Ed Sheeran Earned More on Tour In 2018 Than Anyone Else In 30 Years
Pollstar’s year-end report says the concert industry made a record amount of money in 2018
Ed Sheeran. Photo: Ben Watts
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
88.3Â ”” Springsteen On Broadway ”” 173,461
79.0 ”” Drake ”” 678,410
