Hot Tours:Taylor Swift, Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi

Taylor Swift

Hot Tours:Taylor Swift, Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi

Taylor Swift ranks second on the Hot Tours tally with the first totals reported from the North American leg of her Speak Now World Tour.  With grosses totaling $10.2 million from nine performances, the total number of tickets purchased from these sold out concerts was 152,537.  Swift played two consecutive nights in two of the markets, Omaha (May 27-28) and Ft. Lauderdale (June 2-3), and performed at the first North American stadium on her 2011 schedule, Ford Field in Detroit.  The sold out concert on June 11 grossed $3.4 million with 47,992 fans in attendance at the home stadium of the NFL's Detroit Lions.  The country artist performed at her first NFL venue, Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., last year during the Fearless Tour.  The June 5, 2010 concert drew 56,868 fans to the home stadium of the New England Patriots.  This year she returns to the home of the New England Patriots for two nights, June 25th and 26th.

Bon Jovi is back in a familiar spot, the No. 1 slot on Billboard's Hot Tours rankings, thanks to box office grosses from the final North American concerts on the Live 2011 Tour that began in February.  The 12 concerts reported during the past week were all sellouts, occurring from May 3rd through the 22nd.  The first two shows were in Canadian markets, Ottawa and Montreal, and the remaining 10 dates were at U.S. arenas.  With $17.6 million from the May concerts added to prior ticket sales, the 2011 tour has grossed almost $57 million from the 34 performances that have been reported. With the tour's North American leg in the books, Bon Jovi is now on the road in Europe with dates scheduled through the end of July.

Stadium performances also give veteran rocker Rod Stewart and country star Kenny Chesney a spot on this week's Top 10 compilation of Hot Tours. Stewart ranks No. 3 with £4.2 million in box office grosses from sold out

performances at four U.K. soccer stadiums on his summer tour schedule. Chesney lands at No. 4 with concerts at a soccer stadium in the Chicago area and an NFL football stadium, Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.

Rank	Artist/Event Total Gross Show Dates Show Venue/City (Shows/Sellouts) Total Attendance (Capacity)
1	BON JOVI $17,619,487 May 3-22 Scotiabank Place, Ottawa (1/1) Bell Centre, Montreal (1/1) Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y. (1/1) Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Conn. (1/1) Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio (1/1) Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa (1/1) Philips Arena, Atlanta (1/1) Amway Center, Orlando (1/1) Toyota Center, Houston (1/1) FedExForum, Memphis (1/1) Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wis. (1/1) Scottrade Center, St. Louis (1/1) 197,405 (197,405)
2	TAYLOR SWIFT $10,260,656 May 27-June 11 Qwest Center, Omaha (2/2) Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa (1/1) BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Fla. (2/2) Amway Center, Orlando (1/1) Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio (1/1) Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wis. (1/1) Ford Field, Detroit (1/1) 152,537 (152,537)
3	ROD STEWART $7,029,580 May 27-June 11 Liberty Stadium, Swansea, U.K. (1/1) Elland Road, Leeds, U.K. (1/1) Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen, U.K. (1/1) Carrow Road, Norwich, U.K. (1/1) 62,312 (62,312)

Country singer Taylor Swift buys herself a Beverly Hills estate

Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has bought herself a Beverly Hills estate - just three months after buying her parents a home in Nashville.

The young star splashed out $1.4 million for the luxury home for her parents Andrea and Scott Swift back in April.

Now she has bought her own compound for more than $3.5 million that's, fittingly, a little bit country.

On close to 1.5 acres, the three-bedroom, three and a half bathroom main house sits behind gates at the end of a long driveway.

It has a countryside vibe with dormer windows, vine-covered arbors, stone paths and wood fencing.

The first-floor master suite has dual bathrooms and walk-in closets while French doors open to the grounds, which include a patio with an outdoor fireplace off the back of the house and a lighted paddle tennis court. 

The guesthouse contains a high-ceilinged living room with a fireplace, a kitchen, one bedroom and a bathroom.

Swift, just 21, won four Grammys for her work on the album Fearless and song White Horse last year. 

The country performer raised $750,000 for tornado victims at a recent benefit concert in Nashville.

 

 

Taylor Swift Gets "Weird"

Taylor Swift Gets “Weird”

In yet another right of passage as a mega-star, Taylor Swift’s “You Belong to Me” has been parodied by the master of the parody, “Weird Al” Yankovic. His song “TMZ” transforms “You Belong to Me” into the world of the paparazzi on his forthcoming album. “If they ever catch you picking your nose / or stumbling down the street on a drunken spree / you’re on TMZ,” Yankovic sings.

“As a pseudo-celebrity in Los Angeles, I have been on TMZ,” Yankovic said. “But I don’t have a bone to pick. It’s my job to poke fun.”

Almost 30 years ago “Weird” Al released his first parody with songs like The Knack’s “My Sharona,” called “My Bologna. “It’s the great irony of my life,” Yankovic said recently. “Nobody thought I’d have a lasting career.”

Yankovic also features Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” in his the new CD, “Alpocalypse” due in stores June 21.