Las Vegas Strip Sphere signs huge band to longer residency

Long-running, popular Las Vegas music residencies are a major attraction for visitors to Sin City and are also a significant part of the economy.

Music residencies, especially those on the Strip, keep casinos' theaters full of fans who are also potential gamblers, hotel guests, and diners in their restaurants.

Those fans are especially important to keep business flowing at times when visitor volume slips or hotel occupancy dips, which recently occurred in June 2025 as Vegas visitor volume declined 11.3%, according to the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority.

The Las Vegas Strip features some short-term residencies headlined by popular artists who bring their shows through for maybe six to 12 shows and then might return a year or two in the future.

Headliners extend long-running residencies

The Strip also has a history of its biggest headliners extending their music residencies weeks, months, and years into the future.

Some of the longest-running residencies never seem to end, such as classic rock star Carlos Santana, who has headlined his long-running Santana residency at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay since 2012, performing more than 300 shows to sold-out audiences.

Mr. Las Vegas Wayne Newton, who became a headliner for the first time in 1963 at the Flamingo on the Strip, opened his “Wayne: Up Close and Personal” residency at the Wayne Newton Theater in Bugsy's Cabaret at the Flamingo in January 2022 and has extended the engagement through Dec. 31, 2025.

What are Backstreet Boys doing?

And now, legendary superstar 1990s boy band Backstreet Boys can't get enough of Sphere Las Vegas, as they have added over a dozen residency shows after originally planning to close their engagement on Aug. 24.

The band opened its “Into the Millennium” residency on July 11 and performed 21 sold-out shows with the engagement set to close Aug. 24.

Backstreet Boys have scheduled more shows at Sphere Las Vegas.

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Backstreet Boys extend residency after closing

The lure of endless sellouts at the magical globe convinced the band to sign on for several more shows in December and January.

Backstreet Boys on Aug. 13 revealed it signed on for seven holiday season dates, scheduled on Dec. 26, 27, 28, 30, and 31, 2025, and Jan. 2 and 3, 2026.

Backstreet Boys upcoming Sphere residency shows

“Into the Millennium”, Sphere Las Vegas, Dec. 26, 27, 28, 30, and 31, 2025, Jan. 2, 3, Feb. 5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, and 15, 2026.

A week later, due to incredibly high demand, Backstreet Boys scheduled seven more shows on Feb. 5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, and 15, 2026.

Tickets for all remaining Backstreet Boys “Into the Millennium” residency shows at Sphere Las Vegas are currently on sale at Ticketmaster.com.

Backstreet Boys previously performed their 80-show “Larger Than Life” residency on the Strip from March 1, 2017, to April 27, 2019, at Planet Hollywood.

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The band released its new album “Millennium 2.0” on July 11, 2025, which coincided with the Sphere residency opening and celebrated the 25th anniversary of the original “Millennium” release, according to the band's website.

The popular boy band rose to the top in 1999 with their third album “Millennium,” which debuted at No. 1 and sold 24 million copies, featuring the huge hit single “I Want It That Way.”

Barry Manilow performs his off-Strip residency through 2026

Off the Strip, pop superstar Barry Manilow began performing in the International Theater at Westgate Las Vegas just off the Strip in February 2005 and has extended his lifetime residency at the International Theater at Westgate Las Vegas through the end of 2026.

Back on the Strip, Rockin' Rod Stewart opened his “Hits” residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in 2011, and, after 13 years and 200 shows, the “Do Ya Think I'm Sexy” singer closed the show on Aug. 7, 2024.

Rod Stewart launches another residency

Stewart couldn't stay away long and signed on for “The Encore Shows Las Vegas Residency at The Colosseum,” with six shows in March 2025 and another six shows in May and June 2025

The “Maggie Mae” singer later added another six shows to the residency on Sept. 24, 26, 27, Oct. 1, 3, and 4, 2025.

Long-running music legend residencies:

Santana, House of Blues, opened 2012.
Wayne Newton, Bugsy's Cabaret at the Flamingo, opened in January 2022.
Barry Manilow, International Theater at Westgate Las Vegas, opened February 2005.
Rod Stewart, The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, opened 2011, closed 2024 (new “Encore” residency at Colosseum opened May 2025.)

Another boy band performs residency

Backstreet Boys is not the only popular boy band performing on the Strip lately.

Ground-breaking boy band New Kids On the Block opened their first-ever Las Vegas Strip residency at MGM Resorts International's MGM Dolby Live at Park MGM for 24 shows beginning on June 20, 2025, the first of eight shows to launch the engagement.

New Kids on the Block will resume the residency for eight more shows on Nov. 1 until Nov. 15.

The band subsequently added eight additional dates on Feb. 14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 25, 27, and 28.