By JI Reporter Hayden Blaney 

From topping charts to winning Grammys, females dominated the pop genre in 2024. Throughout the year, they took their shows on the road and brought their music to venues across the world. 

This past year was busy with multiple worldwide tours from the top female artists, two of which even came to Omaha: Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts World Tour.” Other tours were Taylor Swift’s “The Ears Tour,” Gracie Abrams’ “The Secret of Us Tour,” Chappell Roan’s “The Midwest Princess Tour” and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet Tour.” All six of these tours were some of the largest, in-demand tours of the year and all were headlined by women. 

Junior Lauren Hicks went to three of these concerts: “Guts World Tour,” “The Midwest Princess Tour”, and her favorite, “The Eras Tour.” “It was so magical,” Hicks said. “I was in the fifth row, so Taylor was right there and she played one of my favorite surprise songs,” she said. She went with one of her best friends, Camryn, and the two had a night they will never forget. 

A popular part of concert culture is dressing up for a show. The performers often wear colorful, sparkling outfits and the crowd matches that energy with outfits of their own. “For the Eras Tour, I went as Miss Americana from the album Lover, and [Camryn] was reputation. For Guts, I wore a black dress with a little bow because it reminds me of Olivia, and then for Chappel Roan, I dressed up like her Tiny Desk concert,” Hicks said. Hicks was among the thousands of people who matched their outfits to the aesthetics, albums and songs of the artists they were seeing. “I think it just adds to the concert environment. Everybody took time to dress up cute to see their favorite artist,” she said. 

A downside to the growing number of tours are ticket prices. “I think it’s ridiculous,” Hicks said. “All ticket prices are so over the top.” “The Eras Tour” tickets ranged from about $200 to $3,000 and “The Secret of Us Tour” tickets were upwards of $300, usually averaging around $500. Part of the reason for the high fees are the extra costs from sites like Ticketmaster. “The cheapest tickets I bought were outside Ticketmaster,” Hicks said. Not only are prices skyrocketing, but the process of getting the tickets requires quite a bit of patience. “You wait in line all day and you don’t even know if you’re going to get the tickets,” Hicks said. Despite the high prices, many would argue the cost is worth the experience. 

The emerging success of female pop stars is something for young girls to look up to. “I think that it shows that women can lead the way,” Hicks said. “I think they’re setting a standard that they’re not just pretty things to look at, but they can have meaningful lyrics, too.” 

The shows put on by these powerful, female artists have created connections between them and fans that echo the female voice in ways that will create a legacy to last for years to come.