Ed Sheeran will officially break U2’s record for the highest-grossing tour, as concert industry trade publication Pollstar reports. The Divide Tour will reach a total gross of $736.7 million on Aug. 2.
The British singer’s show at Messegelände in Hannover, Germany will seal his all-time record after a nearly two-and-a-half year trek around the globe. U2 previously set the record on July 30, 2011 with a total gross of $735.4 million.
“I just found out the Divide tour is now the highest-grossing tour of all time, this is amazing!“ Sheeran told Pollstar. "I feel very lucky to have experienced all of the wonderful countries and crowds over the past 2 ½ years. Thank you to the fans and everyone who made it possible.”
The trade magazine notes that Sheeran’s tour strategy—crafted alongside a team led by manager Stuart Camp—included relatively low ticket prices (at an average of $86.75), a large amount of shows, and “multiple stadium and arena plays.” This latest show in Germany will mark the 246th show on the Divide Tour–then he’ll play several more dates on the current European leg of the tour.
By the time he wraps up the Divide Tour, he will have played 255 dates across 893 days, while U2’s 360 Tour included 110 shows across 760 days. Given the sheer volume of Sheeran’s tour dates, he also surpassed U2’s attendance record of 7.3 million earlier in the year, reaching a total attendance of 7,315,970 on May 24.
“What Ed has accomplished is truly incredible,” Camp said. “I thought we might have a shot at having the highest attendance record but not the highest grossing tour.”
His 2017 album, ÷ (Divide), won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album. He recently released his fourth studio album, No.6 Collaborations Project, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. His collaboration with Meek Mill and A Boogie wit da Hoodie, “1000 Nights,” reflected on his life on the road.
He spoke about the track in an interview with Charlamagne tha God. “It’s about being on tour for—it’s not technically 1000 nights—but almost 700 or 800 nights on tour,” he said. “I don’t really remember 2014, 2015. It does all become a blur. I now bring my best friends on tour, so I’ve got four best friends out with me and we enjoy it all together.”
Catch up on all the lyrics from ÷ (Divide) on Genius now.
