Wrecking Ball World Tour

Wrecking Ball World Tour
Tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Associated albumWrecking Ball
Start dateMarch 18, 2012
End dateSeptember 21, 2013[1]
Legs5
No. of shows134
Box office$340.6 million ($465.12 million in 2023 dollars)[2]
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert chronology

The Wrecking Ball World Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to promote Springsteen's seventeenth studio album, Wrecking Ball, which was released on March 5, 2012.[3] It was the first tour for the E Street Band without founding member Clarence Clemons, who died on June 18, 2011. The worldwide tour in support of the album, which ended in September 2013, reached 26 countries, the most ever for one of Springsteen's tours. The tour resumed in January 2014 to promote Springsteen's new album, High Hopes, and went under that album's name.[4]

In an attempt to fill the void left by Clemons, Springsteen added a full horn section, which included Jake Clemons, Clarence's nephew. Three background singers and a percussionist were also added, giving the E Street Band its largest lineup ever at seventeen members.[5][6] As with previous tours, Springsteen's wife and band member, Patti Scialfa, did not appear at all the shows due to family commitments. Guitarist Steven Van Zandt was also unable to perform on the band's Australian leg due to the filming of his television show, Lilyhammer. Van Zandt was replaced by Tom Morello for those dates.

The tour featured over 215 different songs[7] performed, including some songs either making their live debuts or returning after an extended absence.

The tour was named the second highest-grossing tour of 2012 and was the most attended tour of the year,[8] winning the Billboard Touring Award for Top Draw.[9] For the first half of 2013, the tour was named one of the top three grossing tours for the year.[10]

At the end of 2012, the tour placed second on Pollstar's "Top 100 Worldwide Tours", grossing $210.2 million from 81 shows in Europe.[11] At the end of 2013, the tour placed fifth on Pollstar's "Top 100 Worldwide Tours", grossing $145.4 million from 46 shows in Europe.[12] Overall, the tour grossed $340.6 million from 124 shows.

  1. ^ New show added in Buenos Aires » Bruce Springsteen
  2. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "WRECKING BALL". www.brucespringsteen.com (Official Site). Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  4. ^ Backstreets.com: Springsteen News
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference fb120209 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "HOW TO "REPLACE" CLARENCE CLEMONS? WITH AN ARMY". backstreets.com. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  7. ^ Brucebase - List of songs performed on the Wrecking Ball Tour
  8. ^ Top 25 Tours of 2012 | Billboard
  9. ^ "Roger Waters and Bruce Springsteen win big at Billboard Touring Awards". Archived from the original on 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  10. ^ Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Rolling Stones Among Top 2013 Concert Earners List
  11. ^ "Pollstar Top 100 Worldwide Tours 2012" (PDF). Pollstar. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Pollstar Top 100 Worldwide Tours 2013" (PDF). Pollstar. Retrieved 23 June 2015.