britney in a stewardess outfit, and I don't think anyone has been able to make a stewardess outfit look so good," Dua said, before confessing her belief that Britney was "an icon".
"I love Britney so much," she said. "I love everything about her, all her songs. She's such an icon."
