The Rolling Stones were the highest-earning live act of 2021
Harry Styles came in second place followed by Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer with their joint 'Hella Mega Tour'
By Tom Skinner
The Rolling Stones have been named the highest-earning touring act of the year.
The legendary band performed 14 stadium shows as part of their ‘No Filter’ US tour, which spanned a two-month period between September 26 and November 23, 2021.
According to figures from Pollstar, the Stones brought in $115.5million (£87.3m) from selling 516,000 tickets to the concerts. (Two of the 14 gigs fell outside of Pollstar’s chart year, its official website states.)
“It’s a testament to all of the people who were out on the road and on our team,” explained John Meglen, president and co-CEO of Concerts West, The Rolling Stones’ promoter.
“You have to give every single person out there credit for a ton of buckling down and saying, ‘Let’s go out and get this thing done,’ because we all wanted to get it done. We didn’t want to lose a show. And we’re watching all the others out there and going, ‘Man, they’re not taking it serious enough.’”
The Rolling Stones received an average revenue of $10million (£7.5m) per date on the complete ‘No Filter’ 2021 stint.
Meglen told Pollstar of the strict COVID protocols that were implemented on the tour, including “a very, very strict bubble” and “daily or every-other-day testing”. “We had to be very, very strict,” he continued. “At the show in LA, my wife was up in the suite, but I couldn’t go up and see her.”
Harry Styles followed the Stones in second place after bringing in £65.5million from his ‘Love On Tour’ run of dates. The former One Direction member made £6.1million from a three-night billing at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer came in third with their joint ‘Hella Mega Tour’ shows, which made £50.8 million. Meanwhile, Eagles (£44.7million) and Dead & Company (£37.9million) appeared at Number Four and Number Five respectively.
Los Bukis (£37.5 million) were in sixth place followed by Guns N’ Roses, who made £35.7 million from touring in 2021. The Dave Matthews Band (£34.7 million) came in at Number Eight, with Phis (£33.5 million) and the Jonas Brothers (£32.1 million) at Number Nine and 10 respectively.
The Rolling Stones’ drummer Charlie Watts died on August 24, just one month before the group were scheduled to hit the road. Steve Jordan, who had initially stepped in so Watts could recover from a medical procedure, took over as a permanent touring member.
Mick Jagger and co. paid tribute to their late bandmate during the opening show of their ‘No Filter’ tour in St. Louis, Missouri. Images of Watts also appeared on giant screens to open the performance.
“This is our first-ever tour we’ve ever done without him,” Jagger told the audience. “We’ll miss Charlie so much, on and off the stage.”
Last month, Keith Richards revealed that Charlie Watts’ passing made him think about the end of The Rolling Stones for the first time.