Andre Rieu Surpasses $550 Million in Touring Grosses, Has Played to Nearly 6 Million Fans

Rieu crosses the $50 million mark in career grosses in his hometown of Maastricht, Netherlands.

Dutch violinist and conductor Andre Rieu blasts onto the Hot Tours list (see below) dated Sept. 1, 2018, at No. 2 thanks to 17 shows from his 2018 world tour. The reported gigs grossed $13.3 million (from 142,361 fans in attendance), according to Billboard Boxscore. The majority of his newly reported grosses come from a 13-night engagement at Vrijthof in Rieu’s hometown of Maastricht, the Netherlands. This brings his career total at Vrijthof to $54.1 million across 76 shows dating back to July 10, 2009.

With his latest totals reported, Rieu extends his record as the highest grossing classical artist in Billboard's Boxscore history. His total gross from all shows reported to Billboard Boxscore now stands at $550.1 million. Further, he continues to be the classical act with the highest attendance, with 5.97 million.

The only artist to eclipse Rieu on the latest Hot Tours tally is Ed Sheeran, at No. 1, with $15.4 million grossed, according to Billboard Boxscore. These fresh grosses come from Sheeran’s return to the U.S. after touring Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand for nine months. Billboard’s reigning Artist of the Year played sold out shows in Seattle and San Francisco but got his biggest gross at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., bringing in $6.3 million from 62,000 tickets sold.

His mammoth ÷ (Divide) tour began in March 2017 in Italy and will run a full two years, wrapping up at Cape Town Stadium in South Africa on March 27, 2019.

Check out the full Hot Tours recap below.

HOT TOURS - SEPT. 1, 2018

Ranked by Gross, Compiled from Boxscores reported Aug. 21-27

ACT
Total Gross
Show Date Range
Venue, City (Shows/Sellouts)
Total Attendance (Capacity)

1 Ed Sheeran
$15,447,070
Aug. 18-25
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif. (1/1)
AT&T Park, San Francisco (1/1)
CenturyLink Field, Seattle (1/1)
158,859 (156,859)

2 Andre Rieu
$13,263,804
June 16-July 22
Arena Armeec, Sofia, Bulgaria (2/2)
Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning, Denmark (0/1)
Royal Arena, Copenhagen (0/1)
Vrijthof, Maastricht, Netherlands (12/13)
142,361 (144,485)

3 Kenny Chesney
$12,811,086
Aug. 22-25
Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Md. (1/1)
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass. (2/2)
138,692 (138,692)

4 Foo Fighters
$6,490,979
July 29-30
Wrigley Field, Chicago (2/2)
76,299 (76,299)

5 J. Cole
$2,202,809
Aug. 24-25
Stpales Center, Los Angeles (2/2)
23,924 (23,924)

6 Silvestre Dangond
$1,714,135
July 20-Aug. 11
Smart Financial Centre, Sugar Land, Texas (0/1)
American Airlines Arena, Miami (0/1)
Amway Center, Orlando (0/1)
The Anthem, Washington, D.C. (0/1)
Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York (0/1)
House of Blues, Boston (0/1)
Joe's, Chicago (1/1)
Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles (1/1)
21,355 (28,143)

7 A.R. Rahman
$1,577,741
Aug. 18
Oracle Arena, Oakland, Calif. (0/1)
12,375 (12,438)

8 Shakira
$1,149,640
Aug. 8
Bell Centre, Montreal (1/1)
11,625 (11,625)

9 Sam Smith
$1,122,824
Aug. 15
United Center, Chicago (1/1)
13,319 (13,319)

10 ZZ Top
$958,608
Aug. 13-21
Harbour Station, St. John, New Brunswick (0/1)
Credit Union Place, Summerside, Prince Edward Island (1/1)
Place Bell, Laval, Quebec (1/1)
Berglund Performing Arts Theatre, Roanoke, Va. (0/1)
15,495 (16,930)