As they approach their 60th anniversary, The Rolling Stones remain one of the biggest rock bands in the world: in fact, new statistics made available by US live music/ticketing bible Pollstar reveal that the Stones’ on-going No Filter tour was the highest grossing tour of 2021. selling 516,624 tickets across a 12-date, 11-city run, grossing $115.5 million.
Pollstar’s stats for the Stones’ live business across the decades make for astonishing reading. It’s suggested that the band’s1994-1995 Voodoo Lounge tour grossed $320 million and sold 6.4 million tickets, while their 2005-2007 Bigger Bang Tour grossed $558 million from sales of 4.7 million tickets. Pollstar’s figure estimate that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ band accumulated $870 million in the aughts, $929 million in the teens and $800 million in the '90s, so a tidy $2.6 billion over those decades.
Back to 2021, and the Green Day/Fall Out Boy/Weezer Hella Mega Tour banked $67.3 million, selling 659,062 tickets over a 20-date trek, with an average ticket costing $102.09. Guns N' Roses placed at number seven on the list, pulling $47.3 million for the year, selling 351,339 tickets over 23 shows in 21 cities: the average ticket cost here was more expensive, at $134.75.
Other rock bands who enjoyed a successful 2021 on the road include Kiss (number 30 on the list, with a $16.9 million gross), Slipknot (number 42, $12.3 million) and Korn (48, $10.3 million).
Pollstar’s full detailed exploration of the gobal live music circuit in 2021 can be viewed online.
