+ Kanye West live performances style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" West performing at Coachella Festival in 2011.- style="background-color:lightgrey;" scope="row" style="padding:.1em .3em; text-align:left;" ↙Tours style="background-color:lightgrey; width:33%;" 7
- style="background-color:lightgrey;" scope="row" style="padding:.1em .3em; text-align:left;" ↙Residencies style="background-color:lightgrey; width:33%;" 3
- style="background-color:lightgrey;" scope="row" style="padding:.1em .3em; text-align:left;" ↙Operas style="background-color:lightgrey; width:33%;" 2
- style="background-color:lightgrey;" scope="row" style="padding:.1em .3em; text-align:left;" ↙Award shows style="background-color:lightgrey; width:33%;" 28
- style="background-color:lightgrey;" scope="row" style="padding:.1em .3em; text-align:left;" ↙Television Shows style="background-color:lightgrey; width:33%;" 52
- style="background-color:lightgrey;" scope="row" style="padding:.1em .3em; text-align:left;" ↙Specials style="background-color:lightgrey; width:33%;" 30
- style="background-color:lightgrey;" scope="row" style="padding:.1em .3em; text-align:left;" ↙Festivals style="background-color:lightgrey; width:33%;" 91
- style="background-color:lightgrey;" scope="row" style="padding:.1em .3em; text-align:left;" ↙Other style="background-color:lightgrey; width:33%;" 30
Kanye West, an American hip-hop artist and record producer, has headlined six concert tours and delivered live performances at numerous award ceremonies and television events.
Concert tours Year Title Duration Shows 2004 School Spirit Tour March 16, 2004 – May 5, 2004 (North America) 34 The School Spirit Tour was Kanye West's first headline tour, taking place in 2004. The tour featured a collegiate theme. Not only did it kick off at Virginia Tech, it hit a number of college towns across the states—from Pace University in New York to George Washington University in DC, ending with three shows at House of Blues in West's hometown, Chicago. The tour was opened by Dilated Peoples, and featured John Legend as the pianist and signer, along with A-Trak as tour DJ. Onstage, West paced in front of seven slim LED-screens, with the Chicago cityscape as his background. 2005 Touch the Sky Tour October 12, 2005 – December 11, 2005 (North America) 48 The Touch the Sky Tour was announced on September 15, 2005, and started off with a few hiccups, as West was making changes right down to the last minute. For example, West scrapped the Touch the Sky Tour's entire lighting plan just two weeks before the opening show in Miami. West got Es Devlin to redo the tour. Meanwhile, just days before West was meant to start touring, opening act Common landed an acting role and couldn't make it. This left West with Fantasia and Keyshia Cole for his opening acts, but Common would appear when his schedule allowed. The stage show was accompanied by a six-piece string section and featured live video of the show projected behind the stage. Positive reviews of his music and character were projected behind the stage, and he wore six different costume pieces (designer blazers). There was a UK leg of the tour in February 2006 in the cities of Manchester, Glasgow, London, Cardiff and Birmingham, and an Australia tour commenced in late March and early April 2006. 2008 Glow in the Dark Tour April 16, 2008 – December 7, 2008 (Worldwide) 88 The Glow In The Dark Tour took place in more than 50 arena and festival shows in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. before heading to Mexico and South America and to the Far East and Europe. The tours opening acts included Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D., and Rihanna, along with tour and stage DJ's A-trak and Tommy Switch. The concept pitted West as the pilot of a spaceship hitting a meteor storm, landing on a desolate planet of dry ice, and trying to find his way home through tracks from The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation, and latterly 808s & Heartbreak, which was released prior to the final leg of the tour in Australia and New Zealand. With design again done by Es Devlin, in collaboration with Martin Phillips and John McGuire, the stage was transformed into a barren series of landscapes—one resembling a giant moon—and fantastical glow-in-the-dark features: a giant, glowing-eyed monster and a robot moved within the haze, women shimmered in gold paint for the track "Gold Digger", and stunning multi-colored light sequences lit up the often smoke-filled stage. West himself wore sci-fi themed threads, glow-in-the-dark accessories, his signature shutter shades, and gloves. The performance tour was captured in the book of photography Glow in the Dark by Nabil Elderkin. 2011–12 Watch the Throne Tour October 29, 2011 – June 12, 2012 (North America & Europe) 68 The Watch the Throne Tour with Jay-Z was in support of the pairs collaborative album Watch the Throne. The concert had no opening act and featured the two performers perched on massive video cubes showing sharks, rottweilers, crows, and tigers in a sea of darkness punctuated only by cellphone lights and piercing lasers. "Attenborough BBC wildlife content and lasers" was the brief given to stage designer Es Devlin by West for the tour. Devlin used hundreds of laser beams to create a myriad of different frames to this alternate world of geometric shapes, cascading light, wild animals, and its stars: West and Jay Z. Their habit of playing the smash hit "Niggas in Paris" eight, nine, or ten times in a row quickly became the stuff of legend. On the tour visits in the city of Paris, the song was played 11 and 12 times. They partnered up with Givenchy for the clothing and the two donned t-shirts and leather pants. The tour grossed $95 million, and became the highest grossing hip-hop tour of all time. 2013 The Yeezus Tour October 19, 2013 – September 15, 2014 (North America & Australia) 45 The Yeezus Tour served as West's first solo concert tour in five years, and featured a man-made mountain, diamond encrusted masks, and a catwalk. It was this tour that had the New York Post reviewer praising "an extravaganza of music and theater that gives the world windows into [West’s] erratic persona." This visual feast was created through collaboration between set designer Es Devlin, West's design company DONDA, fashion house Maison Margiela, artist Vanessa Beecroft, and more. West staged the reincarnation of Jesus and delivered sermons on the state of the world on this tour. The Yeezus stage set and concept—featuring a giant mountain that occasionally turned into a volcano, West wore a custom-made Margiela mask that obscured his whole face. West worked closely with Maison Margiela to curate the show, and his wardrobe for the Tour was composed of 10 couture pieces, 20 ready-to-wear pieces, and an exclusive pair of sneakers, as well as the famous masks. Onstage, Devlin had constructed a mountain, which was sometimes wreathed in flames, sometimes covered with women in long white dresses. At times it would split in two halves, or become a volcano. There was an iceberg, 12 nude-nylon clad dancers, and a catwalk, alluding back to the fashion show created with Margiela. The speeches also became a key part of the Yeezus show. 2016 Saint Pablo Tour August 25, 2016 – November 21, 2016 (North America) 41 The Saint Pablo Tour in support of The Life of Pablo featured a "floating stage" suspended by a network of cables. West spent the entire set hovering above the crowd, performing on the stage while audiences with floor "seats" mosh and listen from below. The show took more than eight months of planning as he traveled across the world to get insights from some of the best stage designers. On the later visits on this tour, West would go on rants about people including Jay-Z and Mark Zuckerberg instead of performing songs. This culminated in the tour being cancelled on November 21, along with West's admission to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. 2026 Ye Live Concert Tour April 1, 2026 – October 24, 2026 16 The Ye Live Concert Tour in support of Bully featured a globe-like stage. The tour commenced in Los Angeles, California at SoFi Stadium on April 1 and 3. The first night grossed over $18 million, making it one of the highest-grossing single shows in live music history. West was planned to headline Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park, London, from July 10-12; on April 7, after Prime Minister Keir Starmer, along with other British politicians, condemned West's planned appearances, the Home Office announced that West was blocked from visiting the United Kingdom. Wireless later announced the cancellation of the entire festival for 2026. On May 30, West held a concert at Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. The concert had over 118,000 people in attendance, making it West's largest performance of his career. West claimed that he had broken the record for the "largest stadium performance of all time."
Concert residencies Dates Location Shows Country Notes July 6–7, 2012 Revel Casino Hotel Atlantic City 2 United States West played two exclusive shows at Atlantic City's Revel Resort and Casino's Ovation Hall in time for the opening of its 40,000-square-foot HQ Nightclub. The performance was divided into three acts. Pusha T was the only guest, coming out during "Runaway" on the first night, and "New God Flow" on the second night. December 28–30, 2012Revel Casino Hotel Atlantic City 4 United States The performances featured widescreen projections of nature scenes, which also served as interludes with their sound effects. He wore two masks: a diamond encrusted one and a yeti one. On this tour, West announced publicly that his partner Kim Kardashian was pregnant. March 7–10, 2015 Louis Vuitton Foundation 4 France The funds raised went to two charity associations: "Nos quartiers ont des talents" and Donda's House.
Operas Name Date Location Country Notes Nebuchadnezzar November 24, 2019 Hollywood Bowl United States Directed by Vanessa Beecroft and featuring the Sunday Service Choir, The plot centered on the religious text about Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, from the Book of Daniel. The performance was livestreamed by Tidal. It was narrated by West and starred Mo Sheck in the lead role. Mary December 8, 2019 Miami Marine Stadium United States Once again directed by Vanessa Beecroft and featuring the Sunday Service Choir. Kanye and the choir performed on a floating barge at the Key Biscayne waterfront, where they stood between sand-colored mounds and reenacted excerpts from the books of Matthew and Luke, everyone was head-to-toe in silver—even their faces and hands were coated in metallic paint. Kanye read gospel passages aloud, much like he did in Nebuchadnezzar, except this time he was among the performers. Mary featured new arrangements of older Kanye songs that were paired with the plot. The show lasted for approximately one hour.
Promotional concerts