Elton John’s farewell tour is the highest-grossing concert series of all time.
Having launched in 2018, the Tiny Dancer star’s ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ shows will continue through the summer, with 278 gigs performed so far.
According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, he has already grossed $817.9 million, making it the first tour to cross the $800 million benchmark.
The milestone sees him smash the record initially set by Ed Sheeran in 2019, when his ‘Divide’ tour grossed $776.4 million on the back of a 258-show run. Previous leader, U2’s ‘The 360 Tour’, grossed $736.4 million.
While the majority of those artists’ revenue was generated by playing largely stadium shows, Elton’s concerts have mostly taken place in arenas, with him grossing $268.2 million over 116 shows in the first three North American legs. Meanwhile, his stadium shows from July-November 2022 in the region generated $222.1 million in just 33 gigs.
European stadium gigs grossed $69.2 million compared with $49.9 million arena shows, despite him playing fewer concerts.
Although Elton comes out on top with his financials, both Ed and U2 have still outsold Elton; the Rocket Man star has shifted 5.3 million tickets, also ranking him behind the Rolling Stones’ 1994-95 ‘Voodoo Lounge’ tour, Coldplay’s ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ concerts in 2016-17, and Guns N’ Roses’ 2016-19 ‘Not In This Lifetime…’ concerts.
Elton will return to Europe with a final leg of dates in the spring, beginning at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on March 28, following shows in North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Among the forthcoming dates, he’s set to close out this year’s Glastonbury festival with a massive headline performance on Sunday, June 25.
