what to do in vegas thats not gambling
The 25 greatest headliners in Las Vegas history
Where did Lola Falana rank on our list? Read on to find out.
Photo: UNLV Special Collections
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Shania. Santana. Cee Lo. Tim and Faith. They're the latest names on the Vegas marquee, but they're also function of a tradition every bit woven into the fabric of our city as blackjack and alcohol: the headlining residency.
For more than half a century, the venues of Las Vegas—lounges, showrooms, theaters and nightclubs—take played host to the biggest names in entertainment, world-famous stars who've halted their travels for extended runs on or about the Strip. But whose shows were the very best? Made the greatest impact? Helped to define Las Vegas the virtually? That's what nosotros at the Weekly set out to decide.
Beginning, we needed criteria. Much as we love Cirque du Soleil and Jubilee!, we decided we were ranking headliners—specific names on a marquee—not shows, companies or casts. And to qualify, a performer had to have a pregnant Vegas run on his or her résumé; no popping in for weekends (sorry, Johnny Carson and Jerry Seinfeld). After that it got crude.
For weeks we've moved names up and downwards and on and off our Pinnacle 25, trying to determine a set of rankings that felt … right. Nosotros specifically sought out trailblazers, game-changers and mavericks, while waging a series of mini wars betwixt contenders (Milton Berle vs. Carrot Top? David Copperfield vs. Lance Burton? Penn & Teller vs. Siegfried & Roy?!). Nosotros shuffled and reshuffled, so scrapped everything and started fresh. Finally, we arrived here, at a list nosotros believe does justice to our urban center'south amusement history—past and present. Then read, blot and consider, and may the debates begin.
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The Checkmates
25. The Checkmates
In 1965 The Checkmates were a rarity: an interracial act headlining regularly on the Strip. Their Vegas career began at Pussycat A Go Become, a small casino near the old Desert Inn. Iii members of the ring were blackness, including core singers Marvin "Sweet Louie" Smith and Sonny Charles; the other ii were white. They performed at Caesars, the Flamingo, International, Hilton and Sands. They toured with Frank Sinatra and Bill Cosby and recorded a Elevation 10 song, "Black Pearl," in 1969. They sang the national anthem at the Thrilla in Manila, also. Months later Sweet Louie died in December 2007, Charles joined the Steve Miller Band. He's still singing and dancing today, at age 72.
Carrot Top
24. Carrot Top
Detractors will question how Carrot Top made our list when many famed comics did non. Because he is brilliant. Because no comic, relieve maybe Gallagher, has ever blended the use of props then finer with straight stand-upwards. Because he has sold out the Luxor's 380-seat exhibit consistently since 2004. Considering he filled Hollywood Theatre at MGM Grand for xv weeks a year from 1996 to 2003. Considering he remains nationally relevant for his appearances on popular Telly programs such as The Tonight Show and Craig Ferguson. Merely mostly, because no one does what Carrot Top does better than Carrot Meridian. If you aren't laughing in the showtime ten minutes of his show, you're probably wearing a toe tag.
Charo
23. Charo
There were few artists in Vegas, or anywhere else, who matched Charo's sexual practice appeal and musical virtuosity. She longed to be taken seriously as a classical Flamenco guitarist, simply her husband/manager, Xavier Cugat, wanted risqué costumes and her gyrating catchphrase "cuchi-cuchi." Her physical beauty, low-plunging outfits and gift for one-act (additional ostensibly by fractured English) were a striking in Vegas showrooms, and by the early on 1970s she was headlining in the Sahara's Congo Room. From there, she performed regularly on the Strip at such venues as Caesars Palace's Circus Maximus, the Flamingo Exhibit and the Tropicana's Tiffany Theatre and fabricated regular appearances on The Hollywood Squares and The Love Boat. Charo was one of the Strip's hottest stars and one of its earliest crossover headliners.
Danny Gans
22. Danny Gans
His arc was meteoric and historic. The first headliner at the Stratosphere when the tower opened in 1996, Gans was shortly known as the metropolis's best value at just $30 a ticket. After a couple years, he took his songs and impressions—performed with uncanny accuracy—to the Rio, where he was the urban center'south first headliner to command a $100 ticket (O was the showtime $100 production show). Following a solid run at the Delusion, Gans brought his Middle America-friendly prove to Encore (Steve Wynn was a huge fan), where information technology replaced Monty Python's Spamalot. Gans died young, merely 52, in 2009, cutting brusque a remarkably well-received and successful run.
David Copperfield
21. David Copperfield
He's vanished the Statue of Freedom, walked through the Great Wall of China, flown over the Grand Canyon (minus the plane) and sold more tickets than whatsoever other individual entertainer in history. Elvis, Madonna, Michael Jackson—Copperfield's got them all crush. But unlike Siegfried & Roy and Penn & Teller, Copperfield doesn't belong to Vegas; he belongs to the world. That said, he'due south been doing 15 shows a week at MGM for some time now. And the guy shows no sign of stopping. Much the opposite, really: He's putting more and more than new magic into his prove every nighttime.
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Redd Foxx
xx. Redd Foxx
Born John Elroy Sanford, Foxx was not only 1 of the showtime comedians to contain race relations, graphic sexuality and taboo linguistic communication into his stand-up, he was as well ane of the first black comics to play to predominantly white crowds on the Strip. Foxx felt such an affinity for Las Vegas that he filmed two specials on location and even moved to the city following the terminate of his 1970s hit NBC sitcom Sanford and Son. Having lived in Vegas for more than 40 years, Foxx was buried at Palm Valley View Memorial Park post-obit his 1991 decease. (His ghost is now rumored to haunt 5460 S. Eastern'due south Redd Foxx Mansion.)
Lola Falana
19. Lola Falana
The name alone is allegorical of vintage Vegas. During the 1970s and early '80s, Falana was the glittery spokeswoman for Strip sizzle who appeared repeatedly on The Tonight Bear witness, Merv Griffin and The Mike Douglas Evidence. She was remarkably beautiful, but Falana had talent, too. A disciple of Sammy Davis Jr., she was a soulful and sexy vocalist who, at her peak, regularly sold out the Copa Room at the Sands. In the late-'70s, she was offered a contract past the Aladdin to appear twenty weeks a year for $100,000 a week. That fabricated her, at the time, the highest-paid female person performer in Vegas history. She was the queen of Vegas, no question.
Phyllis Diller
18. Phyllis Diller
Outlandish outfits, towering headpieces (or, in her case, wigs) and a backstory designed to suspend reality: Phyllis Diller was a showgirl in her ain correct. The Midwestern housewife who transformed herself into the world's first female stand-up fabricated her Vegas debut in November 1964 at the Flamingo and returned regularly with cocky-effacing i-liners, piercing chortle and prop cigarette holders in tow. In May 2002 the Suncoast Showroom hosted Diller's concluding live functioning, filmed for the 2004 documentary Goodnight, We Love Y'all. She also appeared in Penn Jillette'due south The Aristocrats and attended the 2005 CineVegas Film Festival's Las Vegas premiere. Diller died this past August at age 95.
Tom Jones
17. Tom Jones
He hasn't performed at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre since August 2010 and isn't booked there at all next twelvemonth. Then maybe he's done in Vegas, but what a ride it'south been. You could open a concatenation of second-paw lingerie stores with all the undergarments that have been tossed at Jones through the years. He dates to the days of Elvis in Vegas, a one-two adulthood punch unmatched on the Strip since. Even equally Jones approached age 70, he could still thrill a crowd. For decades, when you lot visited Vegas, catching a Tom Jones functioning was of the highest priority.
Frank Marino
16. Frank Marino
Marino has been a Strip headliner for more than consecutive years—27—than whatever private, carrying for far longer the drag-queen persona initially made famous by Kenny Kerr. And Marino, kickoff with his Evening at La Cage role at the Riviera and later in Frank Marino's Divas Las Vegas at Harrah's, has perfected the cross-dressing/comedy/impressions production on the Strip. His show features males impersonating such female person stars as Celine and Cher, and equally emcee Marino never disappoints. A sample: "This dress is similar a bad hotel—there'south no ballroom!" After all these years, Marino is still beautiful.
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Don Rickles
xv. Don Rickles
The man nicknamed "Mr. Warmth" and "The Merchant of Venom" is too known as the godfather of insult comedy, ringleading raucous live shows featuring lightning-fast crowd piece of work, biting put-downs and withering comebacks. Counting Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin among his supporters, Rickles began headlining Strip venues in 1959 and, at age 86, continues to brand regular Vegas appearances, near recently at the Orleans in October. Among his many decades of notable talk-show appearances and interim roles, Rickles also portrayed the manager of the fictional Tangiers (based on existent-life Gilt Nugget and Stardust manager Murray Ehrenberg) in Martin Scorsese's Casino.
Jerry Lewis
xiv. Jerry Lewis
Instead of relying on rehearsed skits, comedy duo Martin and Lewis played off their natural chemistry for in-the-moment laughs. The pair rose from nightclubs and radio to television and film before Lewis achieved solo acclaim in big-screen comedies highlighting his exaggerated expressions, nasal voicework and slapstick physicality. Although a 1965 autumn from an onstage piano at the Sands Hotel would lead to decades of subsequent health problems, as national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Lewis hosted annual Labor Day telethons from 1952 through 2010, broadcasting live from the Sahara, Caesars Palace, S Point and even the Cashman Center.
13. Donny & Marie
America's sweethearts are headlining at the hotel envisioned by Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, and brother if it doesn't work. Donny & Marie are hard-wired to entertain, having plied their craft since they were infants. The unexpected: Marie uncorks an operatic moment, while Donny comes across as a genuine badass during "Wild Horses." They dance terrifically—he insistently reminds of his victory on Dancing With the Stars—and the montage most the end of the performance, showing them with legendary entertainers they accept known over the years (from Sonny & Cher to Milton Berle), is staggering. These are existent people putting on a really impressive show.
Prince
12. Prince
Nobody saw this one coming: arguably the greatest alive performer of his generation, freewheeling inside the Rio for a few months in late 2006 and early 2007. He worked without a setlist, brought guests similar Chaka Khan and Larry Graham to his phase and reminded u.s. why he's one of the baddest guitar players on this or whatever other planet. Dude even opened his own eating house. And how cool was it seeing that giant symbol towering just west of the 15? In predictable Princely fashion, the show airtight before we were ready, with most of us wishing we'd seen it two or 10 more times. Only in our hearts we'll e'er accept Gild 3121, one of the weirdest and virtually wonderful experiments e'er to hitting our town.
11. Penn & Teller
Likewise many Vegas acts are big, dumb and flashy. Penn & Teller, by comparison, are smart and opinionated. They wear grey three-slice suits. They look similar loftier-powered accountants. Doesn't exactly sound similar a recipe for Vegas amusement success, only it is, considering some of us prefer to be challenged, poked, prodded and amazed. Penn & Teller carry on the proud tradition of Houdini and Randi: They use their skills as magicians to masterfully betrayal psychics, mediums and other bullsh*tters. They've been doing it at the Rio for more than a decade—and in Vegas for two.
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Garth Brooks
x. Garth Brooks
Steve Wynn loaned Brooks a stage and a theater, and gave him a private jet to shuttle back and forth from Brooks' home in Oklahoma. And in return, Brooks delivered a spellbinding one-human being evidence of musical storytelling—just a cowboy and a guitar. Brooks played songs, or snippets of songs, from the artists who inspired him, sampling George Jones, James Taylor, Ricky Skaggs and Bob Seger. Then he pigeon into his own career, making self-effacing jokes almost his inability to tune a guitar, or sing nearly as well as Taylor. He closed in November subsequently 3 years of sold-out nights at Encore Theater. A man and a guitar. He didn't say, "Tiptop that" when he left, simply the message was clear.
Louis Prima
9. Louis Prima
With Keely Smith at his side, Prima didn't redefine lounge amusement in Vegas. He divers it. His human action at the Sahara'south Casbar Lounge beginning in the mid-1950s was dubbed "The Wildest Show in Las Vegas," with Prima'due south manic phase human activity and vehement horn playing tempered by Smith's cool demeanor. Backed by saxman Sam Butera and The Witnesses, Prima was such a forcefulness in Vegas that he signed a recording contract with Capitol Records as a result. Prima and his band were known to wade into the crowd while playing their instruments, mindful of the parades in Prima's hometown of New Orleans. The song "Jump, Jive an' Wail" and the medley of "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" were fine-tuned at the Casbar, where Vegas' lounge mode was built-in.
Bobby Darin
viii. Bobby Darin
Those in the audition as Darin performed at the Sahara or Flamingo knew they were watching one of the era'due south greats. He had a range that could inspire such rising stars equally Wayne Newton, to whom he bestowed the striking "Danke Schoen," and Darin fifty-fifty dovetailed into a folk period in the late-1960s. The Vegas headliners who have covered his groovin' archetype, "Mack the Knife," are also many to count. Any singer interested in achieving a absurd sense of phrasing and rhythm should kickoff with Darin, and those he influenced range from Michael Bublé to Brian Setzer. The human being who said he wanted to exist a fable by age 25 was simply 37 when he died of heart failure, simply he was a star for the ages.
Paul Oakenfold
7. Paul Oakenfold
Surprised to see Oakie in the top ten? Don't exist. When the DJ, producer and musical clairvoyant ready his sights on Las Vegas in 2008, putting electronic dance music in the main room of a major club (on a Saturday, no less!) was unthinkable. But Oakenfold has a knack for staying ahead of the curve, and Planet Perfecto was a nightlife game-changer—a must-see spectacle of music and entertainment more than like a infinite-age Cirque du Soleil show than a typical club dark. The Palms political party held strong for three years at Rain and paved the fashion for headlining DJs who now command 6-figure paychecks for Vegas residencies. You might not see Oakenfold'southward face up on the lodge billboards lining the I-15 these days, but a closer look reveals that he'southward behind every single ane.
Wayne Newton
6. Wayne Newton
He'southward the face of the Las Vegas' entertainment history—the man who estimates he has performed more than 30,000 shows in the city and was long ago dubbed "Mr. Las Vegas" for very practiced reason. Originally part of the Newton Brothers act at the Fremont Hotel, Wayne bankrupt out on his own and played every major hotel in the city—nigh of which have since been imploded. He was known to fill in for Sammy Davis Jr. at the Sands when Davis called in sick (which was ofttimes), and Newton was headlining the Borderland, thus regularly playing multiple showrooms in different hotels in a single evening. Unfailingly gracious in his stage and personal manner, Newton is still the stylish, magnanimous ambassador of the Strip.
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Siegfried & Roy
5. Siegfried & Roy
Siegfried & Roy embody the American dream: They emigrated from Germany and wound upwards with their ain headlining magic show, their own zoo and their own (short-lived) cartoon serial. The pair met on a cruise ship in the late '50s—Siegfried was a cabin steward and amateur magician; Roy was a waiter and creature lover. How much did Roy love animals? The guy snuck a chetah onboard. Siegfried and Roy combined forces and began using animals in a magic act. Steve Wynn saw something special and snapped them up. The duo combined Liberace'due south flair with Doug Henning'south aura of wonder. They were the perfect Vegas combination. Their human activity came to an abrupt cease in October 2003, when a tiger mauled Roy onstage. But before that happened, 5,750 lucky Las Vegas audiences got to run across what Wynn had seen decades ago: the magic of Siegfried & Roy, Masters of the Incommunicable.
iv. Celine Dion
I of the dandy Strip showrooms, Circus Maximus at Caesars Palace was taken apart to make way for the Colosseum. The star recruited to fill that room was Celine Dion, and in two residencies since 2003, she has met every artistic and ticket-sales watermark on the Strip. She is the rare superstar who hit town to perform regularly not every bit part of a comeback effort, but at her artistic peak. With one of the finest voices ever to grace the stage, Dion has alternately incorporated Cirque-mode acrobats and dancing, dazzling video work and a lavish orchestra. Her success has led to similar extended runs from such stars as Elton John, Bette Midler, Cher and, nigh recently, Shania Twain. But it was Celine, showtime, who proved that taking a shot in Vegas at a venue of that size and telescopic was worth the risk.
Elvis
3. Elvis
In terms of live performances, Elvis pitched a career perfect game at the International and Las Vegas Hilton: 837 sequent sellouts from 1969, when he opened at the then-International (four years afterwards starring in iconic picture Viva Las Vegas), through 1976, after the hotel was renamed the Hilton. His shows were not so much concerts as happenings. More ii,000 fans turned out for opening dark in July 1969, and the line leading into the city'south largest showroom stretched to the hotel'southward front antechamber. During each show he was mobbed by fans near the front of the stage equally he handed out scarves, and the scratches on his forearms were ever-nowadays. Members of his inner circle kept buckets of ice h2o offstage to soothe those wounds. The Elvis-in-Vegas period is forever captured past the mass of impressionists—kindly referred to as Elvis Tribute Artists by Elvis Presley Enterprises—who accept followed the King'south run. They come up in all shapes and sizes, from those who portray Elvis in Legends in Concert at Harrah's to those who perform wedding ceremonies at Elvis-themed chapels. You come across Elvis at the store, walking through McCarran International Airport and fifty-fifty property business organisation signs on the side of the route. He'due south turned into a caricature, in many ways, just no i rocked our world like Elvis himself.
The Rat Pack
two. The Rat Pack
Independently, the quintet of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford were famous figures across the country. But they hit on a vibe in the early on-to-mid 1960s at the Sands' Copa Room that's still felt here today. This coiffure had it all: Sinatra, Martin and Davis were considered three of the greatest entertainers of their time, and many today rate Davis equally the finest entertainer in history. They were all funny, with Bishop mapping out the Rat Pack'due south well-baked and hip stage banter. They were backed by the best band in the country, the Count Basie Orchestra, and rolled a portable bar to the stage. They smoked onstage, likewise, and made off-color jokes (Dino famously croaky, while holding Davis in his arms, "I want to thank the NAACP for this award"), but away from the showroom they led the endeavor to integrate the Strip. Members of the Rat Pack legendarily dropped in on solo appearances by swain members. Their shows drew the wealthiest gamblers and most famous celebrities of the 24-hour interval, and their way—tailored tuxes and Sinatra'southward iconic fedora—is withal emulated today. As a group, they lasted only half a decade at the Copa Room, but the Rat Pack's collective swagger lives on.
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Liberace
1. Liberace
Before the Rat Pack and Elvis and Siegfried & Roy and Wayne and Cirque and Celine, there was Liberace. He stood solitary every bit the preeminent Vegas headliner of his era, and in our view, of all eras.
At a time when classically trained pianists performed in tuxes and tails, he opted for handcrafted suits and capes dripping with jewels. Why play a blackness piano when you could outfit 1 with rhinestones and mirrors? Decades earlier the city was overtaken past Cirque, Liberace literally soared through performances—ascending over the phase and audiences while supported by thin cables hooked to his lavishly appointed costumes.
Every facet of stardom and amusement mastery can be traced to, or through, Liberace. He continued personally by wading into the audience to show off his jawbreaker-size diamond rings, famously saying, "I promise you like 'em; you bought 'em!" He was a principal showman, "Mr. Showmanship" a richly deserved nickname. He played the piano at the highest level, having trained under classical masters from historic period sixteen. He brought Vegas glitz to national Tv set with his own multifariousness show and regular televised specials from the Las Vegas Hilton, where he was joined past such superstars of the day as Debbie Reynolds, Sandy Duncan and Phyllis Diller.
He understood staging and pacing equally well as any performer—master of the g entrance and stunning leave. During the years when young Elvis was faltering at the New Frontier, Liberace allowable a record-breaking $50,000 weekly salary at the Riviera, a pretty tidy sum even past today's standards. Back then, it was astronomical. Then was Liberace.
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Source: https://lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/dec/13/25-greatest-headliners-las-vegas-history/
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