Stones may lose tour record to ... themselves

In a year troubling on many fronts for the music industry, a bit of good news first: The Rolling Stones’ 11-year-old record for the highest-grossing tour of all time was at long last eclipsed in 2005. And not once, but twice.

Although figures haven’t been finalized yet, the concert industry tracking magazine Pollstar expects the Stones’ $121.2-million take in 1994 not only to be topped but to also be “smashed,” by ... the Rolling Stones. And U2.

It appears that Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and company will edge Bono, the Edge et al. for top honors in an especially lucrative year for both, but Pollstar Editor Gary Bongiovanni says those positions could change as the final data are analyzed this week.

The Stones have made the contest more challenging than usual because the group has chosen not to report box-office receipts for its “A Bigger Bang” tour as it has in years past, and as the vast majority of other touring performers do.

That has left Pollstar to track down numbers from each venue the band played in 2005, or to estimate concert revenues based on ticket prices and facility capacities. Billboard magazine left the Stones off its recent report of 2005 concert grosses.

“It’s kind of amazing that the Stones’ record has held since ‘94,” Bongiovanni said, “considering that since then, average ticket prices have more than doubled.”

Other acts he expects to finish in the Top 10, in an order that could change as final figures are computed, are Celine Dion, the Eagles, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Kenny Chesney, the Dave Matthews Band, Neil Diamond and Jimmy Buffett.

“Kenny Chesney is the youngster in that lot,” he said of the 37-year-old country singer. Although rapper Kanye West’s tour gained much critical acclaim for raising the bar on hip-hop concert performance, his name won’t appear in Pollstar’s Top 20.

“Maybe [Eminem’s] Anger Management Tour will,” Bongiovanni said, “but as in years past, rap and hip-hop doesn’t translate anywhere near as well to the live performance arena as it does to record sales.”

The only other relative newcomers who might find their way into the Top 20 appear to be Hilary Duff and Coldplay.

Overall, though, the number of tickets sold was down in 2005, and overall revenue may also fall short of what it was in 2004.

“We definitely saw a drop in revenue early in the year,” Bongiovanni said. “We had some real huge tours in the fourth quarter, which is fairly unusual late in the year. But whether [revenue] rebounded enough in the fourth quarter to make up the difference, we’re still trying to get a handle on that.”

Pollstar’s final concert revenue report will appear in the magazine’s Jan. 16 issue, to be mailed to subscribers on Jan. 6.