But some international entertainers still consider Hong Kong one of their key stops in Asia – here are five that did not get away.
1. Olivia Rodrigo
The Filipino-American pop singer-songwriter’s first show in Hong Kong, it is part of her “Guts World Tour” is promoting her second studio album Guts, which was released in September 2023. It was nominated in two categories at the 66th Grammy Awards.
Hikaru Utada
Since her 1999 bestselling Japanese-language debut album First Love, Hikaru Utada has consistently been one of Japan and East Asia’s most well-loved singer-songwriters, with over 4.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Born in Manhattan, New York, her parents were a record producer and an enka singer. Utada had a musical upbringing and was encouraged her to write music from the age of 10. She travelled to Tokyo often because of her father’s work. At 15, she signed with Japanese record label Toshiba-EMI and quickly found countrywide success.
Aespa
Since the South Korean girl group’s debut at the end of 2020, they have swept the international K-pop scene with their metaverse-inspired concept. The name “Aespa” is a combination of the words “avatar”, “experience” and “aspect” to represent avatar encounters and new world experiences.
Their show, part of the group’s 2024 tour, will mark the quartet’s first full-scale performance in Hong Kong after a brief first appearance at KCON in March.
Conan Gray
Born in California to an Irish father and a Japanese mother, Conan Gray was raised mostly by his single mother in Georgetown, Texas, where he began to make YouTube videos at 15, including vlogs, music covers and original songs.
After that, he started to self-release music, mostly of the bedroom pop and synth-pop genres, and received much online attention. At age 19, he dropped out of UCLA after two months to sign with and tour under Republic Records.
Atsuko Okatsuka
Fresh from a sold-out West Kowloon show in March, due to popular demand Atsuko Okatsuka will return to the city in July for a second Hong Kong show on her “Full Grown Tour”.
The Los Angeles-based American stand-up comedian was born to Japanese and Taiwanese parents in Taiwan and spent much of her childhood in Japan. At the age of eight, she moved to the United States, where she lived as an undocumented migrant for seven years.
As the tour name suggests, her comedy material is centred around Okatsuka’s childhood, family and life experiences, which she tells in her signature comic style of offbeat yet wide-eyed awkwardness.