The Script Tops Out Magna Charta’s Highest Grossing Tours In 2020

160,645 tickets sold, $9,336,776 grossed in 2020. Most artists don’t generate these kinds of numbers in an entire normal year. The Script managed to pull it off in a pandemic-stricken one, which essentially only offered a three-month touring window. The last eight concerts reported to Pollstar’s box office include six sellouts of various arenas in the UK and the band’s home country Ireland, including three sold-out nights at Dublin’s 3Arena with sales of 12,196 tickets per night, grossing $2,148,987. 

The band leads Pollstar’s Magna Charta in the Top Tours category, and Simon Moran, owner of UK promoter SJM as well as SJM Management, of which The Script are clients, confirmed that all tickets sales that went into the ranking were generated in the first quarter of 2020. 

The shows were part of the band’s “Sunsets & Full Moons” tour, accompanying The Script’s sixth studio album of the same name, which was released in Nov. 2019. The album marks a continuation of that what Daniel O’Donoghue, Mark Sheehan and Glen Power have become know for since releasing their self-titled debut album in 2008: stirring sentiments conveyed through super catchy hooks and melodies. By the time “Sunsets & Full Moons” dropped, the band had already sold 11 million albums, counted 6 billion streams and 1.8 million ticket sales across 258 headline shows. Pollstar has 45 box office reports for the band, which show an average gross of $438,921 per event.

Talking about being forced off the road for so long, O’Donoghue said, “Most of all, we’re missing being able to perform to our #Scriptfamily without who we would never be on the road in the first place.” He is, of course, hoping that the announced 2021 dates will still go ahead. 

While the 2021 European festival summer is still uncertain, potentially affecting their May 22 slot at North Music Festival in Portugal, there’s reason to be hopeful about the two Ziggo Dome shows, June 7-8. 

The 16,800-capacity arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is hosting a pilot dance event, March 6, with an already sold-out capacity of 1,300. It will hopefully be the first step in a gradual return to regular touring activity. Through July, The Script are currently set to perform across the UK and Ireland, and the UK at least had just published its roadmap out of lockdown at press time. 

If everything goes according to prime minister Boris Johnson’s best-case-scenario plan, all COVID restrictions in the country will be lifted by June 21.

It’s not sure when the band will be back in the U.S. yet. The Script have crossed the pond with every major album tour so far. 

The last time in 2017, supporting Freedom Child, which, like all of the band’s albums, reached peak position in the official UK charts. Back then, they almost sold out Oakland’s Fox Theater (2,497 tickets sold, $93,700 grossed) and New York’s Radio City Music Hall (4,317 tickets sold, $245,416 grossed). 

They finished 2018 ranking 95 on Pollstar’s Year End Top 100 Worldwide Tours chart with $20.1 million grossed. Their Magna Charta pole position in 2020 translates to 41st place, when ranked among all the tours worldwide last year. They’re placed right behind Mariah Carey, who they would have easily outgrossed, had they charged her prices for a ticket ($132 vs. $58 on average).

Technically speaking, The Script already had their first U.S. stadium experience in 2021. Their song “Super Heroes” was banging out at the Super Bowl LV, during the segment honoring Tampa’s health workers, reaching the ears of viewers in 130 countries worldwide. 

Luckily, the band is doing well off the road, too. One of the The Script’s hit singles from their debut album, Breakeven, just breached the billion-streams barrier on Spotify. 

Said O’Donoghue, “No matter how you say it, it’s hard to comprehend one billion listens and that number of people hearing Breakeven. The power of music just blows me away. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of this.”