VEGAS MUSIC NEWS: Zac Brown Paying to Play Sphere? Metallica Next? Also, Leona Set to Sleigh Voltaire

Posted on: July 29, 2025, 12:00h. 

Last updated on: July 29, 2025, 12:17h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Vegas Myths Busted.
  • Zak Brown says he’s going into debt to mount his Sphere residency
  • Metallica will roll into Sphere for their own 2026 residency
  • Leona Lewis books an extended state at Venetian 

Not only does Zak Brown claim he’s not making a fortune performing at the Las Vegas Sphere, he claims he’s losing one.

Zak Brown. (Image: Tyler Lord for Sphere Entertainment)

The 46-year-old country singer told Us Weekly that he’s “going into debt to make it happen,” referring to his mini-residency of only six shows — four in December and two more added recently on January 9 and 10.

This squares because at only six shows booked, the average cost of producing the video content required for the globular wonder’s 160K square-foot screen ($10 million) would need to be spread across the 111,600 total seats available.

In other words, $89.60 of each ticket must go to recouping the video cost before anyone even gets paid. (Tickets, priced from $150 to $600, went on sale at Ticketmaster last week.)

“We have all the audio finished,” Brown told Us. “We’re putting the video pieces together, stitching it together.”

Metallica Sphere No Evil

Also headed to the Sphere is a Metallica residency in the fall of 2026. That’s according to the sources supplying Casino.org’s own Vital Vegas blog with its scoopage.

The European leg of the metal legends’ “M72 World Tour” is scheduled for May 9 to July 5, and the Sphere isn’t booked that far ahead yet.

Venetian’s Veddy Meddy Xmas

Leona Lewis will follow Australian superstar Kyle Minogue as the second Voltaire headliner who’s more popular outside the US than inside. (Image: Live Nation)

Leona Lewis, the British singing sensation who took off in Europe after winning the third season of “The X Factor UK” in 2006 at age 21, will headline a lengthy holiday residency of 33 dates at Voltaire at the Venetian.

“Christmas has always been such a special time for me and my family, and there’s nothing quite like the energy of Las Vegas during the holidays,” Lewis, 40, said in a statement.

The residency, dubbed “A Starry Night,” will take place November 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 26, 27, 28, and 29; December 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 30, and 31; and January 2 and 3.

Lewis will follow Australian superstar Kyle Minogue as the second Voltaire headliner who’s more popular outside the US than inside. Her debut album, 2007’s “Spirit,” went 10-times platinum in the UK and she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (only one rung under the Beatles) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2008.

Tickets, starting at $75, go on sale to the general public via Ticketmaster at 10 am PT Friday, August 1. Fan and Venetian Rewards presales begin at 10 am PT Wednesday, July 30.