Elton John’s Farewell Tour Becomes First to Earn $900 Million – Billboard

Here’s one more for the record books. Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour has done a lot since launching in September 2018. It topped Billboard’s inaugural monthly Top Tours ranking in February 2019, and then again six more times. It crowned the 2020 year-end ranking as well, making the most of an abridged tracking period, in addition to top five placements in 2019 and 2022, plus a No. 2 rank on the recent midyear 2023 ranking.

In January, it became the highest grossing tour in Boxscore history, passing Ed Sheeran’s The Divide Tour. In doing so, it was the first tour to gross more than $800 million. And now, less than two weeks before wrapping for good, it’s the first to cross yet another milestone.

According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour has now grossed $910.4 million through June 18, making it the first tour to ever break the $900 million barrier. Behind it are previous record-holders Sheeran with $776.4 million, and U2’s U2 360 Tour with $736.4 million. That separates John from his closest competitors by $134 million.

This update is led by three shows at Manchester’s AO Arena ($7.4 million; 44,200 tickets) and another three at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena ($6.6 million; 38,500 tickets). John’s current European arena leg has earned $89.6 million over 41 shows so far. There are eight shows left to report on the Farewell Yellow Brick Road, likely adding another $15 million to $20 million to an already record-breaking run.

These new reports push John’s career Boxscore total past 20 million tickets, dating back to reports from 1986. That’s inclusive of 1,437 headline shows, plus co-headline dates alongside Billy Joel, James Taylor, and more.