Rock in Rio USA was a music festival held in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

from May 8–9 and 15–16, 2015 at the MGM Resorts Festival Grounds on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...

in Paradise, Nevada. The event was conceived as an American version of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

Rock in Rio ''Rock in Rio'' is a recurring music festival originating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Nine incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, ...

festival, and was a partnership between

SFX Entertainment LiveStyle, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based live events conglomerate founded by media entrepreneur Robert F. X. Sillerman. The company was formed in June 2012 as SFX Entertainment—the new incarnation of Sillerman's previous company of the same name ...

Eike Batista Eike Fuhrken Batista da Silva (; born 3 November 1956) is a Brazilian-German serial entrepreneur who made and lost a fortune in mining and oil and gas industries. He engaged in a quest to promote Brazil's infrastructure with large-scale project ...

's IMX, MGM Resorts International,

Yucaipa Companies The Yucaipa Companies, LLC is an American private equity firm founded in 1986 by Ronald Burkle. It specializes in private equity and venture capital, with a focus on middle-market companies, growth capital, industry consolidation, leveraged buy ...

, and Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group. The event was hosted at a new open-air venue neighboring the then MGM-owned

Circus Circus Las Vegas Circus Circus Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the northern Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Phil Ruffin. Circus Circus includes the largest permanent circus in the world. It features circus and trapeze ...

, which was developed by the consortium. It shared a similar format to its Brazilian counterpart, with plans to host at least 120 acts across two weekends oriented towards

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

respectively. Rock in Rio USA reached a short-term deal to host the event in Las Vegas biennially from 2015 through at least 2019, and planned to expand to a three-day format in 2017. However, after attendance and revenue from the 2015 edition were below expectations, plans for future editions of the event were quietly shelved.

Development

In November 2013,

, an electronic dance music events company founded by

Robert F.X. Sillerman Robert Francis Xavier Sillerman (April 12, 1948 – November 24, 2019) was an American businessman and media entrepreneur. Sillerman was the owner of a range of television and radio stations during the 1970s and 1980s, In 1993 he formed SFX Broa ...

, reached a deal with Roberto Medina, organizer of the

festival series, to acquire a 50% stake in a new entity that would own the

festival alongside

's IMX, with SFX replacing IMX as the managing partner of the festival. Sillerman also disclosed that plans were being made to bring the festival to the United States for the first time ever. Medina revealed further information about these plans in an interview with Billboard shortly after the deal was reached. He stated that the inaugural festival was to be held in Las Vegas in May 2015, at a site in proximity to the Las Vegas Strip. Medina touted that in comparison to other, U.S.-based festivals, Rock in Rio USA was going to be "bigger in terms of public, in terms of sponsorship, in terms of social media. Not a little bit bigger, a lot bigger." On March 20, 2014, ''Rock in Rio USA'' was officially announced, to be held in May 2015. For its inaugural year, it would consist of four days of performances held across two weekends, with plans to expand to six days on subsequent editions. In April 2014, further details were announced; on April 22, 2014, it was announced that Rock in Rio would partner with MGM Resorts International,

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

, and

Ron Burkle Ronald Wayne Burkle (born November 12, 1952) is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and managing partner of The Yucaipa Companies, LLC, a private investment firm that specializes in U.S. companies in the distribution, logistics, food, ...

to construct a 33-acre open-air multi-purpose venue on the Strip near Circus Circus as its site. While the festival itself would not have any direct ownership stake in the venue, it contributed resources to its development, and secured a long-term deal to hold Rock in Rio USA at the venue biennially from 2015 to 2019. Additionally, Yucaipa Companies and Cirque each acquired a 20% equity stake in a subsidiary that would own Rock in Rio USA; Rock in Rio CEO Louis Justo explained that the involvement of Cirque du Soleil was oriented more towards their knowledge of the Las Vegas market and its consumers, rather than their creative works. At least $30 million was spent on marketing, including partnerships with Clear Channel Communications and

National CineMedia National CineMedia (NCM) is an American cinema advertising company. NCM displays ads to U.S. consumers in movie theaters, online and through mobile technology. NCM presents cinema advertising across a digital in-theater network, consisting of the ...

Venue

Rock in Rio USA was held at the

Las Vegas Festival Grounds The Las Vegas Festival Grounds is an open-air venue on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Phil Ruffin. The venue is located at the north end of the Strip, north of Circus Circus Las Vegas. It is and has a cap ...

, a , open-air venue with a capacity of 80,000, located on

Sahara Avenue Sahara Avenue is a major east-west roadway in the Las Vegas Valley. The former State Route 589 (SR 589) comprised a large portion of the street. The roadway is named after the Sahara Hotel and Casino, which itself is named after the Sahara ...

near the MGM-owned

hotel and casino. It was owned by the MGM/Yucaipa/Cirque consortium, who collectively spent $20 million on its development. Rock in Rio organizers collaborated with MGM and Yucaipa on the design of the venue to ensure a "very premium festival experience", stating that it would have an amusement park-inspired layout with five stages (including dedicated stages for

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

acts), rides (such as a roulette-themed

ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...

and a

zipline A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bott ...

), shopping, and themed food courts.

Lineup

2015

For its inaugural edition, the festival featured a lineup of at least 120 acts; the first weekend's lineup was oriented towards

, while the second was more pop-oriented. Owing to its increasing prominence in the festival (especially under SFX ownership),

acts were featured on a dedicated stage; additionally, plans were disclosed for a nightly feature where an EDM act would "fly" from the main stage to the EDM stage, and transform the venue into a "360-degree nightclub" to close each night. The first artists for the 2015 lineup were revealed on September 26, 2014, at an event in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, including the

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first f ...

, Jessie J,

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

, Linkin Park,

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, the ...

, Metallica, and

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

. *Friday, May 8 **Main Stage:

, Maná,

The Pretty Reckless The Pretty Reckless is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2009. The band consists of Taylor Momsen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Ben Phillips (lead guitar, backing vocals), Mark Damon (bass), and Jamie Perkins (drums). The ban ...

Smallpools Smallpools is an American indie pop band formed in 2013. The band consists of Sean Scanlon (vocals), Mike Kamerman (guitar), and Beau Kuther (drums). After their debut single " Dreaming" charted at number one on The Hype Machine, Smallpools' ...

**Mercedes-Benz Evolution Stage:

Foster the People Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members are singer Mark Foster, guitarist Sean Cimino, and keyboardist Isom Innis. Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in ...

Gary Clark Jr. Gary Lee Clark Jr. (born February 15, 1984) is an American musician from Austin, Texas. He is known for his fusion of blues, rock and soul music with elements of hip hop. In 2011, Clark signed with Warner Bros Records and released ''The Brig ...

Theophilus London Theophilus Musa London (born February 23, 1987) is an American rapper and singer. A frequent collaborator of Kanye West, London was a producer on the 2022 album Donda 2 and was featured on West's 2015 single " All Day" which was nominated for sev ...

Saints of Valory Saints of Valory is an American alternative rock band from Austin, Texas. The band is composed of Gavin Jasper (lead vocals/bass), Godfrey Thomson (guitar/vocals), and Stephen Buckle (keyboards/vocals). The band released their ''V'' EP on May 19, ...

**EDM Stage: AN21, Ftampa, Wax Motif, MVTH *Saturday, May 9 **Main Stage: Metallica, Linkin Park, Rise Against, Hollywood Undead **Mercedes-Benz Evolution Stage:

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. the band was a major force in the groove metal, thra ...

featuring

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

Coheed & Cambria Coheed and Cambria are an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. The band consists of Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Travis Stever (guitars, vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), a ...

, Of Mice & Men **EDM Stage:

Alok Alok is an Indian given name of Sanskrit origin. People with the given name Alok * Alok (DJ) (born 1991), Brazilian DJ and music producer *Alok Bhargava (born 1954), Indian-American econometrician * Alok R. Chaturvedi, Professor of Information Syst ...

, Caked Up, The Gaslamp Killer, Felguk *Friday, May 15 **Main Stage:

( 1989 World Tour),

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

Echosmith Echosmith is an American indie pop band formed in February 2009 in Chino, California. Originally formed as a quartet of siblings, the band currently consists of Sydney, Noah and Graham Sierota, following the departure of eldest sibling Jamie i ...

Ivete Sangalo Ivete Maria Dias de Sangalo (; born 27 May 1972) is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, TV host, and occasional actress. She was on six albums with Banda Eva, and seven more solo albums. Sangalo is noted for her powerful voice, charisma and live pe ...

**Mercedes-Benz Evolution Stage: Jessie J,

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...

Tove Lo Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She has been called "Sweden's darkest pop export" by ''Rolling Stone.'' She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take o ...

James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost pa ...

**EDM Stage: Heidi Lawden, Valida, Jeniluv, Whitney Fierce *Saturday, May 16 **Main Stage:

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...

Empire of the Sun ''Empire of the Sun'' is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time" (published in the anthology ...

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...

**Mercedes-Benz Evolution Stage: Joss Stone,

Magic! Magic! (stylized in all uppercase) is a Canadian reggae fusion band based in Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of lead vocalist, guitarist/producer Nasri Atweh, guitarist/keyboardist Mark "Pelli" Pellizzer, and bassist Ben Spivak. Active ...

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**EDM Stage: DJ Vibe, Lovefingers, Renato Ratier, Behrouz

Aftermath

Rock in Rio's attendance was lower than expected; only 140,000 attended in total, less than the 328,000 estimated prior to the event. As such, stakeholders doubted that the festival would return for 2017. In February 2016, SFX Entertainment filed for bankruptcy, and was reorganized under new leadership as LiveStyle in December. In May 2018, Live Nation Entertainment acquired a majority stake in Rock in Rio, including from SFX's creditor committee. In December 2019, MGM Resorts sold the Circus Circus resort and the Las Vegas Festival Grounds to Phil Ruffin.

References

External links

*{{Official website Rock festivals in the United States Music festivals in Nevada Performing arts in Nevada