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Ed sheeran’s record-breaking divide tour totals $775.6 million, beating u2, guns n’ roses.

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BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - AUGUST 07: Ed Sheeran performs on stage at Sziget Festival on August 7, 2019 in ... [+] Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Didier Messens/Redferns)

The final figures are in from Ed Sheeran’s record-breaking Divide Tour. The British singer-songwriter achieved an overall gross of $775.6 million from 8.9 million tickets sold on six continents. The tour was already confirmed as the highest-grossing tour of all time, beating U2, Guns N’ Roses, the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Roger Waters, AC/DC, Madonna and P!nk. The figures from Pollstar also reveal how Sheeran achieved this milestone.

Sheeran was at No. 5 in the Forbes list of 2019 Celebrity 100 Earnings , as of July, with $110 million. This was based on the two-year Divide Tour grossing more than $600 million worldwide.

Sheeran reached No. 1 on the list of the all-time top-grossing tours on August 2 with the first night of a two-show run at Messegelände in Hannover, Germany. Sales from the first show took the tour’s gross to $736.8 million, surpassing the record held by U2 for eight years.

The Irish band earned $735.3 million on the two-year 360 Tour from 2009 through 2011.

Sheeran’s final show, on Monday, August 26, was at Chantry Park in Ipswich, England, near his hometown. It was part of a four-night stand that alone grossed $12.9 million on 139,984 tickets.

The takings are all the most extraordinary given the Sheeran, 28, does his shows with just a guitar and without the multiple effects, costume changes, dancers and backing musicians favored by other pop performers.

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Among Sheeran’s achievements on the tour are:

Australia & New Zealand : Highest ticket sales for a single concert tour in both countries.

Iceland: The biggest shows in Iceland’s history with one in seven of the population attending.

Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur : Biggest concert in its history.

South Africa : Biggest ever and highest-grossing tour with 225,000 tickets sold.

Pollstar’s Top-Grossing Tours of All-Time

Artist, Tour Name, Year(s), Gross (in millions), Tickets Sold (in millions), number of shows

1. Ed Sheeran - Divide - 2017-2019 - $775.6 - 8.9 - 255

2. U2 - 360 - 2009-2011 - $735.3 - 7.2 - 110

3. Guns N’ Roses - Not In This Lifetime... - 2016-ongoing - $561.1 - 5.1 - 145

4. The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang - 2005-2007 - $558.2 - 4.6 - 144

5. Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams - 2017-2017 - $523.0 - 5.3 - 114

6. Roger Waters - The Wall Live - 2010-2013 - $460.2 - 4.1 - 220

7. AC/DC - Black Ice - 2008-2010 - $441.9 - 4.9 - 165

8. Madonna - Sticky & Sweet - 2008-2009 - $411.1 - 3.5 - 85

9. U2 - Vertigo - 2005-2006 - $395.6 - 4.6 - 131

10. P!nk - Beautiful Trauma - 2018-ongoing - $380.3 - 3.0 – 154

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Ed Sheeran’s Divide world tour becomes highest-grossing of all time

Ed Sheeran’s world tour has become the highest-grossing tour in history, and you won’t believe how much he’s made.

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Ed Sheeran’s rocked his way into the record books after his Divide World tour grossed the biggest profit of all time.

The British singer, 28, has earned an incredible £608.2 million ($AU1.08 billion) from his global shows, according to Pollstar.

Ed’s new record surpasses U2, who previously held the accolade with their 360 Tour earning them £607 million.

He still has ten more sold out shows to perform before his epic run ends in August with a final gig in his home country.

When asked about his feat, Ed said he felt “lucky” and thanked his fans for their support. Ed said: “I just found out the Divide Tour is set to be the highest-grossing tour of all time — this is amazing.

“I feel very lucky to have experienced all of the wonderful countries and crowds over the past two and a half years. Thank you to the fans and everyone who made it possible.”

Industry expert Ray Waddell, president of OVG’s Media & Conferences, which oversees Pollstar said Ed had created a “new touring paradigm” and admitted it was unlikely any other act would be able to break his record.

He added: “In all my years covering the business, it’s amazing to see an artist like Sheeran, at the age of 28, create a new touring paradigm and achieve a touring record that may not be broken in this lifetime. And he still has a lot more to do.”

Ed’s manager, Stuart Camp, said of his achievement: “I thought we might have a shot at having the highest attendance record but not the highest-grossing tour.

“’I don’t think there’s much of a coincidence that my favourite band growing up was U2.

“I’m not putting us at that level because they’ve obviously maintained they’re career for much longer, but to even be in the same ballpark as them or spoken in the same sentence with a touring act like that is very humbling.”

Just 18 months ago Ed, who’s married to his childhood sweetheart Cherry Seaborn, admitted that if he hadn’t have struggled with poverty and homelessness in his youth, he believed his career would have bombed.

He slept rough outside Buckingham Palace between 2008 and 2010 and kipped on friends’ sofas when times were hard.

Ed said at the time: “To be a successful you have to be broke. Music is a really weird thing. It has to be zero or 100.

“You make nothing and then you make a lot. To be a successful musician you have to be broke. You have to spend two or three years living on strangers’ couches.

“The only ones that I know who have not made it, are the ones who have a Plan B. I had never made music for money, so now money and success have come in, it makes your life better, more comfortable, but it is not what drives you.”

Ed’s fortune is now estimated to be close to one billion pounds, thanks to his record-breaking tour, sales and royalties.

This story was on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission

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Ed Sheeran's Divide Tour is now the highest-grossing concert tour of all time

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Move aside, U2: there's a new all-time highest-grossing concert tour in town.

Ed Sheeran's Divide Tour on Friday is projected to officially set the new record for highest-grossing concert tour ever, The Associated Press reports . A Hannover, Germany show on Friday will put him over the top, confirmed Pollstar, getting the tour to $736.7 million in revenue.

This will put Sheeran's tour just beyond the record of $735.4 million generated by the U2 360° Tour, which ended in 2011. These numbers don't adjust for inflation, however. Sheeran's tour has also lasted longer than the U2 one; it will have gone 893 days by the time it wraps up in August, while U2's was 760 days. Sheeran's tour had previously passed U2's in terms of tickets sold.

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Sheeran in a statement celebrated the news as "amazing," per the AP . He had evidently set his sights on accomplishing this feat long ago, with agent Louis Messina telling The Wall Street Journal in June , "He told me before the tour even started — I want to break U2's record."

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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Ed Sheeran sets all-time highest-grossing tour record at $736M

Sheeran tops the previous record set by u2 in 2011.

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Ed Sheeran's Divide Tour is one for the record books.

Trade publication, Pollstar, confirms the 28-year-old British singer's tour will set the all-time highest-grossing tour record with Friday's show in Hannover, Germany.

Pollstar forecasts the total gross to this point of $736.7 million US will top the previous record of $735.4 million US set by U2 in 2011.

In a statement, Sheeran calls it "amazing."

The Divide Tour launched on Mar. 16, 2017 and is due to end on Aug. 26. That's 893 days compared to the 760 days U2 spent on the road.

Sheeran's tour topped U2's attendance record of 7.3 million on May 24 in France with a total attendance of 7,315,970.

Sheeran released his No.6 Collaborations Projec t album in July, featuring collaborations with  Justin Bieber , Stormzy , Eminem, 50 Cent and Bruno Mars .

During their tour in 2011, U2 were the top touring band in the world, repeating their globe-topping haul from 2009, according to Pollstar.

Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift and Roger Waters were also big ticket sellers on the concert circuit at the time.

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Ed Sheeran Sets Record For Highest-Grossing Tour

On Friday, musician Ed Sheeran broke the record for the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, beating U2's mark.

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Ed Sheeran’s earnings revealed as huge stadium tour continues

Ed Sheeran’s estimated earnings on his last stadium tour have been revealed by Forbes magazine, as his stadium tour continues.

The Shape of You hitmaker kicked off his year-long stadium tour with two huge gigs in Croke Park over the weekend, and is set to continue the tour in Ireland over the next two weekends — heading to Cork’s Páirc Uí Caoimh and Limerick’s Thomond Park.

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The two Croker shows gained acclaim from fans and critics alike, with Ed himself saying that they were probably some of his favourite gigs ever.

And while the official earning figures aren’t going to be revealed until after the tour has finished, earnings from 2019’s Divide tour are able to paint a rough estimate on just how much Ed could be earning from his shows this time around.

According to Forbes magazine, Ed’s Divide tour — which was a total of 255 shows including several in Dublin, Cork and Galway — saw the singer take home a cool $776million gross from a total of 8.9million tickets sold.

Taking on this massive figure, the revenue generated shows that Ed is making as much as just over $3million per show — roughly €2.8million.

While the Divide tour had far more dates than this tour, it’s safe to say that Ed could be making a similar figure per show to what he earned the last time he performed around the world.

Ed admitted that he was ‘nervous’ as he kicked off the Mathematics tour in a packed Croke Park, but was delighted that he was able to get touring again after the past two years ravaged the live events industry.

‘I’m so happy things like this are back on,’ Ed said over the sound of thousands of screaming fans. ‘Aren’t you happy? I’ve forgot how big this venue is and how amazing an Irish crowd can be. I was so nervous. Now I’m out here, I’m so excited.’

Ed’s two shows in Croke Park were just two of his eight huge stadium shows across both the Republic and Northern Ireland — with Ed heading to Cork’s Páirc Uí Caoimh this weekend, before going to Limerick’s Thomond Park and Belfast’s Boucher Road over the next two weeks.

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These Are the 15 Highest Grossing Tours Ever

For those familiar with the landscape of the music business , you are likely familiar with the notion that touring is the biggest money-maker for artists, especially those signed to major labels. Well, it's true. Today, we'll be covering the highest grossing tours in the history of music.

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While this list is sure to change in the future, as of right now, these are currently the fifteen highest grossing tours ever. You might not guess who found their way to the number one spot.

15. Bruno Mars - 24K Magic World Tour

Tour Profit: $367.7M

Years Active: 2017 - 2018

Bruno Mars' 24K Magic World Tour had a very impressive run in the late 2010's. It boasted over three million attendees total, and averaged over $1.8M in gross revenue per show. Anderson .Paak opened for his future Silk Sonic partner on the European leg of this world tour.

14. U2 - Vertigo Tour

Tour Profit: $389M

Years Active: 2005 - 2006

U2's Vertigo Tour was built out to further push their album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb , and it succeeded, to say the least. The legendary Irish band averaged nearly three million dollars per show across 131 appearances.

13. U2 - The Joshua Tree Tours

Tour Profit: $390.7M

Years Active: 2017, 2019

Next up on our list is U2's The Joshua Tree Tours, which ran in 2017 and 2019, celebrating the 30th anniversary of their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree . They averaged almost $6M in gross revenue per show across 66 shows, not to mention over three million total attendees.

12. Pink - Beautiful Trauma World Tour

Tour Profit: $397.3M

Years Active: 2018 - 2019

The Beautiful Trauma World Tour was Pink's seventh tour, which was in support of her seventh studio album, Beautiful Trauma . Across 155 shows, Pink averaged $2.5M per show in front of three million total fans.

11. Madonna - Sticky & Sweet Tour

Tour Profit: $411M

Years Active: 2008 - 2009

In 2008 and 2009, Madonna toured the world with her Sticky & Sweet Tour. This was her 11th time leading a tour, which promoted her 8th studio album, Hard Candy . In 85 shows, Madonna averaged almost $5M per show in gross revenue and played in front of 3.5 million total fans.

10. Metallica - WorldWired Tour

Tour Profit: $416.9M

Years Active: 2016 - 2019

Metallica's WorldWired Tour ran for three years from 2016-2019, and put up some impressive numbers: 128 shows, over $3M per show on average, and over 4,000,000t total attendance.

9. AC/DC - Black Ice World Tour

Tour Profit: $441.1

Years Active: 2008 - 2010

AC/DC has made a huge impact on rock since their start in Australia, and their Black Ice Tour is nothing short of legendary: almost 5 million total attendees across 167 shows, averaging nearly $3M in gross revenue per event.

8. Roger Waters - The Wall Live

Tour Profit: $458.6M

Years Active: 2010 - 2013

Roger Waters and his The Wall Live tour had a great three-year run starting in 2010. $2M per show on average for 219 shows, with over 4 million total attendees. This one has gone down in the books for good reason.

7. Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams Tour

Tour Profit: $523M

Years Active: 2016 - 2017

In 2016, Coldplay kicked off their A Head Full of Dreams Tour, which would prove to be a massive success. Over 5 million fans showed up throughout the tour, scoring the band a gross revenue of roughly $4.5M per show across 114 different shows worldwide.

6. The Rolling Stones - No Filter Tour

Tour Profit: $546.5M

Years Active: 2017 - 2021

In 2017, The Rolling Stones kicked off their No Filter Tour: 58 shows across the globe in front of nearly 3 million fans total. This tour helped the legendary rockers score very big - roughly $10M per show big. That's the highest average gross revenue per show that you'll find on this list. It took a lot to get to this point.

5. The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang Tour

Tour Profit: $558.2M

Years Active: 2005 - 2007

Before the Stones could pull in the historic numbers we mentioned in the previous spot on our list. Over a decade prior, they kicked off their A Bigger Bang Tour, which thanks to their hard work across 147 shows, pulled in over $550 million in total gross revenue.

4. Guns N' Roses - Not In This Lifetime Tour

Tour Profit: $584.2M

In 2016, Guns N' Roses began what would become the fourth-highest grossing tour of all time. 158 shows in front of over five million people for a three-year span netted them over $580 million dollars - $3.7 million per show on average.

3. U2 - U2 360 Tour

Tour Profit: $736.4M

Years Active: 2009 - 2011

With this being their third appearance on our list today, it's truly unfathomable to think about just how much revenue U2 has brought in over the course of their iconic career. In 2009, they started what would be the third-highest grossing tour ever, U2 360. In 110 shows, they drew over 7 million fans to attend, who'd end up putting nearly $7 million in the band's pocket per show.

2. Elton John - Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour

Tour Profit: $750M

Years Active: 2018 - Present

Since 2018, Elton John has been touring the world on his appropriately named final tour, The Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. Though it's still ongoing, he's pulled in roughly $75o million in gross revenue so far in 278 shows around the world. 5 million fans per show helped score the legend almost $3 million per show.

1. Ed Sheeran - ÷ Tour

Tour Profit: $776.2M

Years Active: 2017 - 2019

At number one on our list is Ed Sheeran for his ÷ Tour. This set the record for the highest grossing tour ever, at almost $780 million in gross revenue. It brought in almost 9 million fans total, who helped Ed Sheeran bring in over $3 million per show across 255 events.

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British singer Ed Sheeran's Divide Tour has become the highest-grossing music tour that has ever taken place.

Music business magazine Pollstar says that the tour, which has been going on for two and a half years, will make $736.7 million. This means that Sheeran has taken the record for highest-grossing tour from Irish rock band U2, whose 360 Tour grossed $735.4 million in July 2011.

The Divide Tour started on March 16, 2017, and will end August 26, 2019. That means it is 893 days long, while U2's tour was 760 days.

Sheeran said that he feels lucky to have gone to so many "wonderful countries" over the past two and a half years, and thanked all of his fans and everyone who made it possible.

By the end of the Divide Tour, Sheeran will have done 225 shows in total, with the final four taking place near his hometown in England. The tour has gone all around the world, including the US, Brazil, Singapore, Australia, Japan and the Philippines.

Pollstar says that The Divide Tour has been one of the cheaper of its 2018 Year End Top 100 Worldwide Tours, even though it was also number one on that list. The average ticket price was $86.75, and it had no extra expensive VIP tickets like many other tours do.

This lesson is based on an article by Jenny Whelan.

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Ed Sheeran’s touring income drops dramatically to $3 a day

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted us all, even Ed Sheeran: the pop star has saw his touring income drop dramatically to just $3 a day. 

Prior to the onset of COVID, when Sheeran was one of the biggest touring draws in the world, he was pulling in $356,000 daily from live concerts.

As reported by The Sun , though, this has decreased to a mere $3 a day. “Ed’s accounts for his company Hayagotatourboi Touring make for funny reading,” a source said. “He has absolutely raked it in from his tours and in the past three years the firm has made more than £250 million ($A460 million).

Ed made so much cash it worked out at him earning £192,000 ($A356,000) a day. But now he’s taken a break he’s living a little more like us, with a daily income of £1.62 ($A3).”

Sheeran’s figures used to be massive: his 2019 Divide tour was the highest grossing of all time, bringing in $1.1 billion after selling 8.9 million tickets across six continents.

The singer-songwriter then decided to retreat from touring to focus on his new album Equals , a decision which led to the drastic reduction in touring income. His income for the 12 months to the end of March 2002 held $130 million; 12 months later this had dropped to just $1,100.

“Taking a break from music in 2019 and working on Equals is the reason the cash flow in the account has dropped down,” the source continued. “Ed will go back out on the road next year with his + – = ÷ x tour, and given it will have been three years since his last tour, it’s likely he’ll make even more cash than before.”

Sheeran’s touring income should recover nicely next year, if the pandemic doesn’t get in the way again. He’s set to undergo a huge tour across the U.K. and Ireland, including five nights at London’s Wembley Arena. He’ll then head to Europe afterwards in July. You can find further information about his tour here .

For more on this topic, follow the Live Music Observer .

Check out Ed Sheeran live in Moscow:

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.

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Ed sheeran, linkin park releases help drive warner music revenue, stock rises.

The music major's CEO Robert Kyncl touts third-quarter results with strength "from many different territories, labels and revenue lines."

By Georg Szalai

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Warner Music Group , home to the likes of Ed Sheeran, Cardi B and Bruno Mars, reported higher fiscal third-quarter revenue on Tuesday as CEO Robert Kyncl touted broad-based strength.

The stock of the music major jumped 5 percent to $32.10 in early Tuesday trading.

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Music publishing revenue jumped 15.5 percent (or 16.0 percent on a constant-currency basis), driven by gains in digital and mechanical revenue.

WMG’s quarterly net income of $124 million was virtually unchanged from $125 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA), another profitability metric, jumped 16 percent, or 18 percent in constant currency terms, to $297 million.

In the music major’s recorded music unit, “the quarter included successful releases from Ed Sheeran, Linkin Park and Melanie Martinez,” WMG said.

“Our third-quarter results were driven by a wide diversity of music, and our strength came from many different territories, labels and revenue lines,” said Kyncl. “We succeeded with artists and songwriters across the spectrum of genres and generations, with both new releases and catalog projects.”

Chief financial officer Eric Levin noted “solid growth across key metrics, which give us increased confidence in our full-year margin and operating cash flow targets. Concluded the executive: “The market’s adoption of subscription price increases, combined with the ongoing evolution of our key partnerships, gives us tremendous optimism for the future of streaming growth.”

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Warner Music Earnings Rise, But Miss Estimates as Ed Sheeran, Zach Bryan Are Major Sellers

Warner Music Group reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $1.5 billion, up 7 percent from a year ago, and net income of $96 million, up from $37 million a year ago. While both numbers saw a jump, the company reported earnings per share of 18 cents per share, below Wall Street expectations of 20 cents.

The bottom-line results were driven by a strong operating performance, $12 million in savings from a March 2023 restructuring plan, and the impact of exchange rates on the company's Euro-denominated debt, which led to a gain of $21 million in the quarter compared to a loss of $20 million in the prior-year quarter.

"Our performance in the quarter was driven by an acceleration in Recorded Music subscription streaming growth and continued momentum in music publishing," said Bryan Castellani, CFO of Warner Music. "Encouraged by the continued growth in engagement and value of music, we remain focused on delivering on our strategy and driving long-term shareholder value."

Recorded music revenue was up 4 percent over the year-ago period to reach $1.2 billion, with major sellers including Zach Bryan, Ed Sheeran, Jack Harlow, and Green Day. Music publishing revenue was up 19 percent to $306 million in the quarter. 

In February, the company announced plans to lay off 600 employees to free up more money for music investment over the next decade. The company sold Uproxx, HipHopDX, Dime Magazine to Jarret Myer, Rich Antoniello and  will.i.am .

"This quarter we saw a healthy, dynamic mix of hits across a range of genres, geographies, and generations," said Robert Kyncl, CEO of Warner Music Group. "With our commitment to artist and songwriter development as our guiding principle, we continue to discover great talent, build sustainable careers, champion the value of music, and grow the catalog of tomorrow. We are positioning WMG for long term growth and look forward to delivering successful music in the second half of 2024 and beyond."

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It’s Official: Ed Sheeran’s Divide Tour Is the Highest-Grossing Tour of All Time

Ed Sheeran has set a new record for the highest-grossing tour of all time with The Divide Tour.

By Eric Frankenberg

Eric Frankenberg

Since launching in Turin, Italy, on March 16, 2017, Ed Sheeran has taken The Divide Tour around the world and back with 246 shows across Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and North and South America. As Billboard projected in December 2018 and again in May , Sheeran has broken the record for the highest-grossing tour of all time. The trek has grossed $737.9 million and sold 8,503,496 tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.

It was Sheeran’s Aug. 2, 2019, concert in Odense, Denmark, that pushed The Divide Tour over the edge, with a one-night gross of $6,862,620.

The record has been the property of U2 since 2011, when the 360° Tour (2009-11) wrapped with a total gross of $736.4 million. When the Irishmen broke The Rolling Stones ’ record (A Bigger Bang Tour; $558 million; 2005-07) in April 2011, they were accompanied in the top five by AC/DC ’s Black Ice Tour ($441 million; 2008-10), Madonna ’s Sticky & Sweet Tour ($408 million; 2008-09) and U2’s own Vertigo Tour ($389 million; 2005-06). Since then, Sheeran has disrupted the elite group, alongside Guns N’ Roses with the Not in this Lifetime Tour ($529.6 million; ongoing) and Coldplay ’s A Head Full of Dreams Tour ($523.3 million; 2016-2017).

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Sheeran is managed by Stuart Camp and represented by Marty Diamond with Paradigm in North America, and internationally by CAA’s John Ollier . Sheeran works with a coalition of promoters on his global tours, including Messina Touring Group founder Louis Messina in North America; Frontier Touring and Michael Gudinski in Australia; and Kilimanjaro’s Stuart Galbraith in Europe; along with Simon Jones at AEG and promoter firms DHP and FKP Scorpio.

The Divide Tour previously passed Roger Waters ‘ The Wall Live Tour ($459 million; 2010-13) to become the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist when his Aug. 11-12, 2018, shows at the PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland, grossed $7.3 million, sending the tour’s to-date gross to $460.6 million. 

Sheeran’s tour has been in support of his third LP Divide . The set was released March 3, 2017, and arrived atop the Billboard 200 on the chart dated March 25, 2017. Divide claimed a second consecutive week at No. 1 and went on to net 53 weeks in the top 10 and 125 weeks on the chart (as of the Aug. 3, 2019, tally). It sent two singles to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100: “Shape of You” for 12 weeks and “Perfect” for six. Sheeran was named Billboard ’s Top Artist of 2017, while “Shape of You” was the year’s top Hot 100 song.

The Divide Tour has nine dates left to play and will finish on Aug. 26 in Chantry Park in Ipswich, England, with a projected gross of $770-775 million. Billboard will have more reporting to come on this record-breaking tour.

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