Pick a Day

Music History Events: Lotsa Money

July 8, 2023 Elton John wraps up his farewell tour with a show in Stockholm. The trek started in 2018 and played to over 6 million fans in 22 countries. It sets the mark for highest-grossing tour with over $900 million, a record broken months later by Taylor Swift's Eras tour.

November 22, 2019 Pollstar publishes their list of the top touring artists of the 2010s in North America. U2 is on top with a gross of $1,038,104,132, followed by The Rolling Stones ($929,196,083), Ed Sheeran ($922,361,663), Taylor Swift ($899,627,048) and Bon Jovi ($868,715,392).

June 3, 2019 Forbes declares Jay-Z a billionaire, making him the first rapper to hit that mark. $310 million of his fortune comes from his stake in Armand de Brignac champagne.

October 7, 2016 The Rolling Stones play the first night of the Desert Trip festival, which also features Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and the Who. The six-day (split over two weekends) event rakes in $160 million, making it the highest-earning music festival ever.More

August 6, 2012 Forbes declares Beyoncé and Jay-Z the highest-paid celebrity couple, with earnings of $78 million ($40 million for her, $38 for him). At #2 is Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady with $72 million.

December 18, 2009 Pollstar declares Dave Matthews Band the highest-grossing touring artist of the 2010s in North America, with about $530 million in earnings. Their secret: contant touring and affordable tickets. The rest of the Top 5: 2) Celine Dion 3) Kenny Chesney 4) Bruce Springsteen 5) The Rolling Stones

April 3, 2008 Jay-Z joins Madonna and U2 in signing a huge contract with Live Nation; he scores a 360 deal that includes his own label.More

August 26, 2007 The Rolling Stones wrap up their A Bigger Bang tour at the O2 Arena in London. The tour lasted two years and sets a new record with a gross of $558 million.

October 25, 2006 Forbes declares Kurt Cobain the top-earning dead celebrity, beating out Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Johnny Cash, George Harrison, Ray Charles, and Bob Marley.More

April 30, 2005 Cher wraps up her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour with a show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Running nearly three years, the tour brings in over $200 million, making it the highest earning tour in history for a female artist, a record that stands until Madonna's 2008-2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour. Retirement doesn't suit Cher: She tours again in 2014 and in 2018.

November 18, 2003 John Lennon's original, handwritten lyrics to "Nowhere Man" are auctioned at Christie's for $455,000.

June 24, 2000 Kiss auction off $888,000 worth of costumes, instruments and tour memorabilia, including Gene Simmons' Psycho Circus tourwear (including codpiece), which goes for $32,200.

June 18, 2000 The Experience Music Project, a museum including permanent exhibitions on Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana, opens in Seattle.More

August 23, 1994 For no apparent reason the British duo The KLF burn £1 million on the Isle of Jura in Scotland.More

June 6, 1992 Guns N' Roses' "November Rain" video debuts on MTV. The 9-minute epic is the most expensive video ever made to this point, costing $1.5 million. Much of the budget was spent constructing a church in the desert so Slash could solo in front of it.

September 9, 1988 It's the finale of a 4-day "garage sale" where Elton John cleans house, which in his case looks like a high-end Hoarders. Among the items sold are the boots he wore in the movie Tommy and his Statue of Liberty stage costume that the 41-year-old feels he has outgrown. The take is $6.2 million.

November 18, 1987 Sony reaches an agreement to buy CBS Records, which includes Columbia, Portrait and Epic, for $2 billion. Artists on these labels include Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, and Bruce Springsteen (putting Born In The U.S.A. in the hands of a Japanese company).

August 14, 1985 Three years after their duet "The Girl Is Mine," Paul McCartney advises Michael Jackson to invest in publishing. Jackson makes a winning bid of $47.5 million for the rights to over 250 Lennon-McCartney Beatles songs owned by ATV publishing, which turns out to be a great investment, but kills their friendship.More

May 28, 1983 Apple's Steve Wozniak hosts the second US Festival, intending it to be the "Super Bowl of rock." The lineup is even more impressive than that of its 1982 predecessor, and the attendance is substantially larger. Wozniak splurges on David Bowie with two million dollars of his own money, simply because he "really loves him."More

September 3, 1982 Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak throws the US Festival "for a few thousand friends" in hopes of uniting people through music and technology. A crowd of at least 200,000 shows up in the blistering heat of San Bernardino, California, for three days of music, tech-geekery, and dust... a whole lot of dust. Fleetwood Mac, performing for the first time in two years, headlines a bill that also includes The Police and the Grateful Dead.More

September 25, 1981 The Rolling Stones start their US tour with a concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, where they play to a crowd of 90,000. The tour is sponsored by musk maker Jovan, establishing a new paradigm for corporate involvement.More

April 2, 2024 Forbes declares Taylor Swift a billionaire, making her the first musician to hit that mark just with her music and performances, not through investments or other ventures. Rihanna, for instance, is a billionaire largely because of her Fenty beauty line.

December 11, 2023 Taylor Swift's Eras tour becomes the first to gross over $1 billion, hitting the mark in the first 60 shows, according to Pollstar's report. The previous record holder was Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which took in $939 million in 328 shows from 2018-2023.

July 20, 2023 Before his show in Toronto, Post Malone meets with fan Brook Trafton, who found the one-of-a-kind "One Ring" Magic: The Gathering card, and agrees to buy it for $2 million.

January 21, 2023 Beyoncé plays a private show in Dubai, her first full concert in four years, for a reported $24 million. Her 11-year-old daughter Blue Ivy joins her on "Brown Skin Girl," the first live performance of the song.

February 21, 2008 Paul Mawhinney's collection of 3 million vinyl records, amassed over 40 years while he owned a record store in Pittsburgh, is sold on eBay for $3,002,150. The bid is a sham, however, and Mawhinney holds onto his collection until 2013, when he sells it to the Brazilian collector Zero Freitas.

October 31, 2007 Elvis Presley tops the annual Forbes magazine list of most profitable dead celebrities, his estate having taken in $49 million over the past year. John Lennon makes the #2 spot; George Harrison, James Brown, and Bob Marley also make the list.

October 4, 2006 Barbra Streisand's tour-opening performance at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center is the highest single event gross in the 10-year history of the arena. Streisand grosses $5,265,600 from 16,510 attendants.

November 21, 2003 The acoustic guitar on which George Harrison learned how to play is sold at a London auction for 276,000 pounds. The original price of the guitar: three and one-half pounds.

November 14, 2000 The Offspring celebrate the release of their album Conspiracy of One by giving $1 million to 14-year-old Ashley Hitchcock, who by downloading their single "Original Prankster" was entered to win. Hitchcock beats out three other finalists in an Offspring trivia contest broadcast on MTV to take the prize. She wins by identifying Noodles as the oldest member of the band.