MADONNA TOUR SELLING THROUGH

The Madonna tour is on track to be one of the top 10 tours of all time, according to Live Nation Global Touring Chairman Arthur Fogel.

That despite the fact Interscope's MDNA album, after debuting at #1 three weeks ago with nearly 360k in sales, almost half of them redemptions from ticket sales for the tour, has dipped precipitiously since then. Anyway, tours now promote album sales rather than the other way around.

Madonna's upcoming concert tour is the second under Live Nation's 10-year, $120 million, multi-rights deal with the Material Gal, the first being her "Sticky & Sweet" shows in 2008-'09, which grossed a reported $408 million, the third-highest of all time and best ever for a solo recording artist. The new series of shows gets underway May 29 in Tel Aviv, hitting the U.S. in Philadelphia Aug. 28.

At the moment, a total of 76 Madonna shows at arenas and stadiums are on sale in North America (43) and Europe (33). More than 1.4 million tickets have been sold, 600k in the U.S., banking about $214 million for an average of around $2.7 million per show at stadiums and arenas.

Fogel told billboard.biz: "This tour is completely on track to end up in the Top 10 tours of all time, especially considering we haven't put South America or Australia on sale. When this tour is said and done, combined with 'Sticky and Sweet,' you're talking $750 million in gross ticket sales."

According to Fogel, Madonna has sold 46,000 tickets in Istanbul, 44,000 in Milan, 39,000 in Florence; 42,000 in Edinburgh, 40,000 in Helsinki and 51,000 in Paris in addition to selling out two arenas in Barcelona, two in Berlin and two in Amsterdam.

"She's at the top of her game and she ain't goin' away," he concludes.