Touring was a disaster in 2010, but let the little performers eat cake! After all, the top-grossing artists pulled some insane winnings, and being lonely at the top never felt so pampered. According to an annual ranking just published by Pollstar, Bon Jovi led the North American roost with an outlandish $108.2 million, and the worldwide purse stretched to $201.1 million.
Phew! Lady Gaga was naturally high-ranked with a $50.1 million North American take-home, but plenty of artists ranked higher. That includes stage-horses like Dave Matthews Band ($72.9 million) and the Eagles ($64.9 million), as well as surefire attractions like Paul McCartney ($61.8 million), Roger Waters ($89.5 million), and Michael Buble ($65.7 million). Most achieved far greater returns on the global stage.
Actually, even the upper-crust are suffering - that is, when measured as a group. The top 50 biggest tours pulled 12 percent less in 2010, to $2.93 billion for the year on a global basis. And of course, the shelf drops precipitously after the best-sellers, but that's another article.
Here's the rundown below. The more detailed PDF is here, and worldwide rankings are here.
Comments Closed
rmenta Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Interesting that 7 out of the top 10 are baby boomer acts. Actually, a high percentage of this list cater to the over 40 crowd.
Ash Varma (LinkedIn) Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thanks, Paul. Very informative, as always!....
@gkla Thursday, December 30, 2010
Greg Katz
Pollstar's 2010 top tours: Bon Jovi wins by a lot; no Katy, Ke$ha or Rihanna (Gaga makes it); LA Font? Maybe next year.
yurmum Saturday, January 01, 2011
yes bon jovi wins in gross sales but DMB should be considered number 1... most tix sold and those tix are among the cheaper ones. yeah if they wanted to bend over their fans and make then squeal like a pig by charging them $100 for a ticket, then they would have most gross sales
@IamMattMateo Thursday, December 30, 2010
Matt Mateo
What the? Riverdance still touring? And they made 10 MILLION this year doing so??? Seriously???
@RapCoalition Thursday, December 30, 2010
@Drsaunderson Thursday, December 30, 2010
Dr. Saunderson
And1 rapper in the Top 50 (Jay Z)
@ChingoBling Thursday, December 30, 2010
Chingo Bling
Jayz Barely made the cut... ima chatup tho...
@janaki_devi Thursday, December 30, 2010
Janaki
country music is where the money is - & you get to keep the hat.
@SheaTapMusic Thursday, December 30, 2010
Great post,
Didn't realise nostalgia sold so many tickets. Interesting!!!
Shea
@DeeannDMathews Thursday, December 30, 2010
Deeann Dova Mathews
don't get upset because your favorite ain't there!
@martmetamorph Monday, January 03, 2011
Mart Mullan
It's the veterans who grossed the most tour money in 2010 in the states.
@Pjgarea Monday, January 03, 2011
Peter J. Garea
Looks pretty good to me
@CRASHarts Monday, January 03, 2011
WorldMusic/CRASHarts
Some artists made out like bandits in 2010!
@jonnieberry Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Jon Berry
just ruined my lunch reading this....
@richardcoleking Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Richard Cole King
check DMB in 3rd!!
@cmhuerta Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Christine delaHuerta
guess who's #1...
Gator Thursday, January 06, 2011
Who's #1? Paul McCartney by far. What it all boils down to is how much a performer makes per show, not how much a promoter charges for a ticket, or how many tickets are sold at a given venue. Bon Jovi made more in the US touring, but played 51 gigs in 38 cities, whereas McCartney played 21 shows in only 16 cities and made a million bucks more per concert than Bon Jovi. DMB played 62 shows and had to go to 50 cities to gross 3rd. Dave's average gross was 1.5 M, McCartney's average gross was 3.9 M.
Transportation and cartage must be taken into account. The less expense you have for transportation, rooming, meals and cartage and the more revenue you generate relative to hours spent. McCartney travels less and makes more money per hour of his time.
Click on the PDF for the whole picture.
P of B Wednesday, January 05, 2011
With the exception of Lady Gaga, all $90 and over tickets were for Senior Citizen Acts.
@NathanRousu Thursday, January 06, 2011
Nathan Rousu
Interesting
@BillWhitt Saturday, January 08, 2011
Bill Whitt
Bon Jovi was the top grossing tour act of 2010. Isn't that a sign of the apocalypse?
OUR SPONSORS
© 2011 All Rights Reserved
Follow Us