According to Billboard, British metal icons IRON MAIDEN earns this week’s top Hot Tours ranking with final box office grosses reported from the European leg of the Maiden England world tour that kicked off its 2013 schedule in late May. Revenue from the final six shows on the summer jaunt through Europe totaled $8.5 million from 121,280 tickets sold. The final stop was London, with a two-night stand at the O2 Arena on August 3 and 4. With sellouts on both evenings, the band played to 27,000 fans in its home city to close out its European run.
The Maiden England World Tour originally kicked off last year with a North American summer trek but resumed in May of this year for a run through Europe that will be followed by tour legs in North and South America this fall. Ticket sales from 13 venues in seven countries were reported this week beginning with a sold out performance on May 29 at Lisbon’s Pavilhão Atlântico. Altogether from 14 concerts, attendance totaled 259,298. Included in that count is a sellout crowd of 55,531 at a football stadium, Friends Arena, in the Stockholm suburb of Solna, Sweden.
A brief fall swing through North and South American markets will mark the end of the veteran heavy metal band’s world tour on October 2. The tour launched during the summer of 2012 with a three-month trek at arenas and outdoor amphitheaters in the U.S. and Canada. With totals added from this summer’s Europe dates, overall ticket sales from the tour top $42 million from 45 reported concerts.