News December 22, 2021

Ed Sheeran’s touring income drops dramatically to $3 a day

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted us all, even Ed Sheeran: the pop star has saw his touring income drop dramatically to just $3 a day.

Prior to the onset of COVID, when Sheeran was one of the biggest touring draws in the world, he was pulling in $356,000 daily from live concerts.

As reported by The Sun, though, this has decreased to a mere $3 a day. “Ed’s accounts for his company Hayagotatourboi Touring make for funny reading,” a source said. “He has absolutely raked it in from his tours and in the past three years the firm has made more than £250 million ($A460 million).

Ed made so much cash it worked out at him earning £192,000 ($A356,000) a day. But now he’s taken a break he’s living a little more like us, with a daily income of £1.62 ($A3).”

Sheeran’s figures used to be massive: his 2019 Divide tour was the highest grossing of all time, bringing in $1.1 billion after selling 8.9 million tickets across six continents.

The singer-songwriter then decided to retreat from touring to focus on his new album Equals, a decision which led to the drastic reduction in touring income. His income for the 12 months to the end of March 2002 held $130 million; 12 months later this had dropped to just $1,100.

“Taking a break from music in 2019 and working on Equals is the reason the cash flow in the account has dropped down,” the source continued. “Ed will go back out on the road next year with his + – = ÷ x tour, and given it will have been three years since his last tour, it’s likely he’ll make even more cash than before.”

Sheeran’s touring income should recover nicely next year, if the pandemic doesn’t get in the way again. He’s set to undergo a huge tour across the U.K. and Ireland, including five nights at London’s Wembley Arena. He’ll then head to Europe afterwards in July. You can find further information about his tour here.

For more on this topic, follow the Live Music Observer.