Roger Waters Passes Madonna for Solo Boxscore Record with $459M Wall Live Tour

Rock legend Roger Waters sets the solo artist Boxscore record with totals submitted from the final leg of the Wall Live tour, which also place him at No. 1 on our weekly ranking of Hot Tours. With $81.3 million in ticket sales reported for the final leg through 26 European cities, which kicked off on July 18 in Arnhem, Netherlands and wrapped in Paris on Sept. 21, the three-year world tour totaled an impressive $459 million from 219 performances. The tour originally launched in September 2010 and played six legs in North and South America, Europe and Australia/New Zealand during a three-year span.

The $459 million gross surpasses the solo record of $407 million previously set by Madonna with her Sticky & Sweet tour in 2008-09 and grants Waters with the third highest-grossing tour of all time Only U2 and the Rolling Stones grossed more from a single tour. Sales from U2’s 360° tour totaled $736 million (2009-2011) and the Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang tour grossed $558 million from 2005-2007.

Roger Waters will also be giving the Keynote Q&A at the 10th Annual Billboard Touring Conference, scheduled for Nov. 13 and 14 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.

Second on the weekly ranking of Hot Tours is Jay Z & Justin Timberlake with sales reported from their Legends of the Summer tour that played 12 North American stadiums during July and August. With grosses totaling $69.7 million, the co-headliners played to sellout crowds at each show. Altogether in all markets the attendance count was 622,559 during the summer trek. The top grosser was a two-night stand in New York City at Yankee Stadium (July 19-20) with $12 million in sales and just over 89,000 fans in attendance. The tour also played one other two-show engagement with performances on Aug. 10-11 at Boston’s Fenway Park.

Beyoncé, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney and Jason Aldean all earn slots among the weekly slate of top-grossing tours with grosses reported from their summer touring efforts. Beyoncé is third with $38.9 million in sales from concerts at a string of 23 North American arenas on the Mrs. Carter World tour. The final stop was a three-show run at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center with $5.3 million from 42,000 sold seats. Bon Jovi is No. 4 with sales from Because We Can tour appearances in the U.S. during July and in South America in September. Two concerts at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. produced the top gross with $9.5 million from 96,000 fans.

McCartney’s Out There! Tour lands in fifth place with $22.2 million in revenue reported from arena and stadium dates in North America during July and August. Aldean is No. 6 with third-quarter grosses reported from 17 venues on his Night Train tour. Although the tour primarily played outdoor amphitheaters, included in this week’s counts is a sold out concert on July 20 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field with $3.1 million in sales.

Source: Billboard