US singer, Ed Sheeran has topped Pollstar’s 2018 year-end global touring chart with a record $432 million gross on 4,860,482 tickets sold, the publication announced today.
With Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” tour leading the U.S. tours chart with $277.3 million and came in second globally with $345.1 million on 2,888,892 tickets sold.
Jay-Z and Beyonce’s “OTRII” tour of North America and Europe came in third globally, with $254.1 million on 2,169,050 tickets sold.
In the announcement, the longtime live-entertainment touring publication said its Top 100 World Wide tours totaled $5.6 billion, with 59.8 million tickets sold, compiled from 3,691 event records.
Its Top 100 North American tours totaled $3.7 billion U.S. dollars with 40.0 million tickets sold compiled from 3,025 event records.
Among other highlights, it noted that Sheeran’s 2018 tour numbers, when combined with 2017, is already the third highest-grossing tour in Pollstar’s history ($554.6 million) behind U2’s “360” ($735 million) and the Rolling Stones’ “A Bigger Bang” ($558 million) tours.
Swift’s “Reputation” tour is No. 2 on the Top 100 Worldwide tours chart, with grossing $345 million; that puts her career history within $74.3 million of a $1 billion total, the publication noted.
Combined grosses from Sheeran and Swift’s tours — a whopping $777.5 million — comprises 14% of the overall gross of the Top 100 Worldwide Tours.
