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Two of the biggest global names in Punjabi music are set to take over Canada’s largest venues — underscoring the genre’s explosive rise worldwide.
Diljit Dosanjh and Karan Aujla are launching Canadian tours drawing demand promoters say rivals some of the biggest names in hip-hop.
Dosanjh kicks off the Canadian leg of his Aura World Tour in Vancouver on April 23, aiming to sell out B.C. Place.
“I’ve gone to various cities, I went to Coachella to see him,” said Preet Gill, a fan who has tickets for the upcoming Calgary show.
“He’s representing Punjabi culture on the world stage.”
Dosanjh, who is from Punjab, India, has released more than a dozen albums over his career spanning two decades. He is also an actor in Hindi and Punjabi cinema, most recently starring in the 2026 release Border 2. Last year, Dosanjh turned heads as the first turban-wearing Indian artist to walk the Met Gala in New York.
Gill’s 12-year-old son, Amarveer, calls himself a super fan.
“I’ve never liked any other artist as much as I’ve liked Diljit,” he said. “I like his vibe, I like his essence, I like his aura.”
Meanwhile, Juno Award winner Aujla — who immigrated to Canada after the death of his parents at a young age — begins his P-pop Culture Tour with back-to-back shows in Vancouver on May 2 and May 3. His tickets are going fast.
“We’re seeing Karan Aujla sell out quicker than most other artists,” said Baldeep Randhawa, a tour promoter with Live Nation.
“He’s the first Punjabi artist to do two nights at Scotiabank Arena [in Toronto] and two nights at Rogers Arena [in Vancouver] — and he’s not even 30,” Randhawa said.
He said South Asian artists are now major players in Canada’s live music scene.
“We can compare them to most Top 40 artists,” Randhawa said. “Demand is there, as someone like a Kendrick [Lamar] or a Drake.”
In recent years, artists who don’t sing in English have been dominating music charts, such as Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, who recently performed at the Super Bowl, and Korean pop groups, BLACKPINK and BTS, which announced a Canadian stop for their highly anticipated comeback world tour.
Streaming success fueling ticket sales
The tours come at a time when Punjabi music is riding a wave of popularity — borne out in massive streaming numbers. According to YouTube Canada, Aujla ranked as one of Canada’s top three most popular artists every single week so far this year, while Dosanjh consistently lands in the top 15.
Aujla’s page on YouTube surpassed four billion views as of Wednesday, while Dosanjh has exceeded five billion — both outpacing some mainstream Canadian acts, like Tate McRae, who had nearly 3.2 billion views as of Wednesday.
Spotify said Indian artists are reaching more global fans. Spotify streams of Indian artists jumped by 2,000 per cent in international markets between 2019 and 2023, according to its 2025 Loud and Clear report, which analyzes royalty payments to artists.
That digital success is translating into dollars.
A report from Oxford Economics, an advisory firm in Pennsylvania, found Dosanjh’s 2024 tour generated $63 million US in concert-related spending across 13 North American dates.
Live Nation expects revenue to climb even higher this year, according to Randhawa. Some tickets in Canada are selling for $1,800.
Ticketmaster is also listing seats for Dosanjh’s Toronto show as high as $1,800.
“We’re expecting a lot of travel from international people to come to their shows with having two of the superstars so close to each other performing in these cities,” said Randhawa.
Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh is set to light up B.C. Place on Thursday, as he kicks off the North American leg of his Aura World Tour. As the CBC’s Shivani Joshi reports, some experts say the local community has helped put a global spotlight on Punjabi music
Canada a key market
According to the most recent Statistics Canada data in 2021, South Asians were the country’s largest racialized group, at 7.1 per cent of the population — making Canada a major hub for Punjabi music.
“So much has changed in the music industry,” said Charlie Wall-Andrews, associate professor of creative industries at Toronto Metropolitan University.
“We’re seeing a lot more curation that reflects the diversity of Canada,” she said. “This is reflected in the streaming data, in the concerts that are being curated and how shows are selling out.”
This past semester, Wall-Andrews taught a university course examining Dosanjh’s music and influence.
Wall-Andrews said students gained insight into how the music industry works by hearing from Dosanjh’s manager, producers and academics. They looked at Dosanjh’s rise and the importance of entrepreneurship within the industry.
“Diljit Dosanjh provides a different kind of case study because of how he’s breaking barriers,” Wall-Andrews said, pointing to Dosanjh’s global reach and crossover collaborations with artists such as Australian singer Sia and French DJ David Guetta.
“He is not just confined to music, he’s also exploring other forms of art, such as film … so that diversifies his ability to reach new audiences,” she said.
Both Dosanjh and Aujla are scheduled to perform in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto.
