Taylor Swift's record-breaking Eras tour gears up for its final show

Toronto, Canada - Taylor Swift's record-shattering Eras Tour is set to end on Sunday in Vancouver with the final performance of a cultural phenomenon that has easily become the highest-grossing musical tour in history.

Taylor Swift's record-shattering Eras Tour is set to end on Sunday in Vancouver with the final performance of a cultural phenomenon that has easily become the highest-grossing musical tour in history.
Taylor Swift's record-shattering Eras Tour is set to end on Sunday in Vancouver with the final performance of a cultural phenomenon that has easily become the highest-grossing musical tour in history.  © MICHAEL TRAN / AFP

The globe-spanning event kicked off in Arizona on March 17, 2023.

When it ends in the Canadian city this weekend, the singer/songwriter will have performed 149 shows with stops from Buenos Aires to Paris and Tokyo.

Swift's camp has not publicly released ticket revenue numbers for the tour, but the widely cited trade magazine Pollstar has estimated the figure at well over $2 billion.

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That smashes the record previously held by Elton John's pandemic-interrupted Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which sold an estimated $939 million in tickets over 328 shows spread across five years.

Beyond the concerts, Swift's presence in venue cities has supercharged local economies.

Her second-last tour stop was in Toronto, where she performed six shows over two weekends.

She generated an additional Can$282 million ($199 million) in economic activity in Canada's largest city, tourism promotion organization Destination Toronto estimated.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended one of the Toronto shows with his family.

Last year, before the announcement that Eras would include Canadian stops, Trudeau issued a public appeal urging Swift to come.

"I know places in Canada would love to have you. So, don't make it another Cruel Summer. We hope to see you soon," Trudeau posted on X in July 2023, referring to a hit song from Swift's 2019 album Lover.

The highs and lows of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour

Taylor Swift (r.) and Kansas City Chiefs' tight end #87 Travis Kelce (l.) embrace after the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 11, 2024.
Taylor Swift (r.) and Kansas City Chiefs' tight end #87 Travis Kelce (l.) embrace after the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 11, 2024.  © Patrick T. FALLON / AFP

Not all the political attention Swift attracted during Eras was positive, however.

Shortly after the US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in September, Swift endorsed the Democrat for president.

That triggered an all-caps Trump post on the former president's Truth Social platform that simply said, "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT."

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A setback came this summer in Vienna when three shows were canceled after authorities arrested a man in connection with an Islamist attack plot.

And tragedy struck when a fan died of heat exhaustion during a show in Rio de Janeiro in November of last year.

Unprecedented ticket demand led to frustration for many fans and forced Ticketmaster initially to scrap presale plans.

Eras also included a "will she, won't she" moment of suspense that transcended the world of pop music.

The question was whether Swift had enough time after finishing a show in Tokyo on February 10 to make it to Las Vegas in time for kickoff at the Super Bowl to see her boyfriend Travis Kelce play for the Kansas City Chiefs.

It is rare for a non-football storyline to dominate discussion ahead of America's premier sporting event.

But concern about Swift's schedule was so acute that the Japanese embassy in Washington issued a statement affirming she would "comfortably" make the game.

From a private box, along with Kelce's mother Donna, Swift chugged a beer and watched the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers – as more than 200 million TV viewers watched her.

Cover photo: MICHAEL TRAN / AFP

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