Inside Music with Melinda Newman

Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Roger Waters ranks as 2012's top tours

Just how much did Madge rake in from the MDNA tour?

By Melinda Newman Monday, Dec 17, 2012 4:35 PM

Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Roger Waters ranks as 2012's top tours

Credit: AP Photo/Alexander Demianchuk, Pool

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Madonna stirred up plenty of controversy on the MDNA tour by bearing arms and baring body parts in 2012, but it turns out she also brought in a ton of cold hard cash.

Her MDNA outing grossed $228.4 million to make it the top-grossing tour of 2012, according to Billboard. The tally come from 72 shows, all of which, according to Billboard, were sell out.

Coming in at No. 2 is Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They grossed $199.4 million, also from 72 shows. Springsteen’s ticket price was considerably lower than Madge’s: His 72 shows drew 2.165 million people, compared with the Material Girl’s 1.63 million.

Rock relics continued to rule the top 10: Roger Waters’ tour, also with 72 shows (we’re sensing a theme here) comes in at No. 3 with a gross of $186.5 million.

Proving that his legacy goes on and on even after his death, “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque Du Soleil” claims the No. 4 slot with a tally of $147.3 million, based on 183 shows reporting.

Coldplay rounds out the top 5 with $147.2 million from 67 shows. That should tied them over nicely during the band’s recently announced hiatus.

One has to go to No. 6 to find an act that first started releasing music in this millennium. Lady Gaga’s 65 sell-outs register at No. 6 with a gross of $124.9 million.

That’s the end of the $100 million club. Coming in at No. 7 are Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw’s Brother of the Sun tour, which shone brightly enough to raise $96.4 million from only 23 shows (they were all stadiums).
Van Halen’s thwarted reunion tour ended with a slate of cancellations due to band burn-out (or any other reason you want to believe), but it still managed to gross $54.4 million from 46 shows to come in at No. 8. Coming in at No. 9 is Jay-Z and Kanye West’s The Throne tour with $46.9 million from 31 shows. And rounding out the top 10 is Andre Rieu, the Dutch composer/violinist who is astonishingly popular throughout the world even though you’re probably never heard of him. He brought in $46.8 million from 99 shows.

To see the list of the Top 25 tours, ranked by Billboard, go here.