Bruce concert boss
Springsteen tops '03 tour revs at $116 mil
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Springsteen scored $115.9 million in the U.S., besting second-place finisher Celine Dion by $35 million in ticket revenue. Dion, however, earned her entire $80.5 million performing 145 shows at the Coliseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Springsteen and the E Street Band did 47 concerts, including 13 stadium shows in the New York area.
Pollstar magazine, which tracks the concert promotion industry and released the figures, predicted 2003 will be the fourth record-setting year in a row, with around $2.4 billion in concert business.
The top 10 chart, filled with veteran acts such as Springsteen, Cher, the Eagles, Dixie Chicks and Simon & Garfunkel, has little in common with the list of musicians topping the chart of bestselling CDs this year.
"That's not necessarily unusual," said Don Law, president of the music division of Clear Channel Entertainment. "The top 20 sales picture is not one of necessarily strong concert acts."
Law said a history of hits is key to which artists make the top 10. "The safest tour is when an artist does a greatest-hits tour. That's the easiest thing to do."
While Fleetwood Mac was promoting a new album, other top 10 touring acts were doing hits or were deep into a second go-round of shows that had fully assimilated new material, Springsteen's "The Rising" being a case in point.
Among those delivering hits were the Eagles ($69.3 million), Cher ($68.2 million), Simon & Garfunkel ($64.5 million), Aerosmith and Kiss ($64 million) and Billy Joel and Elton John ($50.9 million).
Simon & Garfunkel's most recent reunion tour had the highest per-ticket average price, $136.90, while Kenny Chesney was the lowest in the top 20 at $35.76.
Springsteen's income was second only to the Rolling Stones on the all-time list; Keith, Mick and the boys nabbed $121.2 million in 1994. The Stones brought in $38.5 million this year as their "40 Licks" tour wound down to rank 14th, behind Shania Twain, who made $40.8 million. Toby Keith was the top country act, at $44.2 million, while 50 Cent was the lone rapper in the top 25, at $23 million.
