U2 is one of the biggest touring acts in the world, and since 2011, the legendary Irish rockers have held the record for the highest-grossing tour: The band’s “U2 360° Tour” grossed $735.4 million from June 2009 to July 2011. That’s a number that seems difficult to beat, but Ed Sheeran is apparently about to do it: Variety reports that according to Pollstar’s calculations, the 246th show of the “Divide Tour” (tonight in Hanover, Germany) will bring the tour to a total of $736.7 million.
Sheeran said in a statement, “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.”
U2 and Sheeran’s tours achieved their high marks in different ways. U2’s tour had 110 shows, which is significantly fewer than the “Divide Tour,” which will have included 255 shows when it wraps up in Ipswich, England on August 26. This means that Sheeran’s tour had a significantly lower average ticket price than the “360° Tour” did.
This isn’t the first U2 touring record that Sheeran has broken. On May 24, he surpassed the attendance numbers of the “360° Tour,” beating the tour’s 7.3 million tickets sold with 7,315,970 tickets. After tonight’s Germany show, the “Divide Tour” will have sold 8,504,493 tickets.
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. .
