E! Online - David Jenison

In a classic case of role reversal, it was the Police who topped this year’s most-wanted list.

The trio’s reunion tour, which kicked off May 28 in Vancouver, finished 2007 as North America’s number one top grossing tour, per year-end figures released Friday by the concert trade Pollstar. Sting & Co.’s 41-city, 54-show outing grossed $132 million in ticket sales, nearly double the amount of country star Kenny Chesney, who finished second with $71 million.

The Police had the highest average per-concert take, with $3.2 million per gig. The reunited rockers also sold the most tickets, just over 1.15 million, followed closely by Chesney’s 1.14 million. But the Police only had the fifth highest average ticket price ($114.32), behind Barry Manilow ($141.72), Celine Dion ($141.26), Genesis ($130.39) and Elton John ($126.76).

The Police were also the top ticket seller internationally, bringing in a grand total of $212 million worldwide. The trio, who finished the tour’s Latin American leg earlier this month, restarts the tour Jan. 17 in New Zealand.

The reunited Genesis proved it could still turn it on again. Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford kicked off their North American jaunt Sept. 7 in Toronto and finished the year as the eighth highest grossing tour at $47.6 million. Genesis cracked the top 10 with the fewest number of shows, 25, but the band’s high seat prices made up the difference. Genesis also scored the second highest grossing international tour, selling $129 million in tickets worldwide.

Showing that reunion tours were the rage this year, Van Halen finished in the fifth spot. On the heels of their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, the L.A. rockers launched their reunion tour last September, selling nearly $57 million in tickets to date.

The fourth highest grossing act wasn’t really a tour at all. Celine Dion did 113 performances of A New Day at Caesar’s Palace this year, with the Canadian chanteuse finishing her remarkable five-year run just last week. Her Las Vegas residency brought in $65.3 million in its final year.

Since opening her show in early 2003, Dion sold more than $400 million in tickets to nearly 3 million fans. The casinos 4,100-seat Colosseum, built specifically for her performances, limited her tickets-per-show average, but she led the pack in total number of shows.

While many singers would take a break after such a grueling schedule, Dion appears anxious to get on the road. Her yearlong Taking Chances tour kicks off Valentine’s Day in South Africa.
Chesney’s second-place finish kept Justin Timberlake at third, with about $500,000 separating them. The country star also exacted some revenge by topping Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul 2007 tour, which finished sixth with $52.3 million. Last year, the Soul2Soul tour grossed $88.6 million, topping Chesney’s 2005 Somewhere in the Sun as the highest grossing country tour of all time.

Among the other top-10 finishers, Rod Stewart and current Christmas king Josh Groban finished at seventh ($49 million) and ninth ($43 million), respectively. With $41.5 million in sales, Rascal Flatts finished 10th, giving country music three of the year’s top-10 tours.

Just outside the top 10 were a clutch of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, with Billy Joel finishing 12th ($39.1 million), Roger Waters 13th ($38.3 million) and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band coming in 14th ($38.2 million). Elton John finished at 16th with $35.7 million, thanks to his Red Piano show, which he performed in the Colosseum during Celine Dion’s breaks.

Tween concertgoers were represented by Miley Cyrus. The Disney Channel star’s Best of Both Worlds Tour, one of the year’s hardest tickets to come by, finished 15th, with $36 million in gross ticket sales.

Finally, Mexican rockers Maná had the top Spanish-language tour, and the 20th highest grossing overall, moving nearly $34 million in tickets over 46 shows.

Per Pollstar, the top 20 tours grossed $996 million, down nearly 16 percent from 2006. Total North American ticket sales hit $2.6 billion for the year, according to Billboard. That’s a drop of 10 percent from last year’s record-setting mark, while the actual number of concertgoers—51 million—was also down 19 percent.

Here’s a recap of 2007’s top 10 highest grossing North American tours, per Pollstar:
1. The Police ($131.9 millon)

2. Kenny Chesney ($71.1 million)

3. Justin Timberlake ($70.6 million)

4. Celine Dion ($65.3 million)

5. Van Halen ($56.7 million)

6. Tim McGraw/Faith Hill ($52.3 million)

7. Rod Stewart ($49 million)

8. Genesis ($47.6 million)

9. Josh Groban ($43 million)

10. Rascal Flatts ($41.5 million)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Van Halen will tour with David Lee Roth for the first time since the flamboyant singer quit more than 20 years ago, they announced at a news conference on Monday.

Roth, 52, spoke virtually nonstop at the event, promising that the band’s upcoming 25-date North American trek was merely the precursor to a world tour and to a new album.

"This is not like the Police," Roth said, referring to another band that recently papered over personality differences to launch a one-off reunion tour. "The idea is that this will continue on and on and on."

"We think we got it right this time," Roth added. "You come and judge the performance harshly, please. I beg you, come on down and see."

Roth’s reunion with guitarist Eddie Van Halen and his older brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, fulfills the fantasies harbored by the band’s fans ever since Roth quit in 1985 and was replaced by Sammy Hagar. But it is not a strict reunion of the classic lineup, famed for such hits as "Panama" and "Runnin’ with the Devil," because bass player Michael Anthony has been replaced by Eddie’s 16-year-old son, Wolfgang.

Roth heaped praise on the band’s newest member, claiming Wolfgang picked the songs the band will perform, and "brings a young energy and a spirit to this that’ll knock you out of your socks."

Asked about Anthony’s absence, Roth said, "This is not a reunion. This is a new band. … Usually when a band comes back like us it’s rockers with walkers and this is everything but. Meet us in the future, not the past."

The tour begins September 27 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and wraps up December 11 in the Canadian city of Calgary. Key stops include Chicago (October 16, 18), New York City (November 13) and their native Los Angeles (November 20)

Roth and Van Halen were supposed to hit the road earlier, but plans fell through when Eddie Van Halen entered rehab in March for undisclosed issues. His illness scuttled a potential reunion at the group’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction later that month.

With Hagar at the helm, Van Halen maintained its winning edge into the 1990s, with such tunes as "Right Now" and "Why Can’t This Be Love." Roth, meanwhile, faded into relative obscurity. In recent years, he had did stints as a paramedic and a morning radio show host.

The band’s luck ran out in 1996, when Hagar quit acrimoniously, Roth rejoined to record two songs and was then replaced by a third singer, Gary Cherone. His sole album with the band, 1998’s "Van Halen III" tanked, and the band spent much of the subsequent decade in the wilderness.

Eddie Van Halen battled cancer during this time, and his marriage to actress Valerie Bertinelli ended.

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