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Taylor Swift Takes On Take That Record: Wembley’s Summer Of Music 2024
Wembley Stadium is gearing up for summer of music, with performances from some of the world’s biggest stars in pop, rock, and dance music, including Taylor Swift, Green Day, David Guetta, AC/DC, and more.
This lineup follows a series of major sporting events that already took place at the iconic building this year, including The Carabao Cup Final, The men’s and women’s FA Cup Finals, and the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final, June 1, when Lenny Kravitz performed on the pitch ahead of the game (pictured).
Following the conclusion of the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final June 8, the stadium switched its attention to music, starting with Capital Radio’s Summertime Ball, June 16, the UK’s self-proclaimed “biggest summer party,” with a line-up that featured David Guetta, Jax Jones, Rudimental, Sabrina Carpenter, Sugababes, Becky Hill, Ella Henderson, Aitch, Meghan Trainor, Raye, and more.
Over the coming weeks, Wembley will host more of the biggest names in music, expecting to attract more than 1.2 million visitors in the process – potentially surpassing the record-setting year of 2023, when the stadium turned 100 years old.
The Iconic Wembley Stadium Turns 100: World Tours, World Cups & World Records
Speaking of records, this coming weekend, Taylor Swift will begin her eight-night residency at Wembley with “The Eras” tour. Following an initial three dates June 21-23, she’ll return for another five nights Aug. 15-17 & 19-20.
All eight nights are sold out, “making her the biggest-selling female artist to ever perform at Wembley Stadium,” according to a press release from London, which adds that “her eight-night run will also set a new record for the longest residency of a solo artist at Wembley Stadium.”
Take That did eight nights in June & July of 2011, which remains the record for the longest run of one show at the stadium. According to the Pollstar Boxoffice, that run sold a total of 623,737 tickets – or 77,967 per show – and grossed a staggering $62,823,259.
Taylor Swift, while not performing eight nights in a row, set a new record for a solo-artist, eclipsing Michael Jackson’s seven nights at the Old Wembley during his “Bad” world tour in 1988.
Ticket prices for Take That back in 2011 ranged between $55 and $90, according to the Pollstar Boxoffice. Taylor Swift last performed at Wembley Stadium in 2018, selling 143,427 tickets across two nights, June 22-23, grossing $12,214,933. Ticket prices ranged from $74 to $144. Given that ticket price levels, as well as VIP offers on sale, have only increased since then, Taylor Swift has a shot at beating Take That’s record.
It will depend on the production, and therefore the number of seats on sale for each show. During her two nights in 2018, there were 71,713 tickets available per show, 6,000 less than during Take That’s 2011 record-setting run. And while Taylor Swift’s 2024 Wembley shows are all sold out, Pollstar wasn’t able to determine the exacts figures at the time of writing.
The remainder of Wembley Stadium’s summer of 2024 will see Green Day celebrating the 20th anniversary of American Idiot on June 29; rock royals AC/DC will drop by for two shows of their “Power Up Tour”, July 3 & 7; and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band return to the stadium for the first time in over eight years for two nights, July 25 & 27.
Rounding off the summer of entertainment will be a return of AEW’s All In Wrestling show on August 25. The new franchise premiered at the stadium in 2023, becoming the largest paid-attendance professional wrestling show in Europe to date, with 81,035 people in attendance. Aug. 27, 2023, surpassing the previous record of 80,00 people set at WWE’s SummerSlam event in 1992 – the last time Wembley Stadium hosted professional wrestling.