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This year is jam-packed with tours and festivals around the world, from Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem Ball” tour to Backstreet Boys’ “Into The Millennium” residency at the Sphere to Tame Impala’s “Deadbeat” Tour. There’s a long list of music events going on this year and upcoming in 2026, from Las Vegas residencies and country music tours to K-pop groups making their first treks back to North America.

No matter what kind of music you love, there is an endless amount of shows to attend. Unfortunately, purchasing tickets can be costly, and that doesn’t take into account the stress of getting a presale code (when applicable).

That’s where resale ticket sites come in. And thanks to ongoing deals and promos, you can score cheap tickets to events you want to attend. Rather than purchase overpriced tickets from scalpers, there are numerous third-party sites that’ll provide budget-friendly concert tickets, plus, there are Billboard exclusive promo codes that’ll score you even more savings to see your favorite artists and festivals.

What Are the Best Cheap Ticket Sites?

Whether you’re on the hunt for last-minute Morgan Wallen tickets in 2026 or just need some weekend plans, these ticket sites usually come with backed up, protected sales featuring lower prices than what most scalpers are selling for. Before you make your purchase, check the buyer’s guarantee — which most of these sites feature — to see how your purchases will protected.

To take the work out of researching where to find reliable resale tickets, ShopBillboard did the work and rounded up the best cheap ticket sites so you can see your favorite artists live while avoiding emptying your wallet.

Keep reading to see where to score affordable tickets to concerts and festivals.

11 Best Cheap Ticket Sites 2025: Shop Concert Seats, Promo Code, Deals

Ticketmaster


Ticketmaster’s deals page is offering four deals you can take advantage of including up to 50% off select shows, Me+3 4-Packs, 2-for-1 tickets and tickets under $40. Check out the deals page here to see what shows and concerts are eligible for the deals. In addition to concerts, current Ticketmaster deals include cheap seats for Broadway shows and musicals, stand-up comedy, sports and more. Some shows will require a promo code to use at checkout, which will be listed underneath the show name.

Rather than wait in a virtual line, Vivid Seats gives you access to thousands of events from live sports to concerts and festivals. You can search based on artist, team, venue and more, whether you’ve scored a travel deal or just want to stay local. When looking at tickets, some sales are verified with a checkmark to show they’re from what the site considers a “super seller” and the brand guarantees instant delivery to your smart device. Bonus offer: You can score $30 off purchases with the code BB30 at checkout.

11 Best Cheap Ticket Sites 2025: Shop Concert Seats, Promo Code, Deals

TicketNetwork


TicketNetwork is a non-primary seller that aims to get tickets in your hands without you having to worry about signing up for a presale. You can take advantage of $150 off orders of $500+ when you enter the code BILLBOARD150 at checkout or get $300 off ticket purchases of $1,000+ with the code BILLBOARD300. The brand does notify shoppers that some tickets may be sold at above face value, but it offers a place that helps minimize the risk of being scammed. You can also see a ranking of the most popular shows based on the genre of music.

SeatGeek categorizes everything based on trending shows, genre and what’s going on in your area. Once you click on your desired show, the site breaks down seat choice by using a scale of 1-10 of how great a deal it is. You can also search for seats using the venue map to make sure you get exactly what you’re looking for. If it’s your first time purchasing through Seat Geek, you can snag $10 off orders of $250+ with the code BILLBOARD10.

Looking for cheap last-minute tickets? Gametime has gained attention for providing last-minute verified tickets for a more budget-friendly cost. Whether you’re waiting for day-of tickets or are looking for something to do on a Friday night, this site will show you what’s going on near you, as well as sort by some of the hottest events of the year. Plus, if it’s your first time using the seller, you can get $20 off purchases of $150+ when you enter the code SAVE20 at checkout.

StubHub is another popular choice that people go to for when grabbing resale tickets at a more affordable price. The site allows you to search by artists, genre or even in alphabetic order to see all artists playing this year. It also uses a verified Fan Protect system to help shield you from scammers.

Even More Great Cheap Ticket Sites

Today Tix

Today Tix is the destination to go to if you’re on the hunt for last-minute, wallet-friendly Broadway tickets. The site offers everything from plays, Broadway musicals, off-Broadway shows, comedies and select concerts. The site’s deals and offers page will tell you the “hottest deals,” including offers that can save you up to 40%. When you click on a show, the calendar will also show you the lowest prices for each day to help you plan.

Ticketsmarter

TicketSmarter promises a 100% guarantee when selling tickets and allows you to search based on music genre, venue and VIP packages. Tickets available are rated on a scale of “smartness” with the highest number being the best. The site offers additional discounts for select groups such as 8% off purchases for students, graduate students, teachers, healthcare workers, first responders, active military and veterans, charity workers, parents, low-income and those with disabilities. You’ll just have to verify yourself through Student Beans and Beans iD.

Groupon

Groupon won’t just give you a discount on restaurants or a promo on a manicure, the site also offers deals on concerts, festivals and live performances in your area or places you plan on traveling to. You can narrow your search by the type of performance or search for specific shows.

Ticket City

Since 1990, Ticket City has been providing people with a place to buy and sell tickets to some of the most sought out performances. The brand offers 100% guarantee on tickets bought through the site and if that’s not the case, then Ticket City will provide you with comparable or better tickets than you ordered, or you’ll be offered a refund or a credit.

Ticket Liquidator

Ticket Liquidator is another resale ticket site that aims to provide verified and legit tickets to concerts, sporting events and more. The site vets each seller before listing them and backs purchases through their 100% Money-Back guarantee, which means if you don’t receive legit tickets by the day of your event or if the event is cancelled, you’ll receive a 100% refund.

Viagogo

Viagogo is one of the largest reselling sites and provides a place where sellers can go to resell tickets. For buyers, the brand uses security checks to ensure that transactions go smoothly and tickets being sold are legit.

Note: all the promo codes and discounted savings listed above were live at time of this article’s publication but prices could change at anytime.

For more product recommendations, check out ShopBillboard‘s roundups of the best concert earplugs, venue-approved bags and portable chargers.

A Los Angeles judge on Friday (Dec. 5) sided with Cardi B and denied a new trial to Emani Ellis, the security guard who unsuccessfully sued the superstar for assault over a 2018 altercation at a doctor’s office.

After jurors easily rejected the lawsuit in September, Ellis asked for a new trial, including by arguing that Cardi “intimidated” jurors by throwing a pen at a reporter in a media scrum. Cardi’s lawyers called that request “baseless” and “absurd” and said it should be “rejected out of hand.”

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At a court hearing on Friday, Judge Ian C. Fusselman largely agreed, rejecting the pen-toss argument and finalizing a tentative ruling that denied Ellis a new trial.

“Even if plaintiff had provided sufficient evidence of these asserted facts, the court finds unpersuasive the speculation that defendant’s purported action of throwing a pen could have ‘intimidated’ the jurors into finding against Plaintiff given the nature of Plaintiff’s claims,” the judge wrote in that ruling.

Attorneys for Ellis also claimed the facts of the case simply did not align with the jury’s verdict, but the judge was unmoved: “The Court finds that sufficient credible evidence supported the jury’s verdict.” 

Ellis sued Cardi in 2020, claiming the star had assaulted her when she worked as a security guard at a Beverly Hills gynecologist’s office in 2018, when Cardi was four months pregnant with her first child. Ellis said the star cursed and spat at her and scratched her cheek with a sharp acrylic nail, requiring plastic surgery to repair the wound.

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At an August trial, Cardi said she never touched Ellis. During two days on the witness stand, the rapper testified that she and Ellis had a verbal-only altercation after she realized that the guard was recording her — a major concern, Cardi said, because she was still concealing her pregnancy from the public.

The rapper said it was Ellis who got aggressive during the encounter, backing her into a corner and refusing to leave her alone. Cardi also said her nails weren’t capable of cutting anyone, and the jury saw a photo of her at the NBA All-Star Game the week of this incident, sporting square nails that she described as less than an inch long.

After less than an hour of deliberations, the jury unanimously found that Ellis did not prove her legal claims of assault, battery, infliction of emotional distress and negligence. And on the courthouse steps a short while later, Cardi warned against future “frivolous” lawsuits.

“I work hard for my money for my kids and for people I take care of, so don’t you ever think that you gonna sue me, and I’m just gonna settle and just give you my money,” the star said at the time. “It’s not gonna happen.”

After Friday’s hearing, one big issue remains unresolved. Cardi’s lawyers have asked the judge to punish Rosen Janfaza, Ellis’ attorney, for alleged misconduct during the trial, including by asking Cardi on the witness stand if she had any gang affiliations. Judge Fusselman did not decide that issue on Friday, but could do so as soon as next week.


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Three Days Grace becomes the second act in the history of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart to tally 20 No. 1s, nabbing its milestone 20th on the Dec. 13-dated survey with “Kill Me Fast.”

The song is the rockers’ third No. 1 in a row, all earned in 2025, following the five-frame rule of “Mayday” beginning in January and the one-week lead for “Apologies” in July.

The Canadians first topped Mainstream Rock Airplay in 2004 with their sophomore entry, “Just Like You” (their premiere chart title, “[I Hate] Everything About You,” hit No. 4 in 2003). The band’s first 10 leaders were with frontman Adam Gontier, followed by seven with his replacement vocalist, Matt Walst, before the most recent three that sport both singers after Gontier rejoined the group.

Three Days Grace remains in second place for the most No. 1s in the Mainstream Rock Airplay’ chart’s 44-year archives, one behind the 21 achieved by Shinedown, whose “Searchlight” just so happens to be the Dec. 13 chart’s Greatest Gainer at No. 29.

Most No. 1s, Mainstream Rock Airplay:
21, Shinedown
20, Three Days Grace
17, Five Finger Death Punch
15, Foo Fighters
14, Metallica
13, Disturbed
13, Godsmack
13, Linkin Park
13, Van Halen

The three latest No. 1s on the chart have been achieved by acts on the above list; Five Finger Death Punch’s “The End,” featuring BABYMETAL, reigned on the Nov. 22 and 29 tallies, followed by Foo Fighters’ “Asking for a Friend” Dec. 6.

Concurrently, “Kill Me Fast” remains at its No. 12 best on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 2.7 million audience impressions in the week ending Dec. 4, according to Luminate. It’s also bubbling under Alternative Airplay.

“Kill Me Fast” appeared at No. 15 on the most recently published, multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart (dated Dec. 6, reflecting data Nov. 21-27); its best so far, a debut of No. 13, was achieved on the Aug. 9 list. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 543,000 official U.S. streams.

Alienation, Three Days Grace’s eighth studio album that includes the band’s three newest Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1s, debuted at its No. 2 best on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart in September and has earned 96,000 equivalent album units to date.

All Billboard charts dated Dec. 13 will update Tuesday, Dec. 9, on Billboard.com.

DJ Quik’s son, David Marvin Blake Jr., has been convicted of second-degree murder, TMZ reports.

The incident in question happened in 2022 in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, California, where 33-year-old Julio Moises Cardoza Jr. was shot and killed. According to authorities, Blake fired multiple shots from inside a vehicle before fleeing the scene. The victim was then rushed to the hospital where he later died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The suspect, who was 27 years old at the time, was arrested the next day.

The legendary producer found himself in the news earlier this summer when a fan on social media said, “DJ Quik is actually who everyone thinks Dr. Dre is,” to which Quik replied, “Finally. Someone had the balls to say it.” That’s not the first time he’s addressed his friendly rivalry with Dre. In 2022, he said that he felt like he should be as highly regarded and as successful as is West Coast counterpart. “I know it’s early. But I deserve to be where Dre is,” he wrote on X. “I don’t think it’s fair, but I understand why. I’ve never had a machine behind me, that always hurt my friends more than it did me.” Quik was in attendance when Dre got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2024.

Blake is facing 40 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 6, 2026.

Billboard has reached out the LA District Attorney’s office for confirmation and further details.

Fariana says that “El Caballito” marked the beginning of a new era for her, and that her new merengue album, Música Para Bailar, is a gift for her fans and for her inner child.

Fariana: Well, imagine, it’s not a song. I had been nominated before with two categories, best rap and best reggaeton, but now that they nominate the entire album is tripling that gratitude, that emotion, that happiness, not only mine, but also my family’s, my followers.

It’s a very important album for me. I would say it’s my first professional album with everything. I feel very grateful and very proud to have worked on it the way I worked on it, to have taken the time that it took me to do it. I made it with all my heart and it represents 100% urban music.

Underwater has brought me a lot of happiness because within the album is “El Caballito.” Since I made “El Caballito” I knew what — I’ve always known what my purpose is as a musician, but “El Caballito” clarified it much more for me. When I started seeing children dancing, elderly people, people from my generation, my age, when I embraced all audiences, I said: “I now know what my true purpose is and it’s to make people very happy, besides being happy myself.” And since “El Caballito” I can tell you that a new era also began. Now I’m more aware of everything I do, of each thing I do, I’m much more aware, although I also love doing things, uh, however they come out in the moment, but I’m now more aware of more details. Since they loved “El Caballito” so much, I will bring you a gift. First I gave this to myself, to my inner child, which is a merengue album.

Keep watching for more!

Ryan Coogler’s horror film Sinners leads the 2026 Critics Choice Awards nominations with a whopping 17 bids, including best original score for Ludwig Göransson and best original song for “I Lied to You,” which Göransson co-wrote with Raphael Saadiq. The nominations were announced on Friday (Dec. 5).

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another was runner-up, with 14 nods, including best original score for Jonny Greenwood.

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Those two films were followed on the leaderboard by Frankenstein and Hamnet (11 nods each); Marty Supreme (eight); F1, Sentimental Value and Wicked: For Good (seven nods each), Train Dreams (five); and Jay Kelly         and Weapons (four nods each).

Competing with Göransson and Greenwood for best original score are Hans Zimmer (F1), Alexandre Desplat (Frankenstein); Max Richter (Hamnet) and Daniel Lopatin (Marty Supreme).

The other nominees for Best Song, joining “I Lied to You,” are “Drive” by Ed Sheeran, John Mayer and Blake Slatkin from F1; “Golden” by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24 and Teddy from KPop Demon Hunters; “Clothed by the Sun” by Daniel Blumberg from The Testament of Ann Lee;“Train Dreams” by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner from Train Dreams; and “The Girl in the Bubble” by Stephen Schwartz from Wicked: For Good.

On the television side, Netflix’s Adolesence led the way with six nominations, followed by Nobody Wants This with five; and All Her Fault, Death by Lightning, Ghosts, Hacks, Severance, and The Pitt, with four nods each.

Four new categories were introduced – three for films (best stunt design, best casting and ensemble, and best sound), and one for television (best variety series).

Saturday Night Live is nominated for best variety series, while SNL50: The Anniversary Special is nominated for best comedy special. The other nominees for best comedy special are stand-up specials by Brett Goldstein, Caleb Hearon, Leanne Morgan, Marc Maron and Sarah Silverman.

The 31st Critics Choice Awards, hosted by Chelsea Handler for the fourth consecutive year, will be broadcast live on Jan. 4 on E! and USA Network. The show will be held at Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, Calif.

One week later, on Jan. 11, the Golden Globes, hosted by Nikki Glaser for the second year in a row, will be broadcast live on CBS and stream on Paramount+. The show, which also covers both film and television (as well as podcasting as of 2026) will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Here’s the complete list of nominees for the 2026 Critics Choice Awards.

Film Awards

Best Picture

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Jay Kelly

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Wicked: For Good

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme

Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another

Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams

Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another

Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value

Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee

Emma Stone, Bugonia

Best Supporting Actor

Benecio del Toro, One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein

Paul Mescal, Hamnet

Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan, Weapons

Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners

Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Young Actor / Actress

Everett Blunck, The Plague

Miles Caton, Sinners

Cary Christopher, Weapons

Shannon Mahina Gorman, Rental Family

Jacobi Jupe, Hamnet

Nina Ye, Left-Handed Girl

Best Casting/Acting Ensemble

Hamnet

Jay Kelly

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Wicked: For Good

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Guillermo Del Toro, Frankenstein

Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Best Original Screenplay

Jay Kelly — Noah Baumbach, Emily Mortimer

Marty Supreme — Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie

Sinners — Ryan Coogler

Weapons — Zach Cregger

Sorry, Baby — Eva Victor

Sentimental Value — Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

Best Adapted Screenplay

One Battle After Another — Paul Thomas Anderson

Train Dreams — Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar

No Other Choice — Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don Mckellar, Jahye Lee

Frankenstein — Guillermo del Toro

Bugonia — Will Tracy

Hamnet — Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell

Best Score

F1 – Hans Zimmer

Frankenstein – Alexandre Desplat

Hamnet – Max Richter

Marty Supreme – Daniel Lopatin

One Battle After Another – Johnny Greenwood

Sinners – Ludwig Göransson 

Best Song

“Drive” – Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Blake Slatkin – F1

“Golden” – Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, Teddy – KPop Demon Hunters

“I Lied to You” – Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson – Sinners

“Clothed by the Sun” – Daniel Blumberg – The Testament of Ann Lee

“Train Dreams” – Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner – Train Dreams

“The Girl in the Bubble” – Stephen Schwartz – Wicked: For Good

Best Animated Feature

Arco

Elio

In Your Dreams

KPop Demon Hunters

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Zootopia 2

Best Comedy

The Ballad of Wallis Island

Eternity

Friendship

The Naked Gun

The Phoenician Scheme

Splitsville

Best Foreign Language Film

It Was Just an Accident

Left-Handed Girl

No Other Choice

The Secret Agent

Sirāt

Belén

Best Cinematography

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Train Dreams

Best Editing

A House of Dynamite

F1

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Perfect Neighbor

Sinners

Best Costume Design

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Hedda

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Sinners

Wicked: For Good

Best Production Design

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

Sinners

Wicked: For Good

Best Hair and Makeup

28 Years Later

Frankenstein

Sinners

The Smashing Machine

Weapons

Wicked: For Good

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash

F1

Frankenstein

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Sinners

Superman

Best Stunt Design

Ballerina

F1

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Warfare

Best Sound

F1

Frankenstein

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Sirāt

Warfare

TV Awards

Best Drama Series

Alien: Earth

Andor

The Diplomat

Paradise

The Pitt

Pluribus

Severance

Task

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise

Diego Luna, Andor

Mark Ruffalo, Task

Adam Scott, Severance

Billy Bob Thornton, Landman

Noah Wyle, The Pitt

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Kathy Bates, Matlock

Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age

Britt Lower, Severance

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us

Keri Russell, The Diplomat

Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Patrick Ball, The Pitt

Billy Crudup, The Morning Show

Ato Essandoh, The Diplomat

Wood Harris, Forever

Tom Pelphrey, Task

Tramell Tillman, Severance

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Nicole Beharie, The Morning Show

Denée Benton, The Gilded Age

Allison Janney, The Diplomat

Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt

Greta Lee, The Morning Show

Skye P. Marshall, Matlock

Best Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary

Elsbeth

Ghosts

Hacks

Nobody Wants This

Only Murders in the Building

The Righteous Gemstones

The Studio

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This

Ted Danson, A Man on the Inside

David Alan Grier, St. Denis Medical

Danny McBride, The Righteous Gemstones

Seth Rogen, The Studio

Alexander Skarsgård, Murderbot

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This

Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face

Rose McIver, Ghosts

Edi Patterson, The Righteous Gemstones

Carrie Preston, Elsbeth

Jean Smart, Hacks

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Ike Barinholtz, The Studio

Paul W. Downs, Hacks

Asher Grodman, Ghosts

Oscar Nuñez, The Paper

Chris Perfetti, Abbott Elementary

Timothy Simons, Nobody Wants This

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Danielle Brooks, Peacemaker

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks

Janelle James, Abbott Elementary

Justine Lupe, Nobody Wants This

Ego Nwodim, Saturday Night Live

Rebecca Wisocky, Ghosts

Best Comedy Special

Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life

Caleb Hearon: Model Comedian

Leanne Morgan: Unspeakable Things

Marc Maron: Panicked

Sarah Silverman: PostMortem

SNL50: The Anniversary Special

Best Limited Series

Adolescence

All Her Fault

Chief of War

Death By Lightning

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Dope Thief

Dying for Sex

The Girlfriend

Best Movie Made For Television

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Deep Cover

The Gorge

Mountainhead

Nonnas

Summer of ’69

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Michael Chernus, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Stephen Graham, Adolescence

Brian Tyree Henry, Dope Thief

Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me

Michael Shannon, Death by Lightning

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Jessica Biel, The Better Sister

Meghann Fahy, Sirens

Sarah Snook, All Her Fault

Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex

Robin Wright, The Girlfriend

Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Owen Cooper, Adolescence

Wagner Moura, Dope Thief

Nick Offerman, Death by Lightning

Michael Peña, All Her Fault

Ashley Walters, Adolescence

Ramy Youssef, Mountainhead

Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Erin Doherty, Adolescence

Betty Gilpin, Death by Lightning

Marin Ireland, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

Sophia Lillis, All Her Fault

Julianne Moore, Sirens

Christine Tremarco, Adolescence

Best Talk Show

The Daily Show

Hot Ones

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Late Night With Seth Meyers

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

Best Variety Series

Conan O’Brien Must Go

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Saturday Night Live

Best Animated Series

Bob’s Burgers

Harley Quinn

Long Story Short

Marvel Zombies

South Park

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Best Foreign Language Series

Acapulco

Last Samurai Standing

Mussolini: Son of the Century

Red Alert

Squid Game

When No One Sees Us

No matter how quick the wit, no stand-up comic starts out a success. Forget the top: on the way to the bottom rung, comics need to endure endless open-mic tryouts, log thousands of miles for little or no money and be thankful for 1:00 a.m. slots in front of drunken hecklers. And that’s just for starters. The further up the ladder they climb, the more pressure they face to consistently write and hone hour-plus sets that will power tours, specials and social media. Increasingly, they also choose to engage in a weekly form of digital improv known as the podcast.   

As the first quarter of the 21st century comes to an end, Billboard set out to determine the best of that A-list: the top 25 stand-up comics of the last 25 years. To come up with these rankings, we polled experts that work with comics on a daily basis. 

The panel consists of William Burdett-Coutts, who heads the Assembly venues at the Edinburgh Fringe festival; Michael Cox, stand-up booker for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon; Adam Eget, booker at Joe Rogan’s Comedy Mothership in Austin, Tx, and before that, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles; Bruce Hills, who, for 36 years booked and eventually ran Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival; Caroline Hirsch, the founder of Caroline’s Comedy Club and co-founder of the New York Comedy Festival; brothers Chris Mazzilli and Steve Mazzilli, owners of the Gotham Comedy Club in Manhattan; Patrick Milligan, the booker and proprietor of The Stand NYC comedy club; Susan Provan, director of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival; and Samantha Schles, director of comedy at the SXSW Festival. (Billboard‘s parent company, PMC, owns a 50% stake in SXSW.)

Thanks to all our panelists for taking time out of their hectic schedules to participate. (And special thanks to Hills, who provided valuable advice on voting parameters, helped create a well-rounded and authoritative judges panel and generously provided means to contact them.) 

The process began with our panel helping put together a ballot of more than 150 nominees. The talent pool was limited to comedians with active stand-up careers over the last 25 years — as opposed to sketch, sitcom, film or improvisational performers, such as the cast of Saturday Night Live, Second City or Upright Citizens Brigade. Overseas comedians with a presence in the United States were also considered.  

From there, the judges each ranked their top 25 comics. Voting was anonymous, and a weighted system was used to determine the top 25. As a number of judges remarked when returning their ballots, winnowing such a large batch of nominees was extremely difficult. There are a lot of exceptional stand-up comics out there.  

See the complete list below.

Additional reporting by Joe Levy.


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Tekashi 6ix9ine is going back to jail.

According to a spokesperson for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, the rapper (Daniel Hernandez) was sentenced on Friday (Dec. 5) to three months in lockup for once again violating his probation from a blockbuster 2018 racketeering case. This time, Tekashi was caught with cocaine and MDMA and admitted to assaulting a man who taunted him about flipping on his former Brooklyn gangmates during a recent trip to the mall in Florida.

The sentence, imposed by Judge Paul A. Engelmayer in federal court, is the culmination of many run-ins between the rapper and the law. Back in 2018, he was arrested and pleaded guilty to nine racketeering, gun and drug charges related to his time in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.

Tekashi admitted to being involved in a slew of violent incidents targeting rival rappers, including a 2017 assault of Trippie Redd, and he testified against his former gang associates at a high-profile trial in 2019. In exchange for that cooperation, Judge Engelmayer sentenced him to just two years in prison rather than the decades his charges carried. 

The rapper was released in 2020 after serving even less than those two years due to health risks from the then-novel COVID-19 pandemic. By the fall of 2024, Tekashi was just months away from concluding a five-year supervised release term when he was charged with a host of violations, including using methamphetamine, failing to appear for drug tests and traveling to Las Vegas without permission.

He admitted to these violations, and Judge Engelmayer sentenced him to 45 days in jail plus another year of supervised release. He got out last December, but was caught again in March for violating his probation by possessing cocaine and MDMA. Then came the Florida mall assault in August, which prosecutors classified as a misdemeanor. He’s been on house arrest since September.

In a sentencing recommendation last month, federal prosecutors said Tekashi had “violated the court’s trust” and needed to go back to jail so that cooperators would know they are “they are not above the law.” Tekashi’s lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, advocated instead for additional home detention.

Lazzaro did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.


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Music City Rodeo, Nashville’s Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association event, is set to return to Nashville for a second year, with headlining performances from Miranda Lambert, Charley Crockett and Jon Pardi.

Three-time Grammy winner Lambert will take the stage May 28, followed by two-time Grammy nominee Crockett on May 29 and CMA and ACM Awards winner Pardi on May 30.

The three-day event will take place at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, and is set to feature events including bull riding, barrel racing, team roping and more. On Thursday evening (Dec. 4), Music City Rodeo co-founder Tim McGraw made the announcement of the event’s return to Nashville during the opening night of his Las Vegas limited-engagement residency, Tim McGraw: Live in Vegas.

McGraw, Reba McEntire and Jelly Roll served as the inaugural musical lineup for Music City Rodeo in 2025, while more than 30 world champion athletes took part in the event, earning over $292,000 in total prize winnings.

The 2026 event has been designated an official Cinch Playoff Series Rodeo and will again showcase some of the world’s top cowboys and cowgirls, including bullfighting duo Cody Webster and Dusty Tuckness, who have a combined 15 bullfighter of the year titles.

The Music City Rodeo is also teaming again with Nashville’s Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, with a portion of the rodeo’s proceeds going to aid the Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital’s mission of providing top-tier pediatric health care, research and training.

Pre-sale tickets for the Music City Rodeo will be on sale beginning Dec. 5, with regular tickets going on sale Dec. 12 at 10 a.m. CT.


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The 2025 edition of Spotify Wrapped arrived earlier this week, and it was impossible to miss. The annual listener recap attracted widespread news coverage that spanned the mainstream press (The New York Times, USA Today), the business press (Fast Company, Forbes), the tech press (Mashable, PC Mag) and local press (Peoria Journal Star, Cincinnati Enquirer). For its part, Spotify announced the launch of Wrapped with a slew of blog posts and a pre-release press conference. Even before that, articles about Wrapped’s launch began appearing in late November by publications eager to tap into listeners’ anticipation.  

Regardless of how Spotify users learned of Wrapped — the media attention, social media chatter or seeing it when they opened their Spotify app on Wednesday (Dec. 3) — they took part in a record-setting launch. Within approximately the first 24 hours, Wrapped drew more than 200 million engaged users, up 19% from the previous year, the company revealed on Thursday (Dec. 4). In 2024, Wrapped needed 62 hours to meet the 200 million user mark. What’s more, the number of times Spotify users shared their Wrapped experiences surpassed 500 million in 24 hours, a 41% increase year over year.  

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But what’s most remarkable about Wrapped is its level of prominence in pop culture. To the extent Google search traffic reveals consumer interest, Wrapped appears to be in the same ballpark as some high-profile, closely watched cultural events. Take two of America’s biggest shopping days outside of the Christmas season, Amazon Prime Day and Cyber Monday. Wrapped generated more Google search traffic in the U.S. than Amazon’s Prime Day in 2024 and 2025, and it nearly matched Cyber Monday’s search traffic in 2024, though it slipped further behind the annual online shopping day this year. (The current week’s Google Trends data was preliminary as of Thursday.)

Coachella is another good point of comparison. The Southern California music festival is a cultural event that is closely followed for the desert-friendly fashion donned by attendees as much as the high-profile artists who perform. In 2024, Wrapped had about 50% more search traffic than Coachella, while this year, after the festival drew increased buzz and sold out in hours, the two events had nearly identical peak weekly traffic.

Wrapped was even in the same ballpark as the Met Gala, despite falling short of search traffic for that splashy event. While the fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute bested Wrapped by approximately a two-to-one margin in 2024 and 2025, when you consider that the Met Gala has written the book on how to build anticipation and drive consumer interest to a cavalcade of celebrities wearing designer clothing, the fact that Wrapped inspired even half the amount of search traffic is still impressive. Indeed, the Met Gala puts up ridiculous numbers: Within three days, this year’s editions had generated 1.2 billion views across Vogue’s website and YouTube channel.  

Many other major cultural and entertainment events don’t come close to Wrapped: This year, Fashion Week, Art Basel, the Cannes Film Festival and SXSW each generated a small fraction of Wrapped’s U.S. Google search traffic.  

More importantly, Wrapped dominates the annual listener recaps offered by its peers. This year, Wrapped had about four times the U.S. Google search traffic as Apple Music Replay, eight times the traffic of YouTube Recap and more than 80 times the traffic of both Amazon Music’s 2025 Delivered and SoundCloud Playback. Again, these are preliminary numbers, but the gaps between Wrapped and the others were equally wide in 2024.  

Aside from the obvious marketing value associated with intense media coverage, a popular product feature such as Wrapped has meaningful business implications. Notably, it’s a huge success for a business model that demands streaming platforms compete against one another on the strength of their programming and user experience. While video on-demand services have the luxury of competing against one another with exclusive content, diminishing the need to offer a sterling user experience and engagement-inducing features, music streamers — with the exception of SoundCloud, which is heavy with user-generated content — are largely limited to the same music catalog. Whether you’re a fan or detractor of the annual year-end exercise, Wrapped proves that in the music streaming wars, being hyper-focused on product features can give a major leg up on the competition. 


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