Taylor Swift has concluded her record-breaking Eras Tour on a high, not just with fans but also for her hardworking crew. The pop superstar reportedly shelled out a staggering $197 million in bonuses to her tour staff over the past two years, PEOPLE confirms.
The bonuses were given to personnel, including truck drivers, caterers, instrument technicians, merchandise teams, lighting and sound experts, production staff, dancers, musicians, security teams, choreographers, and more. The generous gesture comes after the singer in August 2023, distributed over $55 million in bonuses to her team.
The Eras Tour, which began in March 2023 in Glendale, Arizona, ended on Sunday, December 8, with a spectacular final performance in Vancouver. During her opening ‘Lover’ set, Swift expressed her gratitude to the fans and her team. “We have toured the entire world,” she told the crowd. “It has been the most exciting, powerful, electrifying, intense, most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.”
Later, before performing her final song, Karma, Swift added, “I want to thank every single one of you for being a part of the most thrilling chapter of my entire life to date — my beloved Eras Tour.”
Swift’s Eras Tour brought in $2.2 billion in its nearly two-year run, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time for a second year in a row, Pollstar estimates from data collected across 149 shows.
The new numbers were provided to The Associated Press on Monday, the morning after Swift wrapped the Eras tour with its final show in Vancouver, Canada. Last year, Swift’s landmark tour became the first to cross the billion-dollar mark.
In North America, Swift’s tour earned an estimated $1.04 billion over its run. Globally, that number jumps to an estimated $2.2 billion.
“We are witnessing history in the making. What Taylor Swift and The Eras Tour accomplished in 21 months across five continents before 10 million fans is extraordinary and unprecedented. The tour’s $2.2 billion estimated gross is the highest of all time and nearly doubles the second biggest tour,” said Andy Gensler, editor-in-chief of Pollstar & VenuesNow, in a statement. “It’s also an example of the limits this industry continues to push far past while bringing music, community and peak life experiences to legions across the globe.”
The second biggest tour is Coldplay‘s ongoing “Music of the Spheres” run, currently at an estimated $1.14 billion since March 2022, with more dates to come in 2025.
According to Pollstar’s approximations, Coldplay has sold more than 10.3 million tickets; Swift’s tour sold just over 10 million, which means she’s sold the most tickets of any solo performer.
