Harry Styles comeback meets ticket-price backlash as presales surge

Harry Styles is preparing a big comeback after a three-year hiatus with a seven-city “global residency” and a new album, Kiss All the Time. The announcement has sparked controversy over ticket prices and a heated presale, with fans and commentators debating whether his unblemished image can withstand the backlash.

Prices drew particular ire: standing tickets at Wembley start at £144.65, VIP packages reach £725.45, nosebleed seats cost from £92, and the most expensive package for Madison Square Garden is quoted at $1,667 (£1,208). Fans took to X, with some calling the costs unaffordable and others mocking the irony of the tour title Together, Together.

Demand has nonetheless been enormous. Some 11.5 million people registered for the Madison Square Garden presale, which Ticketmaster described as its “highest volume ever recorded for an artist presale” in New York and “the largest artist presale registration ever seen for a single market or residency-style run.” Hollywood Reporter analysis found that, even with about 30 shows totalling roughly 585,000 tickets, around 95% of registrants will miss out.

Supporters note that Styles’s prices are in line with recent stadium pop shows by Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo, and that his return is being positioned as a major event: he has added Wembley dates that could break venue records, his single “Aperture” became his third UK No 1, and he was named UK music’s most successful export in 2023.

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