Veteran talent buyer Rick Bartalini is the driving force behind Rick Bartalini Presents (RBP), Hawai’i’s premier live entertainment promoter. Prior to launching RBP in 2010, Bartalini rose to record-breaking success in Northern California’s Sonoma Wine Country, booking more than 350 concerts and selling a staggering 450,000 tickets with gross sales exceeding $25M.
Bartalini has worked with every conceivable major entertainer over the last 30 years including Mariah Carey, New Kids on the Block, Journey, Earth, Wind & Fire, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Janet Jackson, Madonna, P!NK, Olivia Newton-John, Dolly Parton, Josh Groban, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, B.B.King, Ellen DeGeneres, Trevor Noah and many others.
Since the launch of RBP, the company has promoted concerts throughout the Hawaiian Islands and California and has generated unparalleled ticket sales, selling over 300,000 tickets in 14 cities, with gross sales exceeding $27M. After relocating to Honolulu in 2016, Rick Bartalini recruited entertainment’s biggest names to Hawai’i utilizing his 30 years of experience and extensive contacts in the entertainment industry.
In 2015, RBP presented legendary superstar Diana Ross’ first-ever concert in Hawai’i. Ms. Ross’ performance on June 13, 2015, at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, shattered records and became the highest-grossing U.S. concert in her touring history. The international music icon also sold out two exclusive concerts on Maui, which are noted as the highest-grossing concerts ever at the intimate Castle Theater at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.
RBP’s record-breaking success was further boosted in 2016 with three sold-old concerts featuring Mariah Carey at Honolulu’s Neal S. Blaisdell Arena. Ticket sales exceeded 21,000 tickets, grossing over $2.4M.
When COVID-19 shuttered the state’s live event industry for two years, Rick Bartalini worked with local and state government to find solutions to safely bring back live events and entertainment.
Hawai’i. While RBP’s arc of success was interrupted by the years-long shutdown of the live entertainment industry from 2020 to 2022 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was awarded a significant sum of money under the federal government’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant in 2021. The grant, based on RBP’s proven financial success, allowed the company to expand. That expansion, in part, parlayed into RBP’s most successful year ever in the state of Hawai’i in 2022, when the promoter sold over 30,000 tickets with gross sales exceeding $4.7M.
Rick Bartalini is proud to call Hawai’i home and is well known throughout the Hawaiian Islands for providing quality entertainment and supporting the state’s live entertainment industry.