Beyoncé to become world’s biggest female touring act

Beyoncé’s Formation stadium world tour doesn’t kick off until late April in America. But it’s already caused some serious tractionwith sell-outs, police anger and even angrier Rihanna fans.

The first 39 announced dates of the world tour through the US and Europe (finishing on July 29), promoted by Live Nation and presented by American Express, sold out almost 1 million tickets in the first weekend and initially grossed US$100 million. Tickets for the six UK dates disappeared in 26 minutes.

Formation is on its way to becoming one of the hottest world tours of 2016.

Shows in Miami (where the tour is beginning) Dallas, Toronto, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and both performances in New York City, sold out. So did those in London (90,000 tickets at Wembley Stadium), Sunderland, Manchester, Amsterdam, Dublin and Stockholm. Second shows were added in some cities, bringing the gross so far to $200 million.

Sales are “beyond fantastic”, Arthur Fogel, Chairman of Live Nation Global Touring, told Billboard. The man behind the biggest ever tour, U2’s 360 Tour of 2009—11, added, “When you go up [on sale] and sell out stadiums, and in some markets multiple stadiums, it’s big.”

Billboard is making the case that Beyoncé is the biggest female touring act in the world. It cites how her Mrs. Carter World Tour of 2013-2014 grossed $212 million from 126 shows which drew almost 2 million fans. She followed it up with the On The Run stadium trek with husband Jay-Z, grossing $96 million from just 19 shows in North America which shifted 832,769 tickets.

Part of the reason for the ticket rush is Beyoncé’s appearance on the Super Bowl 50, which drew 111.9 million viewers in the U.S. alone. It was the third most-watched program in U.S. television history. The Formation dates were advertised right after her performance, a brilliant marketing strategy.

But more than that was the political statement she made during her show – applauding the Black Panthers and seemingly dissing the police force, and her dancers making an X on the field to denote the late black activist Malcolm X.

Beyoncé said the performance was about “making people feel good about themselves.” But it caused anger among police unions, who have called for protest rallies at all her concerts and to also boycott offering security at the shows. One major official said, “We respect anyone’s First Amendment rights, but we also respect our officers and any law-abiding citizens (and) we will not respect those who tarnish our profession.”

The Nation Of Islam has vowed to protect the singer on the world tour through its Fruit of Islam security section. Minister Louis Farrakhan responded, “She started talking that Black stuff and White folks say, ’Well, we don’t know how to deal with that.

“Well, you taught us everywhere we went about the Holocaust, but we have sympathy for you. But when one of us shows some independence, look at how you’re treating Beyoncé now. You’re going to picket. You’re not going to offer her police protection. But the FOI will.”

A statement from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network said Beyoncé had a right to speak out against police brutality without being attacked.

“At a time when people have been rising up against the genocidal tide of police terror and mass incarceration in ways we haven’t seen since the 60’s, backward fascist reactionaries like (former New York mayor) Rudolph Giuliani and various national police organizations have unleashed a torrent of abuse attacking Beyoncé and accusing her of ’cop killer entertainment.’”

However, many promoters say that Beyoncé’s statement actually lead to the rush for ticket sales.

Said one, “Beyoncé is overt with her messaging, therefore she was on brand by being overt at the Super Bowl, and her audience responded. She’s got the relationship with her fans that can kind of activate a call to action, which is very important for a live artist.”

Beyoncé is also under fire from Rhianna fans, who say that going out on the road at the same time as Rhianna’s Anti dates has affected her sales. Eight shows were cancelled and others moved to smaller venues, officially because of production issues, while others contend they were because of less-than-expected ticket shifts.

The buzz on social media is that Beyoncé’s move to “sabotage” Rihanna’s tour comes months after an unauthorized biography on the singer’s life claimed she separated from Jay-Z, for a year after she learned about his alleged secret affair with his protégé.