The Las Vegas Sphere has now been open for two-and-a-half years, and it’s managed to book an impressive slate of live acts in that time. The list includes classic-rock icons (U2, Eagles), country superstars (Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band), jam bands (Phish, Dead and Company), TRL-era favorites (Backstreet Boys, No Doubt), and EDM acts (Anyma, Illenium).
The wide spectrum of artists — which includes a seven-date run by Mexican singer-songwriter Carín León this September — has made it very difficult to anticipate the venue’s next moves. But that hasn’t stopped prognosticators from trying, which is why we’ve read so many reports about supposed residences by top-tier artists that never panned out.
“Harry Styles is in final negotiations to do as many as 35 shows at the state-of-the-art music mecca,” the New York Post reported in March 2025, “that could begin as early as the second half of the year, sources with knowledge of the talks said.” There may have been talks or even “final negotiations,” but Styles wound up booking 30 shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden for this year.
The prior year, word spread widely that Beyoncé was supposedly in negotiations. The New York Post eventually shot them down. “The sticking point turned out to be Beyoncé’s demand for the Sphere to go dark for two weeks,” they reported, “so that she can rehearse, sources close to the situation said.” (Sphere owner James Dolan eventually sent her a cease-and-desist letter when she incorporated an image of Sphere into her Cowboy Carter stage show.)
The calendar for the rest of this year includes Eagles, Anyma, Chesney, Backstreet Boys, No Doubt, Phish, and Carín León. But there are enormous holes, and not even a hint at what might happen in 2027 and beyond. Here’s a look at possible upcoming acts based on solid leads, a few rumors, and some fun, wild speculation. We’ve included absurdly unscientific odds for each.
Why It Might Happen: This one goes way beyond the rumor mill since the band has said many times they want to make it happen and are nearing a deal. “All of our managers and our production people have been there and looked at it,” Lars Ulrich told Howard Stern in August. “It’s something that we’re considering, [but] nothing is etched in stone or green-lit. It’s something that we’re looking at at some point when the 2026 tour is done… I’m not going to bullshit you; I would fucking love to do it, let there be no question about it. It’s not signed, sealed, and delivered, but speaking to me and asking my opinion, I would fucking love to do it.”
Why It Might Not Happen: As Harry Styles fans learned last year, a deal isn’t a deal until contracts are signed. Metallica can still play multiple nights at stadiums anywhere in the world. They might wind up concluding the money at Sphere simply doesn’t add up.
Odds: 85%
Why It Might Happen: Much like Metallica, the members of Tool haven’t hidden their desire to play Sphere. “Yeah, we’re very much into that,” Tool drummer Danny Carey recently told Spiral Out. “We’re hoping when we release the new record, maybe do a stint at the Sphere ’cause I think we’re the perfect band for that. We’ve been talking to those guys…The preparation is pretty intense to get everything up… It’s a very expensive endeavor and it takes a while to get into the black. I think it’s a few shows before you make any money, but it would be work cut out.”
Why It Might Not Happen: Most Sphere acts have a catalog of hits that many tourists will recognize immediately. Tool are an enormous rock band that still packs arenas, but normies are only vaguely aware they exist. To put it another way, you’re either in the cult or you’re not. They might be slightly too niche for a place that regularly spotlights the Backstreet Boys and the Eagles. And as Carey says, it’s not worth it to only play Sphere a few times. Putting the show together is too expensive and time-consuming.
Odds: 70%
Guns N’ Roses
Why It Might Happen: The Guns N’ Roses reunion tour with Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan has now been on the road for over a decade, and there’s no sign of it stopping anytime soon. But they’ve hit just about every possible market in the world at this point, even far-flung spots like Estonia, Bahrain, and Romania that most major acts bypass. This summer they’re back to U.S. football stadiums yet again. A Sphere residency gives them an opportunity to do something different and pull fans back in that have grown tired of the standard show. The pre-reunion lineup did Vegas residencies in 2012 and 2014 at the Joint. This is a chance to do that again on a much larger scale, and with Slash and Duff.
Why It Might Not Happen: Slash isn’t feeling it. “I’m real trepidatious about playing there, because in almost every case for a band, it becomes a visual show as opposed to seeing a rock & roll show,” the guitarist told Eddie Trunk last year. “And so you have to sort of get into that mindset, and I think that’s hard for us to go that far into it. But we’ll see. Maybe down the road.”
Odds: 35%
Depeche Mode
Why It Might Happen: Much like U2, Depeche Mode have been at the forefront of live music innovations since the 1980s. They also have a catalog of hits (“Personal Jesus,” “Enjoy the Silence,” “Just Can’t Get Enough,” “Never Let Me Down Again”) that work spectacularly well in large spaces. They might not be able to book 40 shows like U2, but we can easily see an extended residency that brings in Depeche Mode fans from all over the world.
Why It Might Not Happen: Dave Gahan and Martin Gore have settled into a very comfortable groove where they release a new Depeche Mode album roughly every four years, which they support with a world tour. A Sphere residency would be a big break from tradition, and would require quite a bit of work to create visuals for every song. They simply might not feel like doing it, especially when they’ll always be able to pack stadiums across Europe.
Odds: 20%
Roger Waters
Why It Might Happen: A Sphere show is built around visuals and sound. The actual artist playing is often just a tiny dot on the stage to much of the audience. This is a concept that Pink Floyd practically invented on their stadium shows of the Seventies. And Roger Waters continued to innovate in this realm throughout his many solo runs of the past three decades. It’s hard to think of any catalog of music better suited to the strengths of Sphere than Pink Floyd. And since a reunion of the surviving members is impossible due to the simple fact that they loathe each other and have piles of “fuck you money,” the closest thing we’re likely to get is Waters. He loves playing live, has been off the road since December 2023, and simply feels like a natural for this place. If he agrees, he could easily sell out 100 nights.
Why It Might Not Happen: Mr. Waters isn’t the easiest guy to deal with on this planet. He has very strong about opinions about, well…everything. And his political views don’t quite line up with the views of James Dolan, who has given money to Donald Trump. It’s easy to imagine Waters not wanting to go down that road.
Odds: 18%
David Gilmour
Why It Might Happen: The idea of Gilmour playing Sphere wouldn’t have really occurred to us since he doesn’t care for touring. The U.S. leg of his 2025 Luck & Strange run was simply New York and Los Angeles. But when we spoke to the Pink Floyd guitarist last year, he didn’t rule out playing at Sphere. “I really know almost nothing about what it does,” he says. “But they have been on and suggested that I might do something there. But in the future, who knows. I haven’t got that far.” We can envision a scenario where he plays a very limited run and it becomes a major event.
Why It Might Not Happen: Gilmlour turns 80 in a few weeks, often goes a full decade between concert tours, loves being at home, and was in the dark about Sphere as a venue when we brought it up last year. It’s not surprising they reached out to him considering the incredible potential for a Gilmour residency. Sadly, it doesn’t feel like something that will ever happen.
Odds: 5%
Radiohead
Why It Might Happen: Radiohead surprised fans late last year by emerging from a seven-year hiatus for a run of arena shows in Europe. In a break from tradition, they utilized a center stage setup with a giant video curtain that often obscured them completely from view. This is Sphere-like thinking. And if they decided to adapt a version of it for Sphere, there’s almost no limit to how many tickets they’d sell.
Why It Might Not Happen: First off, we have no idea if Radiohead plan on playing shows anywhere anytime soon. They keep their plans very, very secret. If it does happen, our gut tells us they’ll consider Sphere too cheesy, too touristy, too Backstreet Boys-y. They’ll prefer traditional festivals and arenas. We could be wrong. We certainly didn’t see Europe happening last year. (But we’re probably right.)
Odds: 3%
KISS (Or Their Avatars)
Why It Might Happen: The dream scenario for Sphere is an act that doesn’t require pesky flesh-and-blood humans with their big money demands and need for time off. That’s why they fill their calendar with movies like the AI-assisted Wizard of Oz, which can run multiple times a day until demand dries up. The venue has also screened a U2 concert film for a period of time, but it could take that a step further by using the Kiss avatars we were promised back in 2023. In theory, it could be an ABBA-like show where it looks like the four members of Kiss are actually playing live. And since Kiss have always been cartoon characters, they could morph into different creatures throughout the night. The Wizard of Oz movie has an actual tornado effect. Why can’t hologram Gene Simmons grow 500 feet high and spit fake blood onto the crowd?
Why It Might Not Happen: Sphere seats more than 17,000 people. Are there really that many people, night after night, willing to cough up big bucks to not see Kiss? Yes, the ABBA thing was a success in London. But those songs are bigger than the band, and ABBA is a sui generis group. There’s nothing else like them. “Detroit Rock City” isn’t “Dancing Queen.” If people are paying money, they want to see the real guys play it. A Kiss Minus Kiss show sounds like an interesting novelty, but not a Sphere act. (It feels more likely the members of Kiss simply reverse their farewell tour pledge and book a residency themselves.)
Odds: 1%
U2 Pop 30
Why It Might Happen: Next year marks the 30th anniversary of U2’s unfairly-maligned 1997 LP Pop. And after celebrating Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby with complete album shows, Pop should be next in line chronologically. (Yes, we know about Zooropa.) It’s also a chance to redeem the PopMart tour, which got off to a very rocky start in Las Vegas back in 1997. The Pop visuals were practically designed for Sphere, and the U2 faithful would be thrilled. Who could resist a chance to change history and finally make PopMart a winner?
Why It Might Not Happen: Because it’s ridiculous. U2 have no intention of acknowledging the Pop anniversary, let alone turning it into a Sphere show. They’ve also done the nostalgia thing enough, and are ready to finally move into the future. They have a new album in the works, Larry Mullen Jr. is healed up and back on drums, and Pop will remain nothing more than a relic of the past.
Odds: .03%
Genesis
Why It Might Happen: In our dream world, Peter Gabriel finally agrees to his first Genesis reunion show since 1982 and they stage it at Sphere. Phil Collins may not be physically able to play drums at this point, but his son Nic took over for him on the 2021/22 Genesis farewell tour for the post-Peter Gabriel lineup, and is more than capable of handling the task again. Songs like “The Musical Box” and “Supper’s Ready” would benefit from all the bells and whistles that Sphere has to offer. And it could recreate the New York City streets of 1974 for a Lamb Lies Down on Broadway segment. They don’t have the pop hits of Eighties Genesis, but a reunion with Peter Gabriel would be such a massive event that they could still easily do 20 or 30 nights.
Why It Might Not Happen: We don’t live in our dream world. We live in this deeply flawed world. Peter Gabriel has no interest. Your typical Vegas tourist doesn’t even know the “Sledgehammer” guy fronted Genesis. Our dreams of a giant flower creature filling up the Sphere screen during “Supper’s Ready” will remain mere dreams. Oh well. At least Metallica are probably coming.
Odds: .01%
