First Old Navy brings back leg warmers and now this.
Proving the ’80s are gone but definitely not forgotten, several of that decade’s top musical acts were among the top concert draws of 2004.
Prince led the list as his Musicology tour notched ticket sales of $87.4 million, according to year-end figures from concert trade Pollstar. The Purple One’s 69-city, 96-date trek also ranked as the eighth biggest tour of all time on a list topped by the Rolling Stones’ 1994 circuit, which tallied $121.2 million.
The tour also helped pump up Prince’s album sales–every ticket included a bundled copy of his Musicology album, keeping the CD on Billboard’s charts throughout a year that also saw the 46-year-old funkster get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and rack up five Grammy nominations.
Other ’80s relics charting high on Pollstar’s 2004 list: Celine Dion (number two, $80.4 million), Madonna (number three, $79.5 million), Metallica (number four $60.5 million) and the reunited Van Halen (number six, $54.3 million). In general, baby boomers tended to shell out to see their fave road warriors, with Bette Midler , Sting, Elton John , Rod Stewart , Jimmy Buffett , Cher, Eric Clapton , Aerosmith and Phil Collins all making the top 25. Relative newbies like Usher, Josh Groban , Kid Rock and John Mayer also made the countdown, but were bunched near the bottom of the list.
Some other tidbits from the Pollstar number crunchers:
Dion’s take came exclusively from her 154 shows at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas–a venue she’s calling home for the next two years.
Madonna earned her money by playing just 39 shows–she had the second highest average ticket at $144 a pop, behind Elton John (number 10, $43.3 million), who charged fans an average of $158 per ducat. By comparison, an average Prince concert set fans back a relatively bargain 61 bucks.
Prince filled the most seats, selling 1.43 million tickets; followed by Kenny Chesney with 1.14 million and Metallica with 1.05 million.
Cher, meanwhile, finally finished her seemingly never-ending farewell tour (we hope), raking in $29.1 million for her efforts, good enough for 17th on the list.
Aside from the oldies, country acts proved a big draw. Chesney roped in the most (number seven, $50.8 million), with Toby Keith, Shania Twain, the combo of Alan Jackson and Martina McBride, and George Strait all landing in the top 25.
Pollstar says that ticket prices were up in 2004, rising 3.5 percent to $52. The average would have been higher–a ticket set you back about $59 at midyear–but deep discounts triggered by high-profile flops (see: Lollapalooza) and flagging attendance brought down the price by year end.
Beset by smaller crowds, it was the higher prices alone that accounted for an upswing in the overall concert industry. Gross sales rose less than 1 percent to $1.96 billion on ticket sales of just 37.6 million–down 3 percent from 2003.
Promoters are praying for a bigger 2005, pinning their hopes on a high-profile tour by U2 and an expected go-round by the Stones, who are working on a new album for release next year.
Here’s a rundown of the highest grossing tours of 2004 based on data released by Pollstar:
1. Prince, $87.4 million
2. Celine Dion, $80.4 million
3. Madonna, $79.5 million
4. Metallica, $60.5 million
5. Bette Midler, $59.4 million
6. Van Halen, $54.3 million
7. Kenny Chesney, $50.8 million
8. Sting, $50.1 million
9. Toby Keith, $43.7 million
10. Elton John, 43.3 million
11. Rod Stewart, $42.5 million
12. Dave Matthews Band, $41.2 million
13. Tim McGraw, $40.1 million
14. Jimmy Buffett, $34.6 million
15. Shania Twain, $34.5 million
16. Alan Jackson/Martina McBride, $34 million
17. Cher, $29.1 million
18. Usher, $29.1 million
19. Eric Clapton, $29 million
20. Josh Groban, $28 million
21. Aerosmith, $25.6 million
22. George Strait, $24.8 million
23. Phil Collins, $23.8 million
24. Kid Rock, $23.7 million
25. John Mayer, $23.6 million
Credit: E! Online