Carrie Underwood Eyes $50 Million Haul For Cry Pretty Tour

Carrie Underwood brings the Cry Pretty Tour to the Hot Tours recap dated July 27, 2019, ranking No. 5 with reports for 17 (of 19) shows from the trek’s first leg.

According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the country powerhouse adds grosses of $14.9 million and 187,016 tickets over this haul in support of her Cry Pretty album. Altogether, the tour has earned $17.1 million and sold 209,422 tickets through June 23 (Pinnacle Bank Arena; Lincoln, Nebraska).

Thirteen of the 19 shows have individually cracked Billboard’s Current Boxscore chart, topped by a $1.2 million intake at her June 21 performance at the Target Center in Minneapolis, and $1.1 million grosses at Cincinnati’s U.S. Bank Arena (June 15) and Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum (June 20).

The Minneapolis show is Underwood’s second highest grossing engagement ever, behind an Oct. 25, 2016 performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden ($1.4 million; 17,815 tickets). The American Idol alum has now surpassed the $1 million mark at 11 engagements throughout her career, six of which were in May or June 2019.

Almost 15 years into her career, Underwood’s touring business continues to grow. Each of her six tours since 2006 have averaged a higher gross and attendance than the one before, including 2019’s Cry Pretty Tour. Since beginning the run on May 1, she has paced $898,000 and 11,022 tickets per night.

With six recent European shows to be reported, and an additional 30 North American shows to play in September and October, Underwood could be on her way to a total 2019 gross of $45-50 million, if her current pacing continues.

In an encouraging bit of news that could push projections beyond the $50 million mark, the second North American leg features many major markets including New York, Chicago, and Toronto. While country artists often thrive in certain secondary markets that can be dry for pop or hip hop acts, Underwood has historically performed better in the bigger cities. Her five million-plus engagements prior to the 2019 tour were in New York, Toronto, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Further down the list of her biggest shows are dates in Nashville, Dallas, and Washington, D.C., all of which will impact the upcoming Fall leg.

The current projections situate the Cry Pretty Tour within striking distance of Underwood’s 2012-13 Blown Away Tour ($52 million; 861,092 tickets) and 2016’s Storyteller Tour ($58.1 million; 847,378 tickets), though both of those treks played far more dates: 106 for Blown Away and 80 for Storyteller, compared to the scheduled 56 shows for this year’s run.

The tour is promoted by AEG Presents and supported in North America by Maddie & Tae and Runaway June.

Sitting atop the Hot Tours tally are three British icons. The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and Elton John occupy Nos. 1-3 with new dates from ongoing tours. All three acts also place within the top 10 of June’s Top Tours rundown (see link above).

See below for the full Hot Tours recap, featuring Florence + The Machine and Rod Stewart.