ED SHEERAN SETS CONCERT B.O. RECORD

Ed Sheeran pulled in the highest tour gross for an artist in a single year, according to Pollstar, which released its year-end charts today. Taylor Swift, Eagles and a veteran who only played one venue in all of 2018 made the Top 10 in the U.S.

Worldwide, Sheeran pulled in $432.4m with nearly 4.9m tickets sold at 94 shows, easily topping U2’s record of $316m set last year.

Swift was behind him at $345.1m from 53 shows globally and #1 on the North America list; $277.3m of her box office was earned Stateside. In addition, six of her multiple-show runs were the highest-grossing concerts of the year, beginning with a three-night stand at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., that pulled in $22m.

The Jay Z-Beyonce 48-show tour grossed $254.1m; they were the only other act in the Top 10 of Top Concert Grosses besides Swift. P!nk, Bruno Mars and Eagles were bunched together on grosses just under $170m as each act in the Top 10 topped $100m in ticket sales.

The average ticket price was by far Bruce Springsteen’s $508.93 for his Springsteen on Broadway run at the Walter Kerr Theater. His $88.3m gross this year put him ninth on the U.S. list.

San Francisco’s Outside Lands was the top grossing festival at $27.7m and Live Nation, not surprisingly, was tops in most tickets sold by a promoter with 49.5m.

Their full year-end report can be found here.