[blockquote]List topped by U2, Madonna & Bruce Springsteen. Rieu ranks #6 with $95,854,338.[/blockquote]

Billboard recently released their 2009 year-end issue. U2 lead the top 25 tours chart with more than 3 million fans attending a concert and gross revenues of over $311 million. Madonna attracted almost 2.2 million fans for gross revenue of $222 million. Bruce Spingsteen completed the top 3. To many the number 6 on the list, André Rieu, will be the biggest surprise.

[quote_right]Rieu, who gave 112 concerts on four continents, sold more than 834,000 tickets. With almost $96 million gross Andre Rieu beats Britney Spears with slightly over a million dollar.[/quote_right]
Rieu, who gave 112 concerts on four continents, sold more than 834,000 tickets. With almost $96 million gross Andre Rieu beats Britney Spears with slightly over a million dollar. However, to insiders, Rieu’s success is less of a miracle. Classical and crossover classical music are wildly popular these days, as the success of Susan Boyle and Andrea Bocelli prove. Rieu has shown that this increased interest can also be translated to success at the box office.

For the year 2010, Rieu’s goal is to expand the success to the United States. He just released a new CD/DVD, “Live in Dresden” and he is preparing for another concert tour in arenas across the country. Other acts in the top 10 are AC/DC, Pink, Billy Joel & Elton John, Tina Turner and Coldplay.