Madonna world tour is top grosser
12/20/2012While this year's pop charts have been dominated by young singers, it is veteran music stars, led by Madonna, who are commanding big money in tour ticket sales, according to a Billboard list released on Tuesday.
Madonna, 54, topped Billboard's list of highest-grossing live tours, earning an estimated $228.4 million in ticket sales from her sold-out ninth worldwide tour in support of her 12th studio album "MDNA." The singer will wrap up her tour in South America this weekend, after performing more than 80 shows across the world starting in Israel in May.
The top five highest-grossing tour acts of 2012 included Bruce Springsteen, 63, and the E Street band at No. 2 with $199 million from 72 shows and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, 69, at No. 3 with $186 million.
Cirque Du Soleil's homage to late singer Michael Jackson in "The Immortal World Tour" ranked No. 4 with $147.3 million over 183 shows, and British rock band Coldplay was fifth with $147.2 million over 67 shows.
Young stars in the list of 25 top-grossing tours included Canadian pop star Justin Bieber, 18, at No. 20 with $30 million from 29 shows as part of his ongoing "Believe" tour, and country-pop darling Taylor Swift, 23, who raked in $26 million from 21 shows from her "Speak Now World Tour."
Making of a superstar
Some key figures who helped manage Michael Jackson's career are teaming up to create a stage musical about the behind-the-scenes making of a superstar that producers call a cross between Goodfellas and Dreamgirls.
Producers Mark Lamica, Quincy Krashna, Jerry Greenberg, Raymond Del Barrio, and Larry Hart will join forces to present The Man, a fictional show inspired by the rise of Jackson, Elvis Presley, and Whitney Houston. The story will be told through the eyes of a manager.
The Man is expected to open in Las Vegas in the late fall of 2013.
'Swatting' arrest
A minor was arrested on suspicion of placing hoax calls in October claiming gunshots were fired at the home of Justin Bieber and that people had been shot at actor Ashton Kutcher's house, police in Los Angeles said on Tuesday.
The hoaxes resulted in dozens of emergency responders being dispatched to the homes of Kutcher and Bieber. Neither was at home during the pranks.
The false emergency calls are known as "swatting" because SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) officers are often sent to such purported crime scenes.
The Los Angeles Police Department would not release the name or gender of the minor, but said the suspect was arrested on Dec. 10 and lived in the Southern California region.
In the Kutcher incident, dozens of emergency personnel were sent to the Hollywood home of the Two and a Half Men star after a call claiming that people were in his home with guns and explosives, and that several people had been shot.
First responders were also dispatched to Bieber's Los Angeles-area home after a false emergency call said gun shots had been fired on the property.
Singer and actress Miley Cyrus has also been targeted by a swatting prank, but police said the Cyrus case has not been linked to the Kutcher and Bieber incidents.