Elton John Sells Out First 60 Shows with in minutes

Elton John has sold out the first 60 shows of his retirement tour – within hours. This means that he may well gross more than the $400 million initially forecast for more than 300 shows across five continents. The initial batch of tickets for the North American leg went on sale today, February 2, and were snapped up at once. More dates will now be added to the three-year Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour announced on January 24 in New York.

“We are working closely with AEG to make sure more cities and additional concerts in sold out markets are added in North America wherever and whenever possible,” Sir Elton said in an e-mailed statement. AEG Presents, promoters of the global tour, will be sharing additional dates next week, said company Chairman and CEO Jay Marciano. The extra gigs will be announced on the star’s website.

The British musician, 70, currently grosses $1.4 million per tour stop, according to touring industry bible Pollstar. That pace translates into $420 million in ticket sales over 300 dates. However, extra dates will boost the figure, as will the last-chance aspect driving up ticket prices. He earned $60 million in 2017.

Elton John is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time, with 38 gold records and 31 platinum and multi-platinum albums, more than 50 Top 40 hits, and more than 300 million records sold worldwide.

The tour will start in the U.S. on September 8, 2018, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It will also hit North America, Europe, Asia, South America and Australasia before its scheduled end in 2021. John will visit North America multiple times within that period.

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Elton John introduces his farewell tour

Other farewell tours by veteran musicians have also grossed premium amounts, with secondary resale values surging on the prospect of the shows being the last ever. While a number of acts been reported as bowing out – Kiss and the Eagles among them – only to tour again, others have been firmer in their commitments, such as  Mötley Crüe, which said its members had signed a cessation of touring agreement before its 158-date Final Tour which grossed more than $86 million.

John is insistent that this is his last tour after 50 years of being on the road. He has delivered more than 4,000 performances in about 80 countries since 1970. He wants to send more time with his husband and children and plans to continue writing, composing and recording. He has not ruled out a residency.

A final tour revenue exceeding half a billion dollars would put it as among the ten highest-grossing tours of all time and possibly close to Guns N’ Roses (so far, about $475 million for Not In This Lifetime) and Roger Waters with The Wall Live ($459 million). The top tours remain U2’s 360 Tour ($736 million), the Rolling Stones with A Bigger Bang ($558 million) and Coldplay’s A Head Full Of Dreams ($523 million).

Tour costs and taxes will eat into John’s take-home pay, but with a typical rock star getting a third of total gross, the figure may top $80 million even before any extra revenue from merchandise or later live recordings.

John’s 2017 greatest-hits abum Diamonds celebrates 50 years of his songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin.

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