English heavy metal band Iron Maiden earns the No. 1 Hot Tours ranking this week with $19 million (US$) in box office revenue reported from its summer tour in European cities. The Maiden England World Tour originally kicked off last year with a North American summer trek but resumed in May of this year for a run through Europe that will be followed by tour legs in North and South America this fall. Ticket sales from 13 venues in seven countries were reported this week beginning with a sold out performance on May 29 at Lisbon's Pavilhão Atlântico. Altogether from 14 concerts, attendance totaled 259,298. Included in that count is a sellout crowd of 55,531 at a football stadium, Friends Arena, in the Stockholm suburb of Solna, Sweden.
Taylor Swift is second on the weekly list of Hot Tours with $18.2 million in ticket sales reported from three NFL stadiums on her Red Tour itinerary. First was a July 6 performance at the Pittsburgh Steelers home venue, Heinz Field with 56,047 in attendance. On July 13 the country star played to 52,399 fans at MetLife Stadium, home of both the New York Giants and New York Jets. This was her first headlining appearance at the metropolitan New Jersey/New York venue, but her second stadium show in Pittsburgh. She also played Heinz Field in 2011 on her Speak Now World Tour. The final venue included in this week's tally, Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, was included on the schedule for both tours. In 2011 Swift sold out a single show at the Philadelphia Eagles' home stadium, but this year she played for two nights, July 19 and 20. A total of 101,277 tickets were sold for the two-show run.
Blake Shelton lands at No. 5 among this week's 10 top-grossing tours with the first three dates reported from his Ten Times Crazier Tour that launched on July 19 in Virginia Beach. The tour is set to play U.S. arenas and amphitheaters through early October. Revenue from the first >three sold out shows - all at outdoor amphitheaters – totaled $1.9 million from more than 54,000 sold tickets. Last year, $9 million in ticket sales were reported to Billboard from Shelton's Well Lit & Amplified Tour that played U.S. arenas during the first quarter of 2012. In 25 shows on that tour, the attendance was 188,000.