Elite 100: Luke Bryan LP, Ed Sheeran Single Challenge Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift and Pentatonix are back on top of Pollstar’s Elite 100 Artists Chart for the week but a new LP from Luke Bryan and a new single from Ed Sheeran put them just behind in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots.

Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP – Luke Bryan
Luke Bryan sings “Light It Up” during the CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Nov. 8.

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This Week’s Elite 100 Artists Chart
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Pollstar, with the BuzzAngle Music-powered Elite 100 Artists Chart, gives a snapshot of the week’s top-selling artists based on music sales and streaming, counting data from the U.S. and Canada. All product, not just current releases, by that artist are included in the figures and the total for ranking purposes is based on an album sale equaling 1, 10 song sales equal 1 album, and 1,500 on-demand streams equal 1 album.

Luke Bryan, whose What Makes You Country album just dropped, sold more than 81,000 albums for the week ending Dec. 14, according to BuzzAngle Music.

Bryan’s “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day Tour” began May 5 in Nashville. Box office reports submitted to Pollstar from that include three shows at the Bank of NH Pavilion in Gilford, N.H., which sold 21,468 tickets and grossed 1.4 million Aug. 8-11, Sprint Center in Kansas City which sold out 11,782 tickets and grossed just under $800,000, as well as the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., where he sold 17,395 tickets and grossed a hefty $1.23 million June 25. Next up for Bryan are more arena dates kicking off in February, with support from Kip Moore, The Cadillac Three, Granger Smith, and Brothers Osborne on select dates. Shows include KFC Yum! Center in Louisville Feb. 18, Cajundome in Lafayette, La., March 9, three dates in Australia in March, and then in the summer festivals including Country Thunder West in Arizona, Calgary Stampede in Alberta and Country Thunder in Twin Lakes, Wis., July 22.

Ed Sheeran jumps back up toward the top of the chart at No. 4, with a new single duet featuring Beyoncé called “Perfect” lighting up the song sales and streaming categories.

The ever-busy ginger has 83 dates on the books taking him into the end of 2018. Despite missing some Asian dates after injuring his arms in a bicycle accident, he’s been back at it with holiday festival appearances including Capital FM Jingle Bell Ball at the O2 in London Dec. 10, The Z100 Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden Dec. 8, and the KIIS FM Jingle Ball at the Forum in Inglewood Dec. 1, which sold out 15,828 tickets and grossed $1.92 million, according to Pollstar data. The star-studded lineup for the Forum show also included Taylor Swift, The Chainsmokers, Sam Smith and Demi Lovato.

Chris McKay / Music Midtown Festival / GettyImages.com – Eminem
Music Midtown Festival, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, Ga.

Sheeran sold out arenas at will this summer, with dates reported to Pollstar including Sept. 26 at PPG Paints Arena, which sold 13,109 tickets and grossed $1.134 million, Sept. 19-20 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., which sold a combined 27,420 tickets and grossed $2.37 million, and Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Sept. 9, which sold 14,912 and grossed $1.36 million.

In March he kicks off 18 dates in Australia and New Zealand, and plays just about anywhere else you can imagine, with another U.S. tour leg kicking off at the Rose Bowl in August.

Eminem is No. 13 on the list before his Revival album even dropped, with strong singles and streaming activity, so expect him to chart high on the Elite 100 after a full week of album sales. He is expected to do at least some concerts this year, with his agent Cara Lewis telling Pollstar he will do select dates, his first since 2014.