Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” has been named the highest-grossing tour of all time, with it raking in an estimated $2.2 Billion. This is on top of her shows shattering attendance records and Swift taking the title of the highest-grossing artist of 2024, with it estimated that she made $1.15 billion.
Now, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather is weighing in on Swift’s list of record-breaking achievements, but calls out those who believe she personally pocketed over a billion bucks.
Lukather explained in a new interview with Rick Beato that there are a number of hidden costs to doing a massive tour, and that profit figures are never as straightforward as they seem.
“People think, ‘Okay, Madonna had $1 billion tour. Taylor Swift…’ Do you think she took home a billion dollars? I can’t talk personally about her particular tour, but I know there’s hundreds of people on it, and there’s two stages flip-flopping, so you have twice the amount of crew. But she was on a bazillion dollar tour so she can afford to do that,” he said.
Lukather continued, emphasizing that the enormous logistical demands of high-profile tours – including a crew of hundreds, accommodations, catering, and large-scale stage productions – can cost an excessive amount, significantly reducing net profits and ultimately affecting what the artist takes home.
“And you know all the drama that goes with that. The more people you have out on tour the more dramatic it becomes,” Lukather added.
When news broke last year of Swift’s many record-breaking achievements, Poison’s Bret Michaels celebrated the pop singer, writing on Instagram:
“Taylor Swift, As a fellow Pennsylvanian, extending a sincere congratulations on all your success & to your amazing talent & your fans, band & crew, to Travis Kelce & all that brought a record-breaking Eras tour & positivity to the world! As your tour ends tonight in awesome Vancouver, may you continue to rock the world!!”
Tenacious D frontman and actor Jack Black also praised Swift when he found out she gave out $100,000 bonuses to each member of her crew, and joked that he thought half his crew was gonna leave his band to join Swift’s tour.
“Who wouldn’t want to work on a Taylor Swift tour now when you know you got that kind of cheddar on the back end?” he said.
