Country Acts Road-Weary In 1999

12/21/1998 4:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Lisa Zhito

(12/21/98, 1 a.m. PST) - After a slew of country megatours failed to ignite sparks at the box office in 1998, several artists have announced they are curtailing touring the U.S. for much of 1999, giving country audiences a breather.

Although Garth Brooks, George Strait and Shania Twain did gangbuster business this year (myLAUNCH, 12/15), several highly anticipated tours were stiffs. The country roadkill included Tim McGraw, who grossed just $3.1 million on 21 dates, only one of which was a sellout, and Clint Black, whose $2.9 million on 24 dates brought in just three standing room only crowds.

One of the biggest disappointments was the co-headliner of Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn, an enormously expensive production that also featured two opening acts. The $10.4 million grosser sounds impressive, but spread over 22 shows--only one of which was a sellout--it seems many audiences chose to save their dollars for Garth or Shania tickets instead.

Reba begins a tour of Europe in early January, and has announced she won't reunite with Brooks & Dunn next year, though she hasn't ruled out touring with other artists later in 1999. For their part, Brooks & Dunn say they won't head back on the road until next Summer, save a few isolated Winter bookings.

The LeAnn Rimes/ Bryan White outing brought in $5.6 million, but played to almost as many people as McEntire/ Brooks & Dunn did. Rimes announced earlier this year that she plan to take much of 1999 off as she mines Hollywood for film offers. She has since announced she'll play only 50 dates next year.

Meanwhile, Garth Inc. has all but shut down, and Brooks won't perform any more concerts for a while. However, reports that he's taking 1999 off seem a bit premature. Brooks told myLAUNCH he's continuing to work on his duet album with Trisha Yearwood, plus a double Christmas album for 1999 and the soundtrack for a film he's producing, to name just a few projects.

Undaunted by the bleak road picture is Alan Jackson, whose 1999 tour begins Jan. 14 (myLAUNCH, 12/9), and the annual Crown Royal Tour, which this year features Mark Chesnutt, Gary Allan, Chely Wright, and Keith Harling. The latter kicks off in January as well.

As for Shania Twain, currently basking in the success of her first arena tour, she's not disappearing from the road any time soon, either. "I don't plan on taking next year off!" she told myLAUNCH. "The tour is going to continue next year. I'm not sure how long into the year it's going to continue because of course I'm going to want to start writing for the next album. But I'll still be around next year, quite a bit, I'm sure."

Features on Chely Wright, Mark Chesnutt, Trisha Yearwood, Bryan White, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, and Shania Twain are available for your reading pleasure. Features on Garth and LeAnn are coming soon.

-- Lisa Zhito, Nashville