2017.12.26 - Pollstar - Guns N’ Roses ‘Not In This Lifetime’ Americas Haul: $106M in 2017

Guns N’ Roses ‘Not In This Lifetime’ Americas Haul: $106M in 2017

By Ryan Borba

Guns N’ Roses’ “Not In This Lifetime Tour” has wrapped up and submitted box office reports from its now-eighth leg, a North American run of arenas that started in October and included three nights at Madison Square Garden Arena, two at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre and two shows at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

For all of the Americas in 2017, which included a sixth leg in North American stadiums earlier this year as well as a few big outdoor plays in South America with The Who in support, GNR moved 993,765 tickets and grossed a total of more than $109 million, as submitted to Pollstar.

Highlights from the most recent leg of the Live Nation tour include two nights at the Forum (Nov. 25 and Nov. 29) in Inglewood, Calif., which sold out a combined 27,012 tickets and grossed just under $3.4 million, Oct. 29-30 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, which also sold out at 25,724 tickets and grossed just under $3.3 million, and three nights at Madison Square Garden Arena Oct. 11-16, which sold out a combined whopping 41,818 tickets and grossed $6.16 million. The leg kicked off with a warmup show at the Apollo Theater in New York City July 20.

Tickets for the GNR tour mostly ranged from $50 to $250, as promoters continue to increase the top ticket price to make scalping less enticing and fans clearly feel their favorite artists are worth it. Artists certainly see more of a profit this way too.

The total also included big shows in South America with The Who.

These headline plays included Oct. 1 at the Estadio Unico Cuidad De La Plata in Argentina, which sold more than 34,000 tickets and grossed $4.8 million for promoter Mercury Concerts. Another with Mercury listed as promoter was “Santiago Rock City” Sept. 29 at Estadio Monumental in Chile, which sold 42,743 tickets and grossed $4.14 million. The Who were on all South American GNR dates reported to Pollstar, including Rock in Rio festival in Brazil, which sold out 80,000 tickets for an estimated gross of $2.53 million.

The Gunners also played Asia and Australia to kick off 2017 and did a lengthy run of European stadiums in June – and of course have been touring nonstop since kicking off the original Not In This Lifetime tour in April 2016. This is not to mention when Axl Rose somewhat unexpectedly stepped in to handle lead vocal duty for the AC/DC Rock Or Bust Tour from 2015-2016.

The frontman once notorious for erratic behavior and late concert starts has become a model of consistency and a true road warrior.

The band’s demand is impressive by any measure, and with the release of Pollstar’s Top 20 Worldwide Tours Of 2017, GNR was No. 2 with $292.5 million grossed and 2.68 million tickets sold.

Guns N’ Roses were No. 1 based on worldwide ticket sales at 3Q after already nearing the top for 2016 as well.

For year end 2016, Axl and Co. were No. 6 in Worldwide Ticket Sales (1.7 million) , No. 2 on the North American tours feature with a total gross of $130.8 million and No. 4 Worldwide with a total gross of $188.4 million.

While maybe slowing down to some degree, GNR is clearly still not done touring, with a full ninth leg booked of European dates starting in June with yet more stadiums and festival plays. Who knows how many more tour legs they can squeeze in before all is said and done?

United Talent Agency’s Ken Fermaglich is GNR’s responsible agent in North America; while internationally the band is represented by International Talent Booking.

https://news.pollstar.com/2017/12/26/guns-n-roses-not-in-this-lifetime-americas-haul-106m-in-2017/

Another article on Pollstar, January 3, 2018:
----------------------------------------------------

Pollstar Unveils Top 20 Worldwide Tours Of 2017, Sets Record Gross

By Francisco Rendon

We are fast approaching the end of 2017 and while Pollstar’s BoxOffice department furiously enters data for our Year End charts, we thought we’d share the Top 20 Tours of the year as a preview of the Worldwide Top Tours Chart.

On the whole, the Top 20 grossed $2.64 billion this year, a record high and increase of more than $241 million from 2016.

Coming in at the top slot is U2, which grossed a gargantuan $316 million with its “Joshua Tree Tour”, reporting a total 2.71 million tickets.

Right behind U2 was Guns N’ Roses with $292.5 million grossed and 2.68 million tickets sold. The tickets sold figure is clearly close, meaning much of the more than $20 million differential in grosses involved pricing, with U2 charging more than $40 above GNR on average.

Coldplay came in third with $238 million grossed, and Bruno Mars is the first solo artist on the touring chart, with $200.1 million total gross on the year, fourth overall.

The list is mostly comprised of artists that fit into the “Pop/Rock” categorization in Pollstar’s online routebook, though entries in that genre can range from Metallica to Justin Bieber.

The first country artist to appear on the list is Garth Brooks at No. 10, who in 2017 wrapped up what his reps are calling the largest tour by a solo artist ever, at three years with eight legs. His total gross on the year was estimated at $101.4 million, and though we would love to get exact numbers regarding his business, he is one the only artist on this Top 20 chart that does not regularly report touring data to Pollstar.

Celine Dion was the first female artist to chart in this year’s Top 20, at the No. 11 slot, and she got there with a mix of arena touring and a Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum At Caesars Palace. Although Queen Celine still technically has two dates to perform Dec. 30-31 through that residency, we factored that in with estimates, and she thus still falls just behind Garth, with a gross of $101.2 million.

While the Top 20 is mostly made up of established artists, No. 8 Ed Sheeran (26), No. 12 Justin Bieber (23), No. 17 The Weeknd (27) and No. 20 Ariana Grande (24) are the youngest artists to crack the top 20.

The married couple of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill is the only act in this Top 20 to integrate male and female artists in the headline act. The duo grossed $79.3 million on their first “Soul2Soul” in years. They played 79 shows this year, not counting two nights at “Carnival Live” and reported 931,951 tickets.

The full preview chart is available for viewing here, and the complete data package including the Worldwide Top 100 Tours chart will be released to subscribers Jan. 5.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story included Bruce Springsteen at the No. 14 position on the Top 20 Tours chart. Springsteen will be appearing twice on the full Worldwide Top 100 Tours Chart being released Jan. 5, as his performances with The E Street Band and his shows on Broadway are being categorized as separate entries. The figures associated with Springsteen on the previous version of the Top 20 chart were inaccurate and should not be referenced. Bruce Springsteen has been removed from the chart and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers has been added at the No. 20 position.

https://news.pollstar.com/2018/01/03/pollstar-unveils-top-20-worldwide-tours-of-2017-sets-record-gross/

Pollstar/Blabbermouth on the same subject; January 8, 2018:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden Among 2017's Top-Grossing North American Tours

Metallica, Guns N' Roses and Iron Maiden are among the rock and metal acts included on Pollstar's Year End Top 200 North American Tours chart, which determines its rankings by a tour's overall gross (that is, the number of tickets sold multiplied by the average ticket price).

Unlike Pollstar's recently revealed Top 20 Worldwide Tours, which saw Guns N' Roses come in at No. 2 and Metallica come in at No. 5, the North American chart ranks Metallica at No. 3, with a total continental gross of $110.3 million from 1.14 million tickets sold. That's two slots ahead of GUNS N' ROSES, who grossed $98 million in North America through sales of more than 836,000 tickets.

Metallica was one of six artists — and one of only two rock acts, the other being Trans-Siberian Orchestra — to sell more than 1 million concert tickets in North America in 2017, a feat they accomplished in just 26 performances.

While Pollstar's full chart can be viewed at this location, using its data to create a "Top 25 North American Hard Rock Tours Of 2017" list (your definition may vary) would yield something along the lines of the below:

01. Metallica ($110.3 million; 1.14 million tickets sold)
02. Guns N' Roses ($98 million; 837,000 tickets sold)
03. Roger Waters ($92.1 million; 756,000 tickets sold)
04. Red Hot Chili Peppers ($67.5 million; 809,000 tickets sold)
05. Trans-Siberian Orchestra ($61.5 million; 1.01 million tickets sold)
06. Bon Jovi ($37.9 million; 446,000 tickets sold)
07. Green Day ($31.7 million; 630,000 tickets sold)
08. Journey ($29.4 million; 379,000 tickets sold)
09. Queen + Adam Lambert ($29 million; 298,000 tickets sold)
10. Def Leppard ($28.6 million; 404,000 tickets sold)
11. Iron Maiden ($21.4 million; 330,000 tickets sold)
12. Foo Fighters ($19.9 million; 219,000 tickets sold)
13. Tool ($19 million; 246,000 tickets sold)
14. Nickelback ($18.8 million; 466,000 tickets sold)
15. Foreigner ($16.5 million; 416,000 tickets sold)
16. A Perfect Circle ($12.8 million; 223,000 tickets sold)
17. ZZ Top ($11.2 million; 173,000 tickets sold)
18. Boston ($10.1 million; 203,000 tickets sold)
19. Steve Miller Band ($10 million; 176,000 tickets sold)
20. The Who ($9.4 million; 66,000 tickets sold)
21. Reo Speedwagon / Styx ($7.7 million; 218,000 tickets sold)
22. Scorpions ($6.2 million; 88,000 tickets sold)
23. Primus ($6 million; 148,000 tickets sold)
24. King Crimson ($5.8 million; 78,000 tickets sold)

https://blabbermouth.net/news/metallica-guns-n-roses-iron-maiden-among-2017s-top-grossing-north-american-tours