The feature, titled “Tour & Destroy: The Case for Metallica as the World’s Biggest Touring Act”, collects data including number of tickets sold, merch sold and which countries the band has toured in order to make the case.
And with 22.1 million tickets sold worldwide, $125 million in t-shirt and other concert memorabilia and performances in 48 countries and all seven continents – yep, they’ve even played in Antarctica – Metallica are the world’s beggest touring income earners.
Those startling numbers are only set to grow, with the “WorldWired” tour still on its way to Australia later this year and South America in April 2020 where entire stadiums of people await the masters of puppets themselves.
Their tours in just the last five years, the report says, put them in a class of U2, The Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, but it is the band’s continued international interest – they have broken a slew of attendance records while on tour in Moscow – that has kept them above the pack.
“I keep thinking and forcing myself to think all our best years are still ahead of us. We may even turn professional and do this full time one day,” Lars Ulrich said when asked to comment by Pollstar.
“That’s the MO. It’s always, ‘What’s your favorite record?’ It’s the next one, the one we haven’t recorded yet. it’s always about the possibilities, always about what can be, what’s coming. That, to me, is what this is all about and I think that attitude is a big part of the why Metallica still connects to so many people around the world.”
Considering its been 30 years since Metallica’s Black Album boosted to 30 million copies worldwide, and its easy to say their influence has not waned a bit.
Tickets have all but sold out for their two Marvel Stadium shows in October, however, Metallica have controversially struck a deal to place tickets directly up on resale via ticketmaster.
Revisit our interview with Metallica here.
