The Top 100 Tours of 2006 grossed a combined $1.012 billion, which was a whopping 38.5 percent above the $730.9 million generated in the first half of last year. The increase is also up a healthy 14.5 percent over the same period in 2004.
It’s no secret that the modern concert industry has consistently been fueled by artists that have been around for decades. The biggest earners are the acts the Baby Boom generation grew up with. But rock stars who are now in their 50s and 60s physically won’t be able to keep feeding the industry for too much longer.
Country music has done a better job of building new headliners that appear to have some degree of staying power. Of the 12 acts that made the Top 100, nearly all are relative newcomers. Even the “old timers” in that group, with the exception of Willie Nelson, are not that old when compared to their rock brethren.Fall Out Boy is the one new rock artist that has successfully made the jump to headlining arenas. The band grossed $11 million to finish at No. 29 on the chart. More importantly, they sold nearly 400,000 tickets, which was more than all but 8 acts on the Top 100.
Live Nation’s new touring Cirque Du Soleil show “Delirium” also proved to be a winner at the box office. New Latino teen pop act RBD made a major impression on its first big U.S. tour, but most of the chart is filled with familiar names we see every year.
The list below ranks the top 50 artists by gross in millions of U.S. dollars, indicated in bold. The number following the artist’s name is the total number of tickets sold by the artist in the first six months of 2006.
2006 Mid-Year Top 50 Tours:
1 54.3 Madonna 291,621
2 52.5 The Rolling Stones 309,554
3 47.2 Billy Joel 613,002
4 46.5 Tim McGraw / Faith Hill 574,605
5 43.3 Cirque Du Soleil - Delirium 473,378
6 42.4 Celine Dion 312,441
7 32.7 Bon Jovi 424,459
8 31.2 Kenny Chesney 523,226
9 27.6 Coldplay 457,483
10 23.1 George Strait 387,713
11 22.0 Luis Miguel 542,808
12 21.8 Aerosmith 233,824
13 17.5 Rascal Flatts 396,134
14 17.2 Pearl Jam 330,197
15 16.2 RBD 257,756
16 16.1 Dave Matthews Band 381,720
17 15.5 Nickelback 403,344
18 15.3 Elton John 89,069
19 14.9 U2 191,625
20 14.4 Jimmy Buffett 202,190
21 14.0 Larry The Cable Guy 334,768
22 13.9 INXS 278,278
23 13.4 Queen + Paul Rodgers 166,712
24 12.8 Brad Paisley 312,983
25 12.5 Motley Crue 234,643
26 12.5 David Copperfield 269,388
27 11.6 Bruce Springsteen & The Seeger Sessions Band 152,998
28 11.0 Toby Keith 181,563
29 11.0 Fall Out Boy 399,735
30 10.5 Kid Rock 309,460
31 10.0 Depeche Mode 191,502
32 10.0 Black Eyed Peas 278,209
33 9.6 Martina McBride 218,893
34 9.5 Willie Nelson 205,939
35 9.0 Andrea Bocelli 66,257
36 8.3 R. Kelly 141,805
37 7.8 Juan Gabriel 110,937
38 7.7 Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance 166,631
39 7.7 Nine Inch Nails 208,784
40 7.5 Michael Buble 120,443
41 7.3 Il Divo 112,342
42 7.2 Gretchen Wilson 242,505
43 7.0 Brooks & Dunn 156,994
44 6.9 Andre Rieu 134,652
45 6.6 Hilary Duff 159,151
46 6.5 Keith Urban 184,391
47 6.4 Korn 173,281
48 6.1 Bob Dylan 100,129
49 5.8 Ricky Martin 86,759
50 5.5 Bill Gaither & Friends Homecoming 199,301
Source: http://www.pollstar.com
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