Beyoncé’s On the Run II tour with Jay-Z grossed $13.8 million for two MetLife Stadium shows. (Getty Images)
Among the hottest acts on stage during 2018’s summertime stretch, two tours power their way to the top of the list: Taylor Swift’s massive Reputation stadium tour and On the Run II, Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s second joint trek in North America and Europe. Each tour owns five of the 10 highest-grossing Hot Tickets during the July 16-Aug. 15 time period.
Both tours scored their highest box office counts at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., with sellouts on multiple nights. Swift’s $22 million gross from her shows July 20-22 takes the No. 1 ranking in the category of venues over 15,000 seats. Jay-Z and Beyoncé land at No. 4 in the same category with their $13.8 million take at the New York-area stadium on Aug. 2-3.
Swift has now reached $188 million in sales from North American cities since kicking off her tour May 8. With 27 performances at 16 stadiums, the pop star has drawn over 1.4 million fans – and that’s just in the U.S. and Canada. She also played six shows in the U.K. and Ireland in June, but those totals have not yet been reported to VenuesNow affiliated publication Pollstar.
The overall gross for Jay-Z and Beyoncé tops $151 million based on box office reports from 29 shows at 23 venues. The couple moved 1.3 million tickets in the opening 15-city European leg of OTR II along with the first eight cities stateside. Four years ago, their inaugural On the Run co-headlining jaunt played 16 North American stadiums and one in Europe, grossing $109 million from 21 concerts.
More LIVE! highlights:
The journey-def leppard tour takes two slots in the 10,001-15,000 category on Hot Tickets with concerts at arenas in the Midwestern U.S. The bands have earned over $50 million so far this summer on their joint North American tour.
· Concerts by Dave Matthews Band, Jason Aldean and a co-headlining turn by Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town earn the Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, Fla., the No. 1 ranking on Top Stops in the 10,001-15,000 group. Since April the venue has sold 51,724 tickets for six events.
· English singer-songwriter James Bay lands two shows on Hot Tickets from a brief Australian stint in July. He performed for sellout crowds at Sydney’s State Theatre and Hamer Hall in Melbourne, moving 4,229 tickets.