Meanwhile "rock star conductor" Andre Rieu leads the list, while the Weeknd scores big.
Paul McCartney ranks among the highest-grossing touring artists on Billboard’s latest tally of Hot Tours (see list, below) based on ticket sales data reported during the past week. The rock legend scores the No. 2 slot in the ranking with sales stats from two performances that occurred during his Out There tour’s final swing through North America in October.
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Sold out performances at Penn State University's Bryce Jordan Center on Oct. 15 and First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y. on Oct. 22 added $4.7 million in sold ticket revenue the tour’s overall gross of $196 million based on 60 concerts reported to Boxscore (of the more than 90 shows played during the trek).
The Buffalo performance marked the final stop for the tour that was attended by more than 1.4 million fans over its two-and-a-half year run. A total of 15,552 tickets were sold for the tour’s finale.
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The Weeknd takes third in the weekly Hot Tours recap with $1 million in box office sales recorded at his concert on Nov. 7 in the Detroit market. The performance was the third date on his Madness fall tour that covered North American cities during November and December. With Travi$ Scott and Banks providing support, The Weeknd sold out the Palace arena in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills with 15,184 fans packing the house.
So far, Billboard has received reports from five arenas on the Madness fall tour schedule. With sellouts reported in all five markets, overall sales top $6.1 million from 83,108 sold seats at six performances.
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While McCartney and The Weeknd come in at Nos. 2 and 3 on the Hot Tours recap, Dutch conductor and orchestra leader Andre Rieu tops the tally.
Rieu reported $11.3 million in grosses reported from the final 17 events on his 2015 world tour that kicked off on Jan. 9 in Frankfurt and wrapped on Dec. 23 in London. Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra performed in 56 cities in both Europe and Latin America during the year. The tour’s overall gross topped $41.4 million with 529,153 tickets sold at 79 performances. Rieu finished at No. 17 on 2015’s year-end Top Tours ranking. Posted by Nivel
HOT TOURS - Dec. 29, 2015
Ranked by Gross. Compiled from Boxscores reported Dec. 22-28
Rank ACT
Total Gross
Show Date Range
Show Venue/City (Shows/Sellouts)
Total Attendance (Capacity)
1 ANDRE RIEU
$11,395,114
Nov. 12-Dec. 23
Zenith, Paris (1/0)
Paleis 12, Brussels (1/0)
GelreDome, Arnhem, Netherlands (1/0)
SSE Arena, Belfast (1/0)
3Arena, Dublin (2/2)
Aberdeen (U.K.) Exhibition & Conference Centre (2/0)
Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, U.K. (1/0)
SSE Hydro, Glasgow, U.K. (1/0)
Genting Arena, Birmingham, U.K. (1/0)
Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, U.K. (1/0)
Manchester (U.K.) Arena (1/0)
Echo Arena, Liverpool, U.K. (1/0)
Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, U.K. (1/0)
SSE Arena, London (2/0)
112,323 (129,012)
2 PAUL MCCARTNEY
$4,796,045
Oct. 15-22
Bruce Jordan Center, University Park, Pa. (1/1)
First Niagara Center, Buffalo, N.Y. (1/1)
28,077 (28,077)
3 THE WEEKND
$1,099,963
Nov. 7
Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Mich. (1/1)
15,184 (15,184)
4 TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA
$898,597
Dec. 12
Amway Center, Orlando (2/0)
15,026 (17,560)
5 RICKY MARTIN
$462,831
Oct. 25
Amway Center, Orlando (1/1)
5,768 (5,768)
6 STRING CHEESE INCIDENT
$341,996
Oct. 23-24
The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York (2/0)
6,909 (10,871)
7 ALEJANDRO FERNANDEZ
$310,919
Nov. 15
Amway Center, Orlando (1/0)
2,827 (5,769)
8 ALL TIME LOW & SLEEPING WITH SIRENS
$245,163
Nov. 18-24
War Memorial Arena at Oncenter, Syracuse, N.Y. (1/0)
The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York (1/0)
6,567 (9,938)
9 KEM
$226,172
Nov. 6
Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles (1/1)
3,266 (3,266)
10 MARK KNOPFLER
$221,428
Oct. 25
North Charleston (S.C.) Performing Arts Center (1/1)
2,327 (2,327)