Ed Sheeran, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Harry Styles’ music millions glory with epic Australian gigs
Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles and the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Post Malone are rolling in cash after Aussie tours. See how they compare and who has the biggest loot.
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Australian music fans bankrolled a few more mansions for the world’s biggest concert performers in February with Ed Sheeran, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Harry Styles grossing more than $167 million in ticket sales in February.
The stadium extravaganzas from the three superstar drawcards landed them the top three spots on the world concert box office for February, according to the latest Billboard Boxscore report.
Sheeran was way in front with ticket sales from his three shows in New Zealand and then five epic gigs in Australia in Brisbane and Sydney in February generating more than $75 million in earnings.
He is likely to claim the top spot again in March with the two record-breaking MCG concerts, which were attended by 217,500 fans, and Adelaide and Perth shows plus his current run of UK arena gigs in introduce his upcoming new record Subtract.
The Chili Peppers and Post Malone concerts during Australia’s mega month of stadium shows, including two Sydney’s Accor Stadium, two at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium and the final show of the tour at Perth’s Optus Stadium, was No. 2 on the Billboard Boxscore chart with more than $49 million in ticket sales.
And Harry Styles came in at No. 3, earning almost $43 million with his four outdoor gigs in Perth, Melbourne and the Gold Coast during February. He will also feature highly in the March chart thanks to his final Australian shows in Sydney in March.
The Australian legs of world tours by Backstreet Boys, Florence and the Machine and Rod Stewart are on track to rank highly in the Billboard Boxscore for March.
Ticket sales aren’t the only mega earner for these box-office busting acts who would all have generated more millions in income from their merchandise sales as fans endured long queues outside each show to buy a T-shirt, hoodie or tote bag.
ED SHEERAN
No. 1 on Billboard top tours chart for February
Gross ticket sales earnings: $75,711,695
Total attendees: 475,427 at eight shows
The Mathematics world tour, his fourth concert run around the globe, in support of his Equals record and ahead of the release of his Subtract album in May, kicked off almost a year ago in Dublin.
The Shape of You pop moneymaker invested will wind up this tour in America in September.
Billboard reports Sheeran’s shows in New Zealand earned an average of $4 million per night while the Australian gigs generated $7 million per gig.
His three record-breaking concerts at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium also put him at the No. 1 on the Top Boxscores chart, with the Perfect pop star grossing almost $29 million, with his two Sydney gigs at Accor Stadium at No. 2 adding another $28 million worth of sales.
The Mathematics tour is unlikely to eclipse the $1.1 billion earnings of his Divide tour of 2018 to 2019 which was the highest grossing tour of all time until Elton John resumed his marathon five-year Farewell Yellow Brick Road victory lap around the globe which has so far generated more than $1.2 billion at the box office.
But the vision he shared with his late mentor and mate Michael Gudinski to set a new concert crowd record at the MCG, with his shows on March 2 and 3 selling more than a whopping 217,000 tickets, will significantly boost his earnings for the month.
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS WITH POST MALONE
No. 2 on Billboard top tours chart for February
Gross ticket sales earnings: $49,454,242
Total attendees: 262,689 at five shows
The veteran stadium rockers also proved Australia’s music fans spin box office gold for the big gig performers.
Some fans weren’t happy with their setlist because of all the new stuff they played but they couldn’t have complained about the added value for their concert bucks provided by the addition of pop star Post Malone, who won universal praise for his sets.
The Chili Peppers’ pulling power not only in Australia but in Tokyo claimed them four spots in the Top Boxscores charts, which ranks shows based on their performance in one city, with their highest earnings of more than $20 million coming from two shows at Accor Stadium on February 2 and 4.
HARRY STYLES
No. 3 on Billboard top tours chart for February
Gross tickets sales earnings: $43,049,658
Total attendees: 204,112 at five shows
The move to cancel the pandemic-postponed Love on Tour arena shows in Australia and upgrade to stadiums as his Grammy-winning Harry’s House album dominated the global pop charts paid off big time for Styles.
While his February box office earnings also included one arena concert in California, it was two Marvel Stadium shows in Melbourne on February 24 and 25 which landed him at No. 4 on the Total Boxscores chart, earning more than $22 million in ticket sales.
His tour, combined with Sheeran and the Chili Peppers also propelled three Australian venues to be the highest earning box office in the world last month with Sydney’s Accor Stadium at No. 1, Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium at No. 2 and Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium at No.3.
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Originally published as Ed Sheeran, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Harry Styles’ music millions glory with epic Australian gigs
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