How many concert tickets did the Stones sell in their career ?

Hard to find out before 81
My guess would be approx. 40 million after the 2021 dates.

What would you say ?

Ha...never noticed Brian snickering after Charlie says that.

Whatever the number is, it's got to be a world record for any rock band.
(Grateful Dead coming in second)

Perhaps any performer or any band for that matter.

This has been asked before. I'm guessing 40 million would be pretty accurate. I believe Bon Jovi was high up too, since he did a ton of touring in the 90s and 2000s, lots of stadium shows in Europe.

Attendees and concert tickets are two different things.


Four of the biggest shows the band have ever played - Hyde Park, Altamont, Copacabana and Havana - have been free concerts with a total attendance estimated at anything between 2 million and 3.3 million.

For actual tickets sold, by my reckoning its in the region of 43 million up to 2019, which I'm sure is easily a record.

I'd be surprised if the Grateful Dead were second as they ceased to exist when Jerry Garcia died in 1995, although obviously the various surviving members have toured together in some fashion since then. Also, they're not the global phenomenon that some other touring acts have been.

U2 would probably be second. They've played to at least 30 million people since 1987, so add another couple of million on to that for the period prior to then. The 360 tour (2009-2011) was seen by 7.2 million people, which was a record until Ed Sheeran broke it in 2019 with 8.8 million (although Ed played over 250 shows, whereas U2 performed about 110 shows)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2021-09-09 00:52 by Gazza.

The Grateful Dead played over 2,314 concerts, despite being a band for nearly twice as long I am certain the Stones played nowhere near that number of concerts....as far as "tickets sold" goes, the Stones have many years of Stadium shows so I can see an edge there.

<edit> and a little internet research shows an estimate of 22million tickets sold by the Grateful Dead <edit>



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2021-09-09 01:17 by Woz.

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Woz
The Grateful Dead played over 2,314 concerts, despite being a band for nearly twice as long I am certain the Stones played nowhere near that number of concerts....as far as "tickets sold" goes, the Stones have many years of Stadium shows so I can see an edge there.

and a little internet research shows an estimate of 22million tickets sold by the Grateful Dead

The Stones are close with over 2000

[en.m.wikipedia.org]

Most people. It may be The Beach Boys. Not sure. But that’s a lot of shows.

According to setlist.fm - The Beach Boys.

The Beach Boys
6954 setlists
B.B. King
6093 setlists
Ray Charles
4557 setlists
Blue Öyster Cult
4340 setlists
Johnny Cash
4222 setlists
Frank Sinatra
4031 setlists
Jerry Lee Lewis
4025 setlists
Elton John
3972 setlists
Santana
3920 setlists
Cheap Trick
3769 setlists

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More Hot Rocks
Most people. It may be The Beach Boys. Not sure. But that’s a lot of shows.

According to setlist.fm - The Beach Boys.

The Beach Boys
6954 setlists
B.B. King
6093 setlists
Ray Charles
4557 setlists
Blue Öyster Cult
4340 setlists
Johnny Cash
4222 setlists
Frank Sinatra
4031 setlists
Jerry Lee Lewis
4025 setlists
Elton John
3972 setlists
Santana
3920 setlists
Cheap Trick
3769 setlists

Setlists don't equate to attendance.
BB King & Johnny Cash are good examples.

Beach Boys may be up there though.. but no way the top spot.
Stones or Grateful Dead, which may have had the lead at one time, but no more.
I'm betting U2 third followed by Elton.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-09-09 01:48 by MisterDDDD.

Wow The Beach Boys have done a lot of shows. Maybe them. I would think Elton John would be second

Beach Boys would be no where near the top as far as total attendance. These days they play casinos and fairs.

This question was in another thread some time ago. I did a detailed check way back in 2002 and was already past 30 million. Gazza’s figure of 42 million including 2019 is a very good guess. Since U2 is the only band that had benefit from the period of large stadium tours over a long period of time they are possibly second in line. Elvis’ Las Vegas shows made high figures too, but you need to check with objective Elvis fans

I'm a GHOST living in a ghost town

Quote
More Hot Rocks

Quote
Woz
The Grateful Dead played over 2,314 concerts, despite being a band for nearly twice as long I am certain the Stones played nowhere near that number of concerts....as far as "tickets sold" goes, the Stones have many years of Stadium shows so I can see an edge there.

and a little internet research shows an estimate of 22million tickets sold by the Grateful Dead

The Stones are close with over 2000

[en.m.wikipedia.org]

The Stones played their 2,000th concert in 2006 (their 1,000th was in 1967!!). I'm close to finishing an update on the setlist page I did several years ago and with new shows from the 60's coming to light in recent publications, by my reckoning the 2,000th Stones concert was actually the Superbowl appearance, believe it or not.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-09-09 15:36 by Gazza.

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georgie48
This question was in another thread some time ago. I did a detailed check way back in 2002 and was already past 30 million. Gazza’s figure of 42 million including 2019 is a very good guess. Since U2 is the only band that had benefit from the period of large stadium tours over a long period of time they are possibly second in line. Elvis’ Las Vegas shows made high figures too, but you need to check with objective Elvis fans

Elvis didnt tour between 1957 and 1970. Until his return to live shows in Las Vegas in August 1969 he hadnt performed in public in 12 years save for a couple of benefit shows in 1961, the Sinatra TV special in 1960 and the NBC TV special in 1968.

There seems to be this widespread belief that in the 70's he predominantly performed in Las Vegas, but thats simply not true. He did a couple of seasons there lasting a month at a time (two shows a night) from 1969 to about 1974-75 then a couple of weeks in 1976. However, he toured regularly (only in the US) from 1970 to June 1977 - maybe about 5-6 tours a year lasting a couple of weeks at a time. The Las Vegas concerts were in showrooms at the Hilton Hotel - you're talking about 2,000 - 2,500 attendees per concert. The tours were in arenas. Other than his NYE show at the Silverdome in 1975 and six gigs at the Astrodome in 1970, Elvis didn't play stadiums.

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Gazza

Quote
georgie48
This question was in another thread some time ago. I did a detailed check way back in 2002 and was already past 30 million. Gazza’s figure of 42 million including 2019 is a very good guess. Since U2 is the only band that had benefit from the period of large stadium tours over a long period of time they are possibly second in line. Elvis’ Las Vegas shows made high figures too, but you need to check with objective Elvis fans

Elvis didnt tour between 1957 and 1970. Until his return to live shows in Las Vegas in August 1969 he hadnt performed in public in 12 years save for a couple of benefit shows in 1961, the Sinatra TV special in 1960 and the NBC TV special in 1968.

There seems to be this widespread belief that in the 70's he predominantly performed in Las Vegas, but thats simply not true. He did a couple of seasons there lasting a month at a time (two shows a night) from 1969 to about 1974-75 then a couple of weeks in 1976. However, he toured regularly (only in the US) from 1970 to June 1977 - maybe about 5-6 tours a year lasting a couple of weeks at a time. The Las Vegas concerts were in showrooms at the Hilton Hotel - you're talking about 2,000 - 2,500 attendees per concert. The tours were in arenas. Other than his NYE show at the Silverdome in 1975 and six gigs at the Astrodome in 1970, Elvis didn't play stadiums.

setlist.fm lists 1419 Elvis shows => [www.setlist.fm]
and 2021 Stones shows => [www.setlist.fm]
and 3754 Bob Dylan shows => [www.setlist.fm]

Thus Bob Dylan did more shows than the Stones and Elvis combined



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-09-09 16:09 by slewan.

Are we including "Pay Per View" events? That could add a significant amount to the total.

I'd be interested in knowing how many of those 'attendees' are repeat clients?

Put another way, how many 'unique visitors' the stones have had.

No way we'll ever know that one I'm sure.

Shows in the 60s and early 70s were mostly being held in small venues like theaters or concert halls with capacities between 500 and 5000 seats. I won't be surprised if Altamont and Hide Park alone had more attendees then all of the other shows the Stones played in the 60's (worldwide) combined.

The large stadium shows and tours started in the late seventees. So I don't think The Grateful Dead are on the 2nd spot. More likely bands like Metallica, U2 or Bon Jovi

Quote
treaclefingers
I'd be interested in knowing how many of those 'attendees' are repeat clients?

Put another way, how many 'unique visitors' the stones have had.

No way we'll ever know that one I'm sure.

Similar to the other contenders I would imagine.
Except maybe deadheads who were essentially the same crowd since 1969

According to Gazza's calculations the total amount of shows will probably be around 2260 at the end of the currently scheduled tour, which is way more than setlist.fm's accound

[doctorstonesblog.blogspot.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-09-09 17:25 by Doc.