U2 Chart/Sales Statistics

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Thanks for the ticket price figure. That makes it simple to provide a GROSS figure for the POPMART show there.
There is a lot of speculation and little hard info on what the bands profit was from ZOO TV and POPMART. I do know the tour cost on ZOO TV was 125,000 a day for the outdoor part. The bands GROSS was usually a lot more than this, so the Profit would be a lot greater than 3 million for ZOO TV. I'll have to put together the numbers to come up with the exact stats.
The profit for POPMART was nearly 100 million dollars. The band was promised 100 million dollars though no matter what happened. So it looks like everyone both promoter and band got the profit goal they were after.
 
Thats UNREAL!!!

Keep up the good work!!
wink.gif
 
I think Doctor Who needs to check some of his stats for the singles and albums charting. I have some conflicting stats for early singles and the charting of Boy and October. I got a large chunk of the following info from U2.com and a few other sources that seemed to have the exact same data that U2.com had plus more. Some of the data was just added from the Doctor's info, but I think he should definitely check through this.

Single US UK Other

U2:3 1/Ireland

A Day Without Me 1/Ireland

I Will Follow 12/Holland

Fire 20

Gloria 23

A Celebration 29

New Year's Day 53 9

Two Hearts Beat As One x 13

Pride 33 2

The Unforgettable Fire 4

With Or Without You 1 6

I Still Haven't Found.... 1 6

Where The Streets Have... 13 4

In God's Country 44 48

Desire 3 1

When Love Comes to Town 68 6

Angel of Harlem 14 9

All I Want Is You 83 4

The Fly 61 1

Mysterious Ways 9 13

One 10 7

Even Better Than The 32 8

Who's Gonna Ride 35 14

Lemon (1 on Australian Charts)

Stay 61 4

Miss Sarajevo x 6

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me 16 2

Discotheque 10 1

Staring at the Sun 26 3

Last Night on Earth 57 10 4 (Canada)

Please X 7 9 (On U.S. Dance Singles Charts)

POPHeart E.P. X 7 4 (Canada)

The Sweetest Thing 63 3 1 (Canada)

Beautiful Day 21 1 1 (On U.S. Dance Charts)

Walk On

Elevation

Stuck In A Moment



Albums US UK

Boy 63 21

October x 11

War 9 3

Under A Blood Red Sky 28 1

The Unforgettable Fire 12 1

Wide Awake in America37 11

The Joshua Tree 1 1

Rattle and Hum 1 1

Achtung Baby 1 1

Zooropa 1 1

The Passengers 76 12

Pop 1 1

Best of 1980-1990 1 1

ATYCLB 3 1
 
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BigMacPhisto said:
I think Doctor Who needs to check some of his stats for the singles and albums charting. I have some conflicting stats for early singles and the charting of Boy and October. I got a large chunk of the following info from U2.com and a few other sources that seemed to have the exact same data that U2.com had plus more. Some of the data was just added from the Doctor's info, but I think he should definitely check through this.


Thanks for the extra info., but could you be more specific.

Also, U2.com is a HORRIBLE source for exact information. This has been proven before (when they wrote something like how JT sold 7 million copies in the U.S., when it's been certified as 10x Platinum).

Also, I have checked many sources and AB did NOT, repeat, NOT hit #1 in the U.K. Some people disbelieve this (for whatever reason) and have personally changed the stat - but it only reached #2.

Lastly, the bulk of my numbers were taken from Billboard. Just like Sting2 has done, back around '95/'96, I went to my school's library and spent several hours looking up information from Billboard about U2's past performances on the charts. I filled in some gaps with an official Billboard book I found at a store. This book also verified the other numbers I found. As such, I'm rather heavily biased for my data. :D If you can cite an exact chart source that contradicts what I wrote, then I'll happily update my info. :yes:
 
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UK positions

Yes - Achtung only got to number 2 in the UK - a certain Michael Jackson stoppoing it debut at number 1. In addition, UABRS also only hit number 2 - kept from the top spot by Duran Duran. However, WAR did debut at number 1.

Mike
 
October made it to #104 in the USA and spent 15 weeks on the Billboard chart back in its first chart run in 1981/1982. I believe that War only made it to #12. But interestingly, I have a book which shows the top 20 positions on billboard for every week during 1983, and it does show WAR making it to #9. But this conflicts with other data, Billboard chart and fact books, which list it only making it to #12. I'll probably have to go look at the old Billboard magazines to confirm what the case actually is on this one.
 
Coolness all. Very hip to know where October ranked on the charts. :yes:
 
According to Pimm's book, October entered the Billboard 200 at #181. This seems the lowest chart entry by any U2 album, correct?

Vox
 
I think so. U2 really did have to play to earn enough money for dinner back then.
 
And up this thread bumps.

Some new information:
According to STING2's calculations ATYCLB has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide. There was also a report recently that TBO1980-1990 has sold 16 million copies worldwide, but I'm not sure it's totally accurate. It his certified for 6 million copies in Europe, however, and twice double platinum in the USA (which will go in the reports as being 4 million sold to stores).

Marty
 
1st Best Of

According to the record company -a nd this is something I reported at the time - the first Best Of sold in excess of 13.6million worldwide.

The recent CBS press release - advertising the Beautiful Day screening - put total album sales at over 115 million worldwide.

Mike
 
Re: 1st Best Of

mike63 said:
According to the record company -a nd this is something I reported at the time - the first Best Of sold in excess of 13.6million worldwide.

The recent CBS press release - advertising the Beautiful Day screening - put total album sales at over 115 million worldwide.

Mike

According to this article, originally found by doctorwho, the first Best Of... has sold 16 million copies worldwide. This is again the issue whether we should go with the figures on U2.com, which are not always correct, or with figures reported by journalists. Whatever the exact figure, be it 14 or 16 million, that compilation has sold a lot.

C ya!

Marty
 
Vox, I clicked on the link but I didn't get any chart info. What chart infor did it have?
 
Thanks Vox for the link! :yes:

The numbers presented here are very thorough, so I thought I'd repost them here on Interference for posterity. :sexywink:

I caught a few errors, though, in these lists and have corrected them (not the actual numbers, but like titles and such).


From Billboard?

Year Album Chart Highest Position
1981 Boy Pop Albums No. 63
1981 October Pop Albums No. 104
1983 War The Billboard 200 No. 70
1983 War Pop Albums No. 12
1984 Under A Blood Red Sky The Billboard 200 No. 28
1984 Unforgettable Fire The Billboard 200 No. 12
1984 War The Billboard 200 No. 75
1985 Unforgettable Fire The Billboard 200 No. 16
1985 Wide Awake In America (EP) The Billboard 200 No. 37
1987 Boy The Billboard 200 No. 107
1987 October The Billboard 200 No. 107
1987 Joshua Tree The Billboard 200 No. 1
1987 Joshua Tree Top Contemporary Christian No. 36
1988 Rattle And Hum The Billboard 200 No. 1
1991 Achtung Baby The Billboard 200 No. 1
1993 Zooropa The Billboard 200 No. 1
1997 Pop The Billboard 200 No. 1
1997 Pop Top Canadian Albums No. 1
1997 Popheart Canadian Singles Chart No. 4
1997 Please Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 9
1998 Best Of 1980-1990 The Billboard 200 No. 45
1998 Best Of 1980-1990/The B-Sides The Billboard 200 No. 2
1998 Best Of 1980-1990 Top Canadian Albums No. 5
1998 Best Of 1980-1990/U2 The B-Sides Top Canadian Albums No. 1
2000 All That You Can t Leave Behind The Billboard 200 No. 3
2000 All That You Can t Leave Behind Top Canadian Albums No. 1
2000 All That You Can t Leave Behind Top Internet Albums No. 5
2001 All That You Can't Leave Behind The Billboard 200 No. 11
2001 All That You Can't Leave Behind Top Internet Albums No. 1
2002 Best Of 1990-2000/U2 The B-Sides The Billboard 200 No. 3
2002 Best Of 1990-2000 The Billboard 200 No. 34

Year Single Chart Highest Position
1981 I Will Follow Mainstream Rock No. 20
1983 New Year's Day Mainstream Rock No. 2
1983 Sunday Bloody Sunday Mainstream Rock No. 7
1983 Surrender Mainstream Rock No. 27
1983 Two Hearts Beat As One Mainstream Rock No. 12
1983 New Year's Day Pop Singles No. 53
1984 (Pride) In The Name Of Love The Billboard Hot 100 No. 33
1984 I Will Follow The Billboard Hot 100 No. 81
1984 Pride (In The Name Of Love) Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 2
1985 Bad Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 19
1985 Three Sunrises Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 16
1985 Wire Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 31
1987 I Still Haven t Found What I m Looking For Adult Contemporary No. 16
1987 I Still Haven't Found What I m Looking For The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
1987 Where The Streets Have No Name The Billboard Hot 100 No. 13
1987 With Or Without You The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
1987 Bullet The Blue Sky Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 14
1987 I Still Haven t Found What I m Looking For Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 2
1987 Spanish Eyes Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 11
1987 Where The Streets Have No Name Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 11
1987 With Or Without You Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 1
1987 In God's Country Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 8
1987 In God's Country The Billboard Hot 100 No. 53
1988 Desire The Billboard Hot 100 No. 3
1988 In God's Country The Billboard Hot 100 No. 44
1988 Angel Of Harlem Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 1
1988 Desire Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 1
1988 In God s Country Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 6
1988 Jesus Christ Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 38
1988 Angel Of Harlem Modern Rock Tracks No. 3
1988 Desire Modern Rock Tracks No. 1
1988 Jesus Christ Modern Rock Tracks No. 9
1988 When Love Comes To Town Modern Rock Tracks No. 10
1988 Desire (Remix) Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 37
1989 All I Want Is You The Billboard Hot 100 No. 83
1989 Angel Of Harlem The Billboard Hot 100 No. 14
1989 When Love Comes To Town The Billboard Hot 100 No. 68
1989 All I Want Is You Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 13
1989 God Part II Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 8
1989 When Love Comes To Town Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 2
1989 Dancing Barefoot Modern Rock Tracks No. 14
1989 Everlasting Love Modern Rock Tracks No. 11
1989 God Part II Modern Rock Tracks No. 28
1990 Night And Day Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 34
1990 Night + Day Modern Rock Tracks No. 2
1991 Fly The Billboard Hot 100 No. 61
1991 Mysterious Ways Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 1
1991 Fly Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 2
1991 Mysterious Ways Modern Rock Tracks No. 1
1991 Fly Modern Rock Tracks No. 1
1991 The Fly Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 44
1992 One Adult Contemporary No. 24
1992 Even Better Than The Real Thing The Billboard Hot 100 No. 32
1992 Mysterious Ways The Billboard Hot 100 No. 9
1992 One The Billboard Hot 100 No. 10
1992 Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses The Billboard Hot 100 No. 35
1992 Even Better Than The Real Thing Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 1
1992 One Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 1
1992 Until The End Of The World Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 5
1992 Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 2
1992 Even Better Than The Real Thing Modern Rock Tracks No. 5
1992 One Modern Rock Tracks No. 1
1992 Until The End Of The World Modern Rock Tracks No. 4
1992 Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses Modern Rock Tracks No. 7
1992 Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses Top 40 Mainstream No. 28
1992 Even Better Than The Real Thing Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 27
1992 Mysterious Ways Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 42
1992 Even Better Than The Real Thing Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 35
1992 Mysterious Ways Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 29
1992 One Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 44
1993 Numb Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 18
1993 Zooropa Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 8
1993 Lemon Modern Rock Tracks No. 3
1993 Numb Modern Rock Tracks No. 2
1993 Zooropa Modern Rock Tracks No. 13
1993 Numb Top 40 Mainstream No. 39
1993 Lemon Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 1
1993 Lemon Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 16
1993 Stay (Faraway, So Close!) Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 12
1994 Stay (Faraway, So Close!) The Billboard Hot 100 No. 61
1994 Stay (Faraway, So Close!) Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 13
1994 Stay (Faraway, So Close!) Modern Rock Tracks No. 15
1994 All I Want Is You Top 40 Mainstream No. 38
1994 Lemon Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 8
1994 Lemon Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 31
1995 Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (From "Batman Forever") The Billboard Hot 100 No. 16
1995 Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 1
1995 Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me Modern Rock Tracks No. 1
1995 Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me Top 40 Mainstream No. 23
1997 Discotheque The Billboard Hot 100 No. 10
1997 Last Night On Earth The Billboard Hot 100 No. 57
1997 Discotheque Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 6
1997 Last Night On Earth Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 18
1997 Discotheque Modern Rock Tracks No. 1
1997 Last Night On Earth Modern Rock Tracks No. 11
1997 Discotheque Canadian Singles Chart No. 1
1997 Last Night On Earth Canadian Singles Chart No. 4
1997 One Canadian Singles Chart No. 19
1997 Discotheque Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 1
1997 Last Night On Earth Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 22
1997 Staring At The Sun Adult Top 40 No. 13
1997 Please Canadian Singles Chart No. 10
1997 Staring At The Sun Canadian Singles Chart No. 2
1997 Discotheque Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 1
1997 Staring At The Sun Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 23
1997 Please Modern Rock Tracks No. 31
1997 Staring At The Sun Modern Rock Tracks No. 1
1997 Staring At The Sun Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 2
1997 Discotheque Top 40 Mainstream No. 40
1997 Staring At The Sun Top 40 Mainstream No. 22
1997 Staring At The Sun The Billboard Hot 100 No. 26
1998 Sweetest Thing The Billboard Hot 100 No. 63
1998 Sweetest Thing Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 31
1998 Sweetest Thing Modern Rock Tracks No. 9
1998 Sweetest Thing Canadian Singles Chart No. 1
1998 Sweetest Thing (Part 2) Canadian Singles Chart No. 2
1999 Sweetest Thing Top 40 Adult Recurrents No. 2
1999 Sweetest Thing Adult Top 40 No. 12
2000 Beautiful Day Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 14
2000 Beautiful Day Modern Rock Tracks No. 5
2000 Ground Beneath Her Feet Modern Rock Tracks No. 20
2000 Beautiful Day (Part 1) Canadian Singles Chart No. 1
2000 Beautiful Day (Part 2) Canadian Singles Chart No. 2
2001 Beautiful Day The Billboard Hot 100 No. 21
2001 Elevation Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 21
2001 Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 35
2001 Walk On Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 19
2001 Elevation Modern Rock Tracks No. 8
2001 Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of Modern Rock Tracks No. 35
2001 Walk On Modern Rock Tracks No. 10
2001 Beautiful Day Top 40 Adult Recurrents No. 1
2001 Beautiful Day Top 40 Mainstream No. 19
2001 Beautiful Day Top 40 Tracks No. 15
2001 Beautiful Day Adult Top 40 No. 4
2001 Walk On Adult Top 40 No. 21
2001 Beautiful Day Canadian Singles Chart No. 11
2001 Elevation Canadian Singles Chart No. 1
2001 Walk On Canadian Singles Chart No. 1
2001 Beautiful Day Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 1
2001 Elevation Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 32
2001 Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of Adult Top 40 No. 9
2001 Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of Canadian Singles Chart No. 1
2001 Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of Top 40 Mainstream No. 27
2001 Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of Top 40 Tracks No. 27
2001 Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of The Billboard Hot 100 No. 52
2002 If God Will Send His Angels Canadian Singles Chart No. 26
2002 Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of Top 40 Adult Recurrents No. 4
2002 Beautiful Day Top 40 Adult Recurrents No. 1
2002 Electrical Storm Adult Top 40 No. 19
2002 Electrical Storm Modern Rock Tracks No. 14
2002 Electrical Storm Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 26
2002 Electrical Storm The Billboard Hot 100 No. 77

GRAMMY ? information courtesy of The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences ? 2002.
[t] denotes a track.

Year Award Type Album/Track Recipient
1987 Album Of The Year Joshua Tree U2
1987 Rock Duo/Group w/Vocal Joshua Tree U2
1988 Music Video Performance Where The Streets Have No Name U2
1988 Rock Duo/Group w/Vocal Desire [t] U2
1992 Rock Duo/Group w/Vocal Achtung Baby U2
1993 Alternative Music Zooropa U2
1994 Music Video - Long Form Zoo TV - Live From Sidney U2
2000 Record Of The Year Beautiful Day [t] U2
2000 Song Of The Year Beautiful Day [t] U2
2000 Rock Duo/Group w/Vocal Beautiful Day [t] U2
2001 Record Of The Year Walk On [t] U2
2001 Pop Duo/Group Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of [t] U2
2001 Rock Duo/Group w/Vocal Elevation [t] U2
2001 Rock Album All That You Can't Leave Behind U2
 
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Thats Great Info! I was unsure of how Last Night On Earth and Please did on the Modern Rock Chart! Now I know.
 
Heh. I've known about the AMG listings of chart positions for quite some time now. I figured that the rest of you already had the info, so now I'm kicking myself for not pointing it out to you all earlier. It's kind of funny how "The Unforgettable Fire" really did nothing for the band, yet they put it on their first Best Of instead of some more popular tunes. Don't get me wrong, that song is fantastic, but it's a shame that hits like "Two Hearts", "Jesus Christ", "Zooropa", "Wild Horses", etc...were all left off their respective compilations.
 
BigMacPhisto said:
It's kind of funny how "The Unforgettable Fire" really did nothing for the band, yet they put it on their first Best Of instead of some more popular tunes. Don't get me wrong, that song is fantastic, but it's a shame that hits like "Two Hearts", "Jesus Christ", "Zooropa", "Wild Horses", etc...were all left off their respective compilations.

Well, "The Unforgettable Fire" was a big hit. Maybe not in the USA, but in the UK it reached #4 or #6 (as you pointed out in a previous post earlier in this thread). It's also The Best Of... by U2, not a Greatest Hits. So a song doesn't necessarily have to be released as a single to be eligible for the compilation. Of course, opinions may vary, but IMO that song is one of the best U2 songs of the '80s.
BTW, you are mentioning that U2 should have included other songs. You call them hits, but they never were (apart from WGRYWH none of those songs were even released as a single in the Netherlands).

C ya!

Marty
 
Well, I consider anything that gets into the top 20 on an airplay charts to be a hit. So to me, all of those songs were hits. Over here in the U.S., the singles charts mean nothing for rock bands because many of them don't release singles and the single charts are always overpopulated by rap songs. Airplay seems to be the only real way to judge whether or not a song was a hit here in the States.

I do agree with you though that "The Unforgettable Fire" was one of the band's best songs from the 80's. Great video too.
 
As this very useful thread is slowly sliding down the page I want to prevent it disappearing into oblivion.

*bump!*

Most recent certifications The Best Of 1990-2000
USA: single disc edition - platinum (31 March 2003)
UK: double platinum (13 June 2003)
 
Sorry for sounding really dumb here, but what is "Jesus Christ", and what is "Popheart". I've never heard of either. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks!
 
biff said:
Sorry for sounding really dumb here, but what is "Jesus Christ", and what is "Popheart". I've never heard of either. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks!

Popheart is the Please single with the live songs.......Jesus Christ was a cover song from a tribute album to a folk singer........like a lot of other obscure songs from them, it was played on the radio simply because of their humongous popularity........
 
BigMacPhisto said:
Popheart is the Please single with the live songs.......Jesus Christ was a cover song from a tribute album to a folk singer........like a lot of other obscure songs from them, it was played on the radio simply because of their humongous popularity........

That folk singer was Woody Guthrie and the album is Folkways: A Vision Shared (A Tribute To Woody Guthrie And Leadbelly). It was released in 1988, indeed at the top of their popularity.

:)

Marty

P.S. I just got some recent (week ending 11-1-04) SoundScan figures:
The Joshua Tree = 2,801,705
Achtung Baby = 5,336,562
Pop = 1,479,901
Best of U2 ('80-'90) = 2,121,922
All That You Can't... = 4,132,538

DVD Go Home: Live At Slane Castle = 93,564

Now before someone thinks :huh:, these are SoundScan figures. SoundScan started in 1990/1991 and did not monitor all sales initially. Hence the maybe lower than expected sales of JT and AB.
 
Soundscan started in June 1991.

When Soundscan started it only covered 40% of album sales.

By the end of 1993, it covered 75% of album sales.

By the end of 1995 it covered 85% of album sales.

It now covers over 95% of album sales.

But back in the early and mid 90s two things occured that contributed to a large increase in the sale of popular catalog albums.

1. the replacement of tapes and Records with Compact Disc.

2. Using Record Club deals and other purchases through record clubs at cheap prices to buy older albums. The record clubs were not covered by Soundscan but accounted for nearly 20% of all album sales from 1990 to 1997.

Record clubs today cover less than 5% of the market and do most of their business online and are tracked by Soundscan usually. They also do not offer the deals that often did back in the early 90s.

Joshua Tree hit the 5 million mark in the USA in October, just prior to the release of Rattle and Hum. It would hit 10 million in September 1995. I'd say that it probably sold another 2 million for a total of 7 million by the time Soundscan came in 1991. Then Soundscan did not cover all sales especially the record clubs where Joshua Tree was a very popular album. The BMG Record Club sold over a 1 million copies of Joshua Tree, but not a single copy was tracked by Soundscan.

Best Of and ATYCLB are right on the money though. A Bit surprising though to see that ATYCLB album sales have risen so little over the past year.

A year ago it was at 4,117,000 in the USA, now its only 15,000 copies higher in sales. That makes it seem like the album is only selling 300 copies a week in the USA. I would think it would be selling at least a 1,000 copies a week, but who knows for sure.




PS.

How did you get these figures? Can you get Soundscan figures for other U2 albums?
 

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