rock stars

U2 Named Top Tour Earners in 2009; Grossed $123 Million

Filed under: Wealth

We don't often talk about rock stars on Luxist unless they are in our Estate of the Day category or designing a fashion line. But I think it's worth noting that U2, long known for serious touring, was named the top-grossing North American touring act of 2009. According to concert tracker Pollstar, U2 grossed $123 million, selling more than 1.3 million tickets for its 360 Tour. The tour spanned across the United States in every major city last year, and is now gearing up to cross the ocean for Europe this year. (I saw them at Giants Stadium last fall, and it was worth every penny.)

Pollstar noted that the touring business boomed last year, despite the economy.

Below are the rest of the top 10. You also can read the full Pollstar article for more details, plus the other 40 acts in the top 50.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - $94.5 million
Elton John and Billy Joel - $88 million
Britney Spears - $82.5 million
AC/DC - $77.9 million
Kenny Chesney - $71.1 million
Jonas Brothers - $69.8 million
Dave Matthews Band - $56.9 million
Fleetwood Mac - $54.4 million
Metallica - $53.4 million

Sidenote: U2.com has a new selection of lithographs from the 360 Tour. Each runs $100.

[Via Hollyscoop]

Tags: concerts, music, rock star, rock stars, RockStar, RockStars, tour, U2

Planning a Party? Rent A Rockstar!

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Celebrity Shopping

We mentioned that singer George Michael was hired to play at a New Year's party in Russia for $3 million. What we didn't mention is that he was at the party for just over an hour. This is a classic example of the luxury party trend of renting rockstars (or other celebrities) to show up at parties. Christina Aguilera, Bette Midler and Robin Williams have done over the top birthday parties. 50 Cent and Aerosmith have done multimillion-dollar bat mitsvahs. "It's common knowledge that Bruce Springsteen and U2 won't do it," said the head of the corporate and private events division for Creative Artists Agency, but just about everyone else will.

The artists may be doing it for the money (at thousands of dollars per minute, who wouldn't?), but they're also making some people really happy by appearing at their special event. Is it worth the payout on the part of the consumer? That's for you to decide the next time you're throwing a million dollar birthday party.

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Tags: celebrities, celebs, events, parties, rock stars, Rockstar