Pop Music Concert Tours 2004---"America Partied Like It Was 1989"

[Crankie Avalon]

Prince, Madonna Tours Top Draws in Difficult Year

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In a dismal year for the touring industry, with ticket prices soaring and seats going unsold, music fans in North America partied like it was 1989 as Prince and Madonna (news - web sites) topped the concert box office.

According to freshly tabulated estimates provided by concert trade publication Pollstar, Prince sold $87.4 million in tickets in 2004, while Madonna earned $79.5 million. Prince also worked a bit harder for his payday, playing 96 shows, compared with 39 for Madonna.

Canadian pop singer Celine Dion (news) actually topped Madonna by about $900,000, but her haul came exclusively from 154 dates performed at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as part of a four-year engagement at the casino.

Next on Pollstar's list were hard rock warriors Metallica (news - web sites) ($60.5 million), singer-comedienne Bette Midler (news) ($59.4 million), reunited rock band Van Halen ($54.3 million) and country singer Kenny Chesney ($50.8 million).

Among all-time tours, Prince's "Musicology" road show ranks eighth. The Rolling Stones, expected to return to the road in the summer, top the list with sales of $121.2 million from their 1994 tour.

It was a good year for Prince, 46, whose idiosyncratic ways had taken him out of the mainstream for a decade. In February, he performed at the Grammys; in March, he stole the show at his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony and hit the road to play sold-out arenas.

But most musicians found the going tough. "With few exceptions, every act had some places where they didn't do well," Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni told Reuters.

More: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/leisure_music_dc

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Who knew??? Not me, at least. Maybe I'm wrong, but my imagination makes me think seeing these shows must be a little like going to see Cats or Phantom of the Opera or something.

[name not needed]

1. Celine Dion topped Metallica and Van Halen?

:wtf:

[AllegroRondo]

3. Have you seen what she charges for tickets?

My mom went - and paid about $200 each, for mediocre seats.

I wouldn't count her, shes not really 'on tour', just performing in Vegas.

[ET Awful]

4. It's not really her charging that, it's the casino, that's not too far

off the cost of other Vegas shows.

[TlalocW]

2. Good to see Prince back on top...

"In your face, Charlie Murphy."

(Chappelle Show watchers will get that)

TlalocW

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. No disposable income.

Record companies have gone from a $44 Billion/year industry to $27Billion/year. Ticket prices are ridiculous, but part of that is due to show insurance costs.

People are getting hit hard with wage destruction. No wonder that things were soft.

[Beer Snob-50]

6. always liked prince's music eom

[mattclearing]

7. I dropped double the ticket price for Musicology tickets.

I would have paid more had I known what I was in for. To think I almost missed it.

If it weren't for Pink Floyd '94 and Paul McCartney '02, this would have been the BEST. CONCERT. EVER.