Dave Grohl Made Surprisingly More Money Than Axl Rose In 2018

1
1005
CREDIT: Katarina Benzova

Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters surprisingly topped Axl Rose and Foo Fighters on Pollstar’s new list of top grossing 2018 tours when it came to rock acts.

20. Iron Maiden – $37.5 million

19. Elton John – $37.5 million

18. Paul McCartney – $37.9 million

17. Phish – $38.9 million

16. Queen + Adam Lambert – $39.7 million

15. The Killers – $42.9 million

14. Dead & Company – $46.3 million

13. Dave Matthews Band – $47.7 million

12. Trans-Siberian Orchestra – $53.7 million

11. Metallica – $67.3 million

10. Billy Joel – $70.3 million

9. Phil Collins – $75.5 million

8. Guns N’ Roses – $82.4 million

7. Foo Fighters – $87.3 million

6. Bruce Springsteen (Springsteen on Broadway) – $88.3 million

5. Journey + Def Leppard – $97.8 million

4. The Rolling Stones – $116.6 million

3. U2 – $126.2 million

2. Roger Waters – $131.3 million

1. Eagles – $166 million

Ed Sheeran topped the overall list including non rock artists. Pollstar wrote, “The global landscape of live entertainment in 2018 includes some of the biggest names in the business, both old and new, and remarkable box office feats – most poignantly the musical juggernaut known as Ed Sheeran and his ascent to No. 1 with the highest gross ever recorded for a touring artist in a single year.

He and the nine other acts included in the Top 10 on the annual Top 100 Worldwide Tours chart all topped $100 million in sales – a rare occurrence but one that has happened in three previous years. This year, however, marks the first that gross revenue surpassed $2 billion from just the Top 10 tours alone. In 2017, the Top 10 hit $1.8 billion collectively at the box office, but this year’s group took it to the next level.

Pop artists make quite a showing among the Top 10 tours on the chart, taking six of the top seven slots. At No. 2 is Taylor Swift. Combined with Sheeran, the two racked up $777 million in sales – about 14 percent of the overall gross of the Top 100 Worldwide Tours.

Pink, Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake are also in the Top 10, along with the Jay-Z / Beyoncé co-bill adding their brand of hip-hop and R&B to the mix.

The other four acts are rock royalty: Eagles, Roger Waters, U2 and The Rolling Stones – all iconic artists and longtime road warriors. With those acts joining the pop stars who kicked off their careers late in the previous century – and the ones who got their starts in this one – every decade from the 1960s through the 2000s is represented in the Top 10.”