Billy Joel’s MSG residency now second only to Celine Dion’s in box office grosses
Billy Joel wrapped up his 10-year residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden on July 25, and now the numbers are in.
According to Billboard, the residency, which featured Billy playing one show per month at the legendary venue, earned just under $267 million and sold 1.9 million tickets over 104 shows since it launched in 2014. Every one of those shows sold out, for an average of 18,600 tickets per show.
Over 10 years, ticket prices increased from about $2 million in earnings from those first shows to the final show, which took in $5 million.
Billboard notes that Billy’s residency is now the third-highest-grossing concert residency in the history of the publication’s Boxscore concert tallies, which began in the mid-’80s. The only two that have earned more have been Celine Dion‘s A New Day, which earned just over $385 million from 2003 to 2007 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, and her second residency show, Celine, which earned just over $296 million from 2011 to 2019.
U2‘s 40-show run at Sphere in Las Vegas was previously in third place with $244.5 million, until these new numbers knocked them down to fourth place.
The CBS special Billy Joel: The 100th — Live at Madison Square Garden, which documented the 100th show of the residency, won three trophies at the Creative Arts Emmys, held in LA Sept. 7 and 8.
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