Bruce Springsteen, Roger Waters + More Make List of 2012’s Top 25 Tours
With 2012 coming to a close, Billboard has taken the time to compile the numbers from this year's tours, and the two musicians who played the 12-12-12 Hurricane Sandy benefit show on Wednesday, Bruce Springsteen and Roger Waters, placed very high on their list.
With a gross of just under $200 million, Springsteen and the E Street Band came in at No. 2. He performed 72 shows to 2,165,925 fans on his 'Wrecking Ball' Tour, with 54 sellouts. However, nine other shows were performed after Billboard's cut-off date of Nov. 13, 2012.
Touring behind a new production of 'The Wall,' Waters was directly behind Springsteen in third place, bringing in $186 million while playing to 1,680,042 people on 72 nights, 51 of which were sellouts. Although 33 shows in North America and Japan were cancelled due to various health reasons, Van Halen's 'A Different Kind of Truth' tour still did well enough to finish in eighth place. The 46 shows -- with nine sellouts -- played to 522,296 fans an grossed more than $54 million.
For the record, Madonna topped the list, selling out all 72 concerts and bringing in $228 million, with 1,635,176 in attendance. Two other classic artists, Elton John and Rod Stewart, came in at Nos. 19 and 21, respectively, with both stars pulling in more than $30 million.