2019 American Music Awards
Four of the five Spices return to the stage, averaging more than $6 million and 50,000 tickets per show on U.K./Ireland stadium trek.
After an 11-year hiatus, the Spice Girls returned to the stage to perform 13 concerts in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales for The Spice World 2019 Tour. The trek impacts the Hot Tours recap dated June 29, 2019 at No. 2. All told, the tour grossed a colossal $78.2 million and sold 697,357 tickets according to figures reported to Boxscore.
Ten of the 13 dates on the trek were in the group’s native England. There, Scary, Sporty, Baby, and Ginger grossed $7.2 million over two nights at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena (June 3-4), $16.5 million over three nights at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium (May 29–June 1), and a monstrous $27.6 million over three nights at London’s Wembley Stadium (June 13-15).
The Wembley Stadium engagement hits No. 1 on this week’s Current Boxscore chart and is the highest-grossing engagement of 2019 so far. It is the fourth-highest grossing engagement in the venue’s reported history, behind fellow Brits Take That ($61.7 million; June 30-July 9, 2011), Ed Sheeran ($28.8 million; June 14-17, 2018), and Coldplay ($28.8 million; June 15-19, 2016). All three of these engagements finished as the top boxscore of their respective years.
The Spice Girls first debuted on the Billboard charts when “Wannabe” arrived at No. 60 on the Radio Songs chart on Jan. 4, 1997 before peaking at No. 6 and spending four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. They went on to dominate pop culture in the late ‘90s with 1997’s No. 1 Billboard 200 Album Spice, a worldwide tour that grossed $17.8 million the following year, and an endlessly quotable film to boot.
The Girls made their first comeback with The Return of the Spice Girls Tour in 2007-08. They grossed $70.1 million and sold 581,066 tickets from a reported 45 dates (of 47) on their worldwide trek.
Confined to just 13 dates, mostly in the United Kingdom, the Fab Four (sans Posh Spice) outdid themselves with their 2019 run. The 2007-08 arena tour, successful as it was, averaged $1.6 million and 12,913 tickets per night. Their recent May and June dates scaled to stadiums, pacing $6 million and 53,643 tickets each show.
Atop the most recent tally is BTS, who finished May with the month’s top-grossing tour. See below for the full Hot Tours recap, including treks by Janet Jackson, Elton John, and the Gods of Rap package, featuring Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, De La Soul, and DJ Premier.
| HOT TOURS - MAY 4, 2019 | |
| Ranked by Gross, Compiled from Boxscores reported April 23 - 29 | |
| ACT | |
| Total Gross | |
| Show Date Range | |
| Venue, City (Shows/Sellouts) | |
| Total Attendance (Capacity) | |
| RANK | |
| 1 | BTS |
| $78,940,338 | |
| May 4 - June 8 | |
| Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif. (2/2) | |
| Soldier Field, Chicago (2/2) | |
| MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J. (2/2) | |
| Allianz Parque, Sao Paolo, Brazil (2/2) | |
| Wembley Stadium, London (2/2) | |
| Stade de France, Paris (2/2) | |
| 606,409 (606,409) | |
| 2 | Spice Girls |
| $78,203,580 | |
| May 24 - June 15 | |
| Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland (1/1) | |
| Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales (1/1) | |
| Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England (3/3) | |
| Ricoh Arena, Coventry, England (2/2) | |
| Stadium of Light, Sunderland, England (1/1) | |
| Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland (1/1) | |
| Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol, England (1/1) | |
| Wembley Stadium, London (3/3) | |
| 697,357 (697,357) | |
| 3 | Metallica |
| $28,648,630 | |
| May 3 - 12 | |
| Valdebebas, Madrid, Spain (0/1) | |
| Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona, Spain (0/1) | |
| SNAI San Siro Hippodrome, Milan, Italy (0/1) | |
| Stadion Letzigrund, Zurich, Switzerland (0/1) | |
| Stade de France, Paris (0/1) | |
| 290,361 (294,669) | |
| 4 | Elton John |
| $16,110,701 | |
| April 30 - May 26 | |
| Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria (2/2) | |
| Tauron Arena, Krakow, Poland (1/1) | |
| O2 Arena, Prague, Czech Republic (1/1) | |
| OVB Arena, Bremen, Germany (1/1) | |
| Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Stuttgart, Germany (1/1) | |
| Konig-Pilsner Arena, Oberhausen, Germany (1/1) | |
| Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark (1/1) | |
| Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden (1/1) | |
| TUI Arena, Hanover, Germany (1/1) | |
| Sportpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium (1/1) | |
| Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany (1/1) | |
| 137,046 (137,046) | |
| 5 | Cher |
| $13,389,251 | |
| May 3 - 30 | |
| Prudential Center, Newark, N.J. (1/1) | |
| Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich. (1/1) | |
| Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Mo. (1/1) | |
| CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Neb. (1/1) | |
| Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, S.D. (1/1) | |
| Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn. (1/1) | |
| SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (1/1) | |
| Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta (1/1) | |
| Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta (1/1) | |
| Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia (1/1) | |
| 123,486 (123,486) | |
| 6 | Pink |
| $11,903,584 | |
| May 4 - 11 | |
| Fargodome, Fargo, N.D. (1/1) | |
| Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn. (1/1) | |
| CHI Health Center, Omaha, Neb. (1/1) | |
| Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky. (1/1) | |
| Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio (1/1) | |
| 85,197 (85,197) | |
| 7 | Rod Stewart |
| $8,911,450 | |
| May 9 - 25 | |
| SAP Arena, Manheum, Germany (0/1) | |
| Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning, Denmark (0/1) | |
| Ericsson Globe, Stockholm, Sweden (0/1) | |
| Lanxess Arena, Koln, Germany (0/1) | |
| Bristol City Football Club, Bristol, England (1/1) | |
| Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Cork, Ireland (1/1) | |
| 88,547 (91,742) | |
| 8 | Gods of Rap: Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy Radio, De La Soul & DJ Premier |
| $5,677,035 | |
| May 11 - 27 | |
| Manchester Arena, Manchester, England (0/1) | |
| SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland (0/1) | |
| 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland (1/1) | |
| Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands (1/1) | |
| Wuhlheide Amphitheatre, Berlin, Germany (1/1) | |
| Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark (1/1) | |
| Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway (1/1) | |
| Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden (1/1) | |
| Ice Hall, Helsinki, Finland (1/1) | |
| 72,557 (74,312) | |
| 9 | Backstreet Boys |
| $4,159,425 | |
| May 13 - 21 | |
| WiZink Center, Madrid, Spain (0/1) | |
| Datchforum, Milan, Italy (1/1) | |
| Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain (0/1) | |
| TUI Arena, Hanover, Germany (0/1) | |
| 54,068 (54,415) | |
| 10 | Janet Jackson |
| $4,140,636 | |
| May 17 - 26 | |
| Park Theater, Las Vegas (0/6) | |
| 24,938 (31,052) |