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Madonna Closes Tour In Tel Aviv; 2nd Highest Grossing Trek Of All Time

by Ray Waddell, Nashville  |   September 02, 2009 4:58 EDT
Redferns
Madonna

Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tour wraps today with the second of two shows in Tel Aviv, Israel (Sept. 1-2), putting the lid on what looks to be the second-highest grossing tour of all time.
 
With a gross of $408 million, Sticky & Sweet is the top-grossing tour by a solo artist of all time, and second only to the Rolling Stones' $558 million Bigger Bang tour of 2005-2007. "She is absolutely one of the great performers of all time," says Arthur Fogel, Chairman of Global Music and CEO of Global Touring for Live Nation, producer of Madona's tours. "That this tour will take its place as the second highest grossing tour in the history of our business says it all."
 
Since its launch in August 2008, Sticky & Sweet has moved more than 3.5 million fans to 85 shows in 32 countries, according to Live Nation. Madonna set an attendance record for the biggest crowds in history in Zurich, Switzerland, where she drew the largest audience ever for a concert in that country (72,000).  According to Live Nation stats, her Gothenburg, Sweden show, seen by 119,000 fans, broke the record for highest grossing multiple shows in the country's history. In Helsinki, Finland, Sticky & Sweet sold more than 85,000 tickets, making it the biggest single show by an artist in history for all of Scandinavia. Other highlights on the tour included stops in Buenos Aires, Argentina (256,000), Santiago, Chile (146,000), Sao Paolo, Brazil (203,000), Tallinn, Estonia (72,000), Warsaw, Poland (79,000), Bucharest, Romania (69,000), and Sofia, Bulgaria (54,000).
 
Sticky & Sweet broke Madonna's previous record for top solo tour ever with her Confessions tour, which grossed $194 million in 2006, according to Billboard Boxscore. The 2008-2009 tour was the first under Madonna's $120 million, 10-year multi-rights deal with Live Nation.

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