JoJo Siwa Moves From YouTube to the Big Stage, Earning $27 Million on Debut Tour

The Nov. 2-dated Hot Tours list is stacked with industry veterans like Elton John, Madonna and Phil Collins. But smack in the middle of the list, 16-year-old JoJo Siwa hits No. 5 with the final North American reports of D.R.E.A.M. The Tour, adding $8.4 million to her year-to-date total. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the television and YouTube sensation has earned a stunning $26.9 million from 506,184 tickets so far in 2019.

Siwa has made a name for herself across media, starring in Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition and Dance Moms in 2013-15, before creating a solo and unique brand for herself with a dominant presence on YouTube, makeup and accessory lines, a series of books, and a string of singles and EPs, the last of which led to an expansive concert tour in 2019. 

We’ll break down Siwa’s grosses and tour highlights below, but to start, the tour stretched 82 concerts in North America from May 17 through Oct. 2. As reported to Billboard Boxscore, no artist played more shows than Siwa in that time frame. With just days left to report for the 2019 tracking period, only two acts played more shows in the entire year: Donny & Marie (144 shows) with an extensive Las Vegas residency and Trans-Siberian Orchestra (89 shows), which uses two separate touring parties on the East and West coasts to maximize their volume during the holiday season.

Not only did Siwa play extensively throughout the summer, she sold 97% of all available tickets. Playing a range of theaters, arenas and amphitheaters, the budding multi-hyphenate moved an average of 6,173 tickets each night. Most shows had tickets set between $69.50 and $39.50, adding up to an average gross of $328,000.

These per-show averages are impressive across the entire tour, but separating her finals out month-by-month shows how Siwa is trending toward something even bigger. She kicked off the tour with eight shows in May, earning $1.5 million, before following in June with $2.7 million. The general bump to arenas and amphitheaters in July and August boosted monthly grosses to $6.8 million and $6.6 million, respectively. And in September, the North American tour’s last full month, Siwa brought in $8.6 million. From May to September, Siwa leaped by 143% in average gross and 147% in average attendance.

While Siwa played to sold-out audiences in major markets like Toronto, New York and Las Vegas, the tour’s biggest strength was in secondary markets. Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center provided the trek’s biggest outing, at $714,500, while Edinburg, Texas; Newark; Columbus; and Birmingham, Ala. followed among the run’s top 10 markets.

D.R.E.A.M. The Tour is Siwa’s first outing, but these stellar North American showings don’t tell the full story. Next, she heads to the U.K., Ireland and Australia for 13 shows through Jan. 18, including a Nov. 3 show at London’s iconic O2 arena.  

See below for the full Hot Tours tally, featuring Tyler, the Creator, Tool and Carrie Underwood.