Oct 01 2008
Can Ms. Jackson Afford to Get Ill?
Shown performing in Los Angeles last month, Janet Jackson fell ill earlier this week, forcing her to postpone three concerts. She’s expected back on the stage Saturday in North Carolina. (picture courtesy of Associated Press/Mark J. Terrill)
Janet Jackson’s not doing too much rockin’ witchu this week, as her current tour hit a snag when she was hospitalized immediately prior to a show in Montreal.
While details of Jackson’s illness were not revealed, Royal Victoria Hospital released her two hours after admittance. Aside from Montreal, scheduled shows in Boston and Philadelphia also were postponed. This follows a “production-constraints” postponement in Detroit last week; while the Detroit show now is set for October 28, the three illness-related cancellations have yet to be rescheduled.
The tour troubles couldn’t come at a worse time for the diva. After just one album, she and Island/Def Jam last week announced the dissolution of their partnership. Before signing with the Island, Jackson left Virgin Records after a near-15-year partnership, following disappointing sales of her Damita Jo and 20 Y.O. albums.
Discipline, her first Island album, unfortunately, has fared even worse than those two records. Jackson blames the label’s alleged lack of promotion, but surely she has to take some of the blame for her last three albums’ underwhelming performances (I wrote about her current musical struggled in an earlier blog).
With her current album seeing lackluster sales results, it was time for Jackson to hit the road, which she did last month. Her Rock Witchu Tour is seeing good- but not exceptional- numbers. The first three shows grossed $2.918 million, according to Billboard Boxscore, with an attendance of 30,480 (the three venues had a capacity of 36,381). None of the shows were sellouts, but even when Jackson was a multiplatinum-selling act back in 2001, she saw just a handful of sellout dates (in fairness, she did a lot more shows than she’s scheduled to do this time out).
In any event, with an album nowhere near the charts and no big single on the airwaves, Jackson is unlikely to invest the same amount of time and energy into Rock Witchu as she has past tours. For instance, Jackson’s 1998 Velvet Rope Tour 60 North American dates, while 2001’s All For You Tour played 68 North American shows.
Excluding any yet-to-be-rescheduled shows, Jackson has 13 shows to get through this month- she’s planning to be back in performing shape for Saturday’s show in Greensboro, North Carolina. Tour promoter Live Nation hasn’t announced any additional dates beyond this month, and as of now, it’s unknown whether the tour will venture outside North America.
If Rock Witchu doesn’t leave North American shores, it won’t be much of a surprise- Jackson’s commercial fortunes are even dimmer overseas. In its first five weeks of release, Discipline had sold less than 500,000 copies worldwide (326,000 coming from the USA), according to global tracker www.mediatraffic.de. And it never recovered- current U.S. sales stand at less than 420,000.
Without a record label to call home and an album not shifting many units, Jackson may want to keep Rock Witchu on the road as long as she can. While she may not be shattering records, she’s still one of the more entertaining live performers out there and still can pack thousands of dedicated fans into arenas. And if pleased with Jackson’s tour results, maybe Live Nation will add her to its roster of acts (Madonna, U2, Jay-Z, Nickelback, Shakira) it’s signed to recording and/or touring deals within the last year.
However, if Live Nation ends up as the label behind her next album release- and the album tanks- take your bets as to where Ms. Jackson will lay blame…
