Have you been to any live shows this year? There were some pretty great rock and metal tours in Europe and North America in 2018. But in case you haven’t, don’t you worry since 2019 is gonna be a blast. And now that Pollstar has released some official info, we thought that we could check out the biggest grossing rock and metal tours of 2018.
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NOTE: Pollstar’s year-end report states:
“This year was a year of change at Pollstar regarding the way we present our box office data. This year we have introduced a new time period for determining the 2018 chart year. In 2017 and previous years, the calendar year was used for year-end charts with estimated totals added from late fourth-quarter events. This year we changed the eligibility time period from the calendar year to a late-November closing date and discontinued accepting estimates for non-reported events.
“Thus, the 2018 charts comprise data from performances that occurred Nov. 23, 2017 through Nov. 21, 2018 – and we only counted actual box office results from shows that have already occurred.”
So bear in mind that this is Pollstar’s official data. If you go and check the official websites of the artists listed below, there will probably be more shows listed than Pollstar reported on. This is the only detailed report that can be found online at this point.
20. Iron Maiden – $37.5 million
On the 20th spot comes Iron Maiden with their Legacy of the Beast World Tour that, according to the data, grossed about $37.5 million. Well, it’s great to see them on the list, and looking at their 2019 plans, we’ll be seeing them even more in the upcoming year.
19. Elton John – $37.5 million
Next up we have Elton John who was slightly above Iron Maiden, with gross ticket sales also around $37.5 million. The average ticket price for Elton John’s shows was $134.81.
18. Paul McCartney – $37.9 million
One of the legendary four musicians from Liverpool, Paul McCartney, is doing better than ever, still touring and kicking ass over the age of 75. Damn, that’s even more than Ozzy.
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17. Phish – $38.9 million
Next up, American rock band Phish is still going strong and touring all around North America. They come on the 17th spot of this list with almost $39 million.
16. Queen + Adam Lambert – $39.7 million
Aside from the very successful “Bohemian Rhapsody” movie this year, the guys from Queen, with the help of Adam Lambert, have managed to come up on the list of the most successful tours this year. Aside from Europe and North America, they also visited Australia and New Zealand, and are on the 41st spot in total.
15. The Killers – $42.9 million
American rockers The Killers saw another yet another successful year with their “Wonderful Wonderful World Tour,” this time in support of their fifth studio album. The report included 53 of their shows in the aforementioned period and they grossed almost $43 million.
14. Dead & Company – $46.3 million
With over 30 shows in 29 cities in the United States, the band carrying on the legacy of Grateful Dead and featuring the almighty John Mayer, had a solid tour in the late 2017 and the summer of 2018. They grossed over $46 million with the average ticket price of $76.82.
13. Dave Matthews Band – $47.7 million
And right above them on the list, taking the 13th spot of the best rock tours and 35th of all worldwide tours, it’s Dave Matthews Band. With 67 shows in total, Dave visited 37 cities and had a total of 716,489 ticket sales grossing $47.7 million.
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12. Trans-Siberian Orchestra – $53.7 million
Quite an impressive result coming from Trans-Siberian Orchestra. No wonder they are No. 12 here and No. 31 on the list of all tours since they’ve done 94 shows a year. Paul O’Neill would be proud.
11. Metallica – $67.3 million
Did you expect anything less from Metallica? Sure, last year they had great success with $88 million in the first six months. This year they had fewer shows, but they’re planning to continue the “WorldWired” tour into 2019 and have booked shows all the way to August.
10. Billy Joel – $70.3 million
Two spots up from Metallica, separated only by Imagine Dragons, comes Billy Joel. And with only 23 shows, he grossed over $70 million, with an average ticket price of $122.80.
9. Phil Collins – $75.5 million
Taking the 9th spot here and 19th on the list of all worldwide tours, it’s Phil Collins with his “Not Dead Yet Tour.” Well, grossing $75.5 million with 34 definitely proves he’s not dead yet.
8. Guns N’ Roses – $82.4 million
We’re not yet sure what will happen with GN’R, although it seems they might record and release a new album in the near future. Their very successful “Not in This Lifetime…” tour came to an end, and their most successful part of it happened in 2017 with $292.5 million gross income. This time around it’s $82.4 million for 24 shows in total, with the average ticket price of $106.11.
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7. Foo Fighters – $87.3 million
They’d probably be higher up on this list since the official records show they had about 70 live shows in this particular time frame, while the report states 43 dates in total. Nonetheless, this comes as a great success for Dave Grohl and the boys who grossed over $87 million with an average of over $2 million per show.
6. Bruce Springsteen (Springsteen on Broadway) – $88.3 million
Technically not a tour like all these others on the list since all of the Bruce Springsteen’s live dates here include only his residency at Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City, dubbed “Springsteen on Broadway.” But $88.3 million is still impressive and it’s been included in the report.
5. Journey + Def Leppard – $97.8 million
Quite a fruitful year for Journey and Def Leppard. With their forces joined, this co-headlining run included 60 shows in total that grossed $97.8 million with an average ticket price of $97.79. The report also states impressive 1,000,272 tickets sold.
4. The Rolling Stones – $116.6 million
Going strong after half a century of success, The Rolling Stones still manage to pack huge venues all over the world. The most impressive thing here is the fact that they grossed $116.6 million in just 14 shows with the total ticket sale of 750,914. Is there anything else we need to add?
3. U2 – $126.2 million
On the third spot, we have U2, being 9th on the list of all the tours in 2018. This year’s run, dubbed “Experience + Innocence,” gathered $126.2 million with over $4 million average gross per show.
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2. Roger Waters – $131.3 million
Coming in 2nd, and 8th in the general standing, it’s the Pink Floyd legend, Roger Waters. For those who haven’t visited his live shows so far – you should do it as soon as you can. He’s not getting any younger and these concerts are some of the best music and visual performances you’ll ever get the chance to see. And his band is more than impressive.
1. Eagles – $166 million
And all the way up on the top of this list, surpassing Roger Waters with more than $30 million, are the Eagles with 53 shows in 45 cities, accumulating $166 million. The average ticket price was rather high, $172.13, but this all earned them spot No. 6 in the general standing.