Pollstar released its year-end report on Monday, and Ed Sheeran’s “Divide” Tour sits definitively at the top. The singer’s global tour is the most money-making jaunt in any single year of Pollstar’s 30-year history, according to the box office research group.
Sheeran, who performed mostly solo onstage but had Elton John come on as a guest vocalist at select events, sold 4,860,482 tickets across 53 cities and 94 shows for an all-time record gross of $432 million. That amount is well ahead of the money made in 2018 by Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” tour ($345.1 million) and Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s “On the Run II” tour ($254.1 million). While U2’s historic chart-topping “360” tour grossed $736.4 million, it took over two years to reach that mark.
But the big accomplishments this year don’t adorn Shereen alone: According to Pollstar, 2018 saw the Top 10 of the Worldwide Tours chart surpass $2 billion in grosses for the first time, up from 2017’s $1.8 million, as the whole concert industry saw a (once more) record-setting amount of $10.4 billion. In sum: Live events just keep swelling.
The report also highlighted the domination of Live Nation over the live events industry: The promoter giant sold 49.6 million tickets, far ahead of AEG Presents with 11.6 million tickets and Messina Touring Group with 5.3 million tickets.
2018 Top 10 Worldwide Tours:
Gross (In $ Millions) — Artist — Tickets Sold
$432.4 — Ed Sheeran — 4,860,482
345.1 — Taylor Swift — 2,888,892
254.1 — Jay-Z / Beyoncé — 2,169,050
169.2 — Pink — 1,285,411
167.6 — Bruno Mars — 1,290,438
166.0 — Eagles — 964,245
151.0 — Justin Timberlake — 1,193,365
131.3 — Roger Waters — 1,448,771
126.2 — U2 — 927,034*
116.6 — The Rolling Stones — 750,914
2018 Top 10 North American Tours:
Gross (In $ Millions) — Artist — Tickets Sold
$277.3 — Taylor Swift — 1,268,706
166.4 — Jay-Z / Beyoncé — 1,298,038
166.0 — Eagles — 964,245
114.4 — Kenny Chesney — 1,297,731
110.0 — Justin Timberlake — 791,780
105.0 — Ed Sheeran — 1,136,497
97.8 — Journey / Def Leppard — 1,000,272
95.3 — Pink — 688,558
88.3 — Springsteen On Broadway — 173,461
79.0 — Drake — 678,410
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