Stereoboard Look At The Most Profitable Concert Tours Of All Time (Tour Feature)
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Written by Heather McDaid
With Lady Gaga rumoured to be announcing a 450 date world tour, undoubtedly one of the more ambitious and rigorous of touring schedules, it’s fair to compare this latest feat to her previous tours and to others on a wider scale. Let’s be honest, Lady Gaga doesn’t do anything by halves. What’s the harm in breaking a few more records?
First of all, Lady Gaga’s highest grossing tour to date is, unsurprisingly, her Monster Ball tour, which ranks as the 16th highest grossing tour of all time. Starting on November 27th 2009 and ending on May 6th of this year, she performed 119 shows in North America and 63 in Europe as well as a few further various dates which totalled an overall 201 shows.
With her high production levels and reasonable ticket prices for this run, the total profit the Monster Ball tour was a staggering $227,400,000. With a high profit margin for roughly 120 dates, is it a safe assumption that a 450 date tour will snatch the title?
It is likely; as previously stated, Lady Gaga doesn’t do things by halves. In terms of female competition, the unsurprising holder at present is Madonna. Her Sticky & Sweet tour of 2008-2009 made a profit of $407,713,266, over just a mere 85 shows. Impressive as that total may be in comparison to Gaga’s far more extensive tour, the Queen of Pop only ranks #4 in the list of top tours.
The next down is Celine Dion at #11, making $279,000,000 for her Taking Chances Tour over a 132 show span, then Cher neatly slots in at #12 with $260,000,000 for her 325 date Farewell tour of 2002-2005. While Madonna features a few more times, the few other females in the list are Pink (#26 – Funhouse Tour), Britney Spears (#31 – The Circus) and Taylor Swift (#35 – Speak Now World Tour).
Of this impressive compilation, Lady Gaga already finds herself holder of the 4th highest grossing tour for females and 16th overall. With that being her first real major tour, the statistics are quite staggering. If the only way for Gaga to go is up, the records set to be broken are unimaginable.
There is, however, one factor that seems to be stopping pop icons mastering the touring title: rock ‘n’ roll. It depends your definition of rock ‘n’ roll, whether you appreciate the mainstream variants or the real metal icons. Either way, bands seem to dominate the list. In fact, the most profitable tour title was stolen yet again this year. So, if Gaga is set to break the record with her Born This Way extravaganza, it’s only fair to look at her competition.
Bon Jovi find themselves appearing frequently in the touring elite, featuring three times in the top 30. Their Have A Nice Day Tour of 2005-2006 (#30) spanned 78 dates and totalled $131, 388,461. Their slightly bigger 2007-2008 Lost Highway Tour (#19) rolled up to 99 dates and made $210,650,974. Confirming the fact that Bon Jovi find themselves growing further even this far into their career, their recent 137 date Circle Tour of 2010-2011 (#7) made a staggering $339,455,399 – almost as much as the two previous tours combined.
The Rolling Stones also frequent the top fleet more than most, taking four of the higher accolades. Their 115 date Licks Tour of 2002-2003 ranks them at #10, making $299,520,230 while their 1994-1995 Voodoo Lounge Tour (#9) saw them make $316,365,576 over 124 dates. Taking the next spot up too, their Bridges to Babylon/No Security Tour snags their #8 with $336,017,048 across 143 dates in 1997-1999.
As if the consecutive three places in the top ten weren’t enough, the Stones also snagged the second highest profiting tour of all time, only beaten earlier this year. Their Bigger Bang Tour of 2005-2007 grossed $558,255,524 over 144 dates. A mere 20 dates more than their #9 slot made over $200m more. While it’s undeniable that the Stones utterly dominate the top ten highest grossing tours of all time, bands still have an iron grasp of the field.
At #6 is The Police. Their 156 date Reunion Tour of 2007-2008 grossed $358,825,665. This marked the 30th anniversary of the band and originally ranked as the 3rd highest grossing tour of all time. Since its completion it has been moved gradually down the list.
At #3 – and a personal favourite – is AC/DC’s Black Ice World Tour of 2008-2010. With support of bands like Ireland’s The Answer, the band tackled 167 dates and grossed $441,121,000. This could be argued as the world’s highest grossing hard rock tour; again, it’s down to your personal definition of rock as the boundaries are relatively blurry.
The main flaunt of the highest grossing tours, and the title holders, are U2. In a similar vein to Lady Gaga’s aspirations, the band seem to be resolute on continuously breaking their own records. Working backwards in terms of their most successful tours, first we look to their Elevation Tour of 2001. Their 112 date tour ranks at #27 for its gross of $142,844,463.
Next up is their Zoo TV tour of the early 90s. Their 157 date run snags the #25 spot with a neat $151,000,000 while their PopMart Tour of 1997-1998 grabs the #22 spot by raising the bar for their 93 dates $171,677,024.
In a huge leap from #22, their next appearance is #5 courtesy of 2005’s Vertigo Tour of 2005-2006. Over their 131 dates in support of their 2004 record 'How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb', they grossed a whopping $389,047,636 as well as winning countless awards for this run. The tour can be seen in three various films: U2 3D, Vertigo: Live from Milan and Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago. All remain available for purchase at present.
As of earlier this year, the Irish musical force were declared title-holders of the highest grossing tour of all time. In a staggering leap from the #2 spot of around $560m, U2’s 360° Tour of 2009-2011 rallied up a massive $736,421,586 over 110 dates. This stadium tour in support of their 2009 offering 'No Line on the Horizon' featured the infamous support rig, referred to as 'The Claw' and became renowned as a unique stage set up.
Accumulatively, U2’s top 5 tours alone have grossed almost $1.6billion. That in itself would be a staggering amount from an entire career’s worth of tours, let alone a handful. So the bar is set: U2 are the guys to beat, so what does Lady Gaga have to consider to snatch this record from their grasp?
Initially, some would say quantity over quality. Logic would dictate that the more you play, the more you make. Through the above examples, however, this is not always the case. Lady Gaga is also known for her enormous production values and costs, so this would take away further from her potential profits.
Where Lady Gaga succeeds is her determination and dedication to do well and give her all. A 450 date tour seems crazy, just at a mere suggestion. If we take the gross of her Monster Ball Tour and go on an assumption that she will profit equally per show on this run, she’d snag the #2 spot, and assumedly challenge U2’s title.
Dividing the Monster Ball’s gross by the number of shows and multiplying it by the rumoured intended number of dates for the Born This Way run, the total is a little shy of $625,000,000. With venue sizes increased and ticket prices seemingly growing with each return of Gaga, the varying profits gradually increase too.
Assuming Lady Gaga doesn’t settle for the same standard (something you’d be right to do) and ups her game drastically for this mammoth run, we could very well be looking at our first billion dollar tour. It seems highly speculative and features a lot of ‘what if’s, but can we really deny the possibility that there’s a record Lady Gaga won’t aim for?
While this is a feature relying heavily on statistics and theories, it’s also quite staggering to look at as an overview. Having been to some of the tours in question, the £30-50 ticket price seems relatively modest in terms of the wider picture. While watching Bon Jovi, AC/DC or Lady Gaga, few would be considering that the tour itself was worth roughly ten million times the value of your ticket.
For now, however, U2 can sit tight at their #1 spot. If this tour prediction is correct, Lady Gaga will find herself all tied up on the road well into 2013, if not 2014. There’s still a long way to go before there will be any inclination as to whether Born This Way will be a record breaking tour, but judging from her past successes and her general approach to things, it is a relatively safe bet that this tour is going to break a good number of records.
Until 2013, U2 are safe, but come the end of the Born This Way Tour, I’m sure Bono will be quaking in his boots.
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Initially, some would say quantity over quality. Logic would dictate that the more you play, the more you make. Through the above examples, however, this is not always the case. Lady Gaga is also known for her enormous production values and costs, so this would take away further from her potential profits. 
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