New York’s Madison Square Garden is sometimes called the “world’s greatest arena,” but it’s definitely the world’s highest-earning arena, thanks in no small part to Billy Joel.
Over the past year, the Garden grossed $241.4 million and sold 1.8 million tickets, according to Billboard. That’s more than any other venue this year, including stadiums. It’s also the highest gross for any venue ever in a single year.
Billy alone was responsible for $29.6 million of that total, and 205,000 of those tickets, thanks to his ongoing monthly residency at the famed arena. In 2022, he did 11 shows at the Garden: one each month, except for January, which was canceled due to a resurgence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Pop superstar Harry Styles also contributed to the gross: He played 15 shows at the venue, taking in just over $63 million and selling 277,000 tickets. That means Billy and Harry together accounted for 39% of the total haul.
The other top-grossing shows that helped the Garden set a new record included Phish, Rage Against the Machine, Elton John and Genesis.
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