MADONNA HOLDS RECORD FOR HIGHEST-GROSSING TOURING SOLO ARTIST IN BILLBOARD BOXSCORE HISTORY
OVER $1.31 BILLION IN TICKETS SOLD
NEW YORK, NY – March 23, 2016 – Following the close of Madonna’s critically acclaimed Rebel Heart Tour this past Sunday night in Sydney, Australia, Madonna is the Top Grossing Touring Solo Artist in the history of Billboard Boxscore with over $1.31 billion in ticket sales sold over the course of her career. Madonna is also the third top grossing touring act (behind The Rolling Stones and U2) since tracking began in 1990.
Produced by Live Nation Global Touring, the Rebel Heart Tour kicked off on September 9th, 2015 in Montreal and visited arenas in 55 cities on four continents over seven months. Madonna performed 82 shows, plus a special fan club show in Melbourne. It grossed $169.8 Million with 1,045,479 in attendance.
Madonna visited several cities for the first time ever, including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Macau, Manila, Auckland, Taipei, Nashville, Omaha, and Louisville. She also performed multiple shows in several cities, including three shows apiece in New York, Turin, and Melbourne. She played two shows in Miami, Berlin, Barcelona, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Sydney, to name a few.
The Rebel Heart Tour also attracted raves for the Material Girl, with the New York Times calling her “unstoppable” and Rolling Stone remarking that “there’s nobody else near her throne.” Entertainment Weekly plain and simply summed it up proclaiming: “Madonna reigns.”
The Material Girl’s set list spanned all decades of the iconic superstar’s illustrious career, including songs from Rebel Heart (the No. 1 Dance hits “Living for Love” and “Bitch I’m Madonna,” to classic fan favorites like “Material Girl” and “Holiday” and a “Dress You Up” medley that included “Get Into The Groove,” “Everybody,” and “Lucky Star.” Memorable highlights from the tour include her first-ever live concert performance of “Take a Bow,” acoustic versions of “Like A Prayer,” “Secret,” and “Don’t Tell Me,” and a moving tribute to her idol David Bowie during the show in Houston. She also paid tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris during her show in Sweden on November 14th. During the song “Unapologetic Bitch,” Madonna would bring someone up from the crowd to dance with her during the song. Some nights it was a fan, another night it was Katy Perry. Other guest dancers included: Diplo, Amy Schumer, Ariana Grande, Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Gwendoline Christie, Anderson Cooper, and Graham Norton.
The Rebel Heart Tour was directed by Jamie King with musical direction by Kevin Antunes (the band’s keyboardist Ric’key Pageot, drummer Brian Frasier-Moore, guitarist Monte Pittman, and background vocalists Kiley Dean and Nicki Richards), lead choreography by Megan Lawson, hair by Andy LeCompte, makeup by Aaron Henrikson, and costume design by Arianne Phillips.
Beloved for her boundary-pushing fashion, Madonna and Phillips, whose original designs are also in the show, collaborated with Alessandro Michele for Gucci, Alexander Wang, Fausto Puglisi, Jeremy Scott for Moschino, Nicolas Jebran, Miu Miu, Prada and Swarovski to create the sumptuous costumes.
The final two shows of the tour in Sydney were filmed for an upcoming release.
“Unstoppable.”
The New York Times
“There’s nobody else near her throne.”
Rolling Stone
“Madonna reigns.”
Entertainment Weekly
“Clearly, failure to dominate MSG on Wednesday night was never an option for Madonna — just like failure to dominate New York City was never an option for Madonna more than 30 years ago.”
Billboard
“Madonna doesn’t miss a beat.”
Washington Post
“Embrace that her blonde ambition continues to make her the genre’s greatest icon.”
Boston Herald
“Truth: She can – and will – do it as damn well long as she wants.”
Boston Globe
“As a person who works in a culture that gleefully encourages snark and bitchiness and in which expressing admiration in a non-ironic way is often seen as a sign of weakness, it’s nice to be reminded how refreshing it is to simply love something because it makes you feel alive.”
Pitchfork
“By all accounts, the Rebel Heart Tour – part of her ongoing mega-deal with Live Nation – is a sizzling, top-end production, a spectacle of continually shifting staging, racy outfits, daring stunts and intricate dance routines, with a fit, high-energy Madonna at the heart of it all.”
Detroit Free Press
“Her legacy is intact, her influence is undeniable, her impact is immeasurable.”
Detroit News
“This is probably the blonde’s most ambitious tour yet, and maybe even her most rewarding.”
Toronto Star
“Madonna is a Rebel Heart and always will be.”
Toronto Sun
“Yes, Madonna is the hardest working woman in show business, praise that shouldn’t be thrown around lightly.”
Edmonton Sun
“No one operates on the level of Madonna, one of the rare American pop acts interested in pushing her arena shows to the level of actual art.”
The Oregonian
“She is the Queen of the World.”
Willamette Week
” Concert of the year.” The Las Vegas Sun
“She’s the queen of pop, yes, but more than that, Madonna is an inspirational figure” LA Weekly
“Bigger, if not better, than ever.” San Diego Union-Tribune
“Madonna remains a goddess of pop for the ages – talented, intelligent, imaginative and determined not to stagnate.” San Antonio Express-News
“For the Queen, more colonies to visit. She literally flew up into the rafters to end the show; back from whence she came. And her loyal fans – the ones who stayed out well past midnight to catch every note – starting their waiting all over again.” Houston Press
“Her Rebel Heart Tour is a showcase fit for a queen.” Houston Chronicle
“Madonna always familiar, provoking, fit and doubtlessly an absolute professional.” City News Köln
“Bombastic, fantastic, spectacular” Bild – North Rhine Westphalia
“The entire room is in the palm of her hand, like a string of rosary beads, 20,000 long.” The Guardian
“A display of superstar invincibility.” Financial Times
“It’s religion and rebellion as her Madgeness reminds us why she is such an enduring talent” The Independent
“She is still the undoubted greatest pop star in the world.” The Sun
“Nobody fucks with the queen? It’s hard to disagree.” NME
“The intelligence and the profusion of Rebel Heart Tour should shut up to the early detractors.” Le Monde
“A perverse crowd-pleaser.” The Scotsman
“In an age of spectacle and wonder, Madonna’s stunning Rebel Heart outshines them all.” The Big Issue
“There may be more contenders for her crown than ever before, but the Queen of Pop still has a strong left hook.” Courier Journal
“Madonna showed everyone that she is still on top.” City Beat
“But the precision and creativity of this musical and visional feast for the senses is all Madonna…Vibrant and imaginative costuming is more dazzling than a Paris Fashion Week catwalk.” The Daily Telegraph
“Her spectacular show couldn’t be more of a crowd-pleaser.” News.com.au
