The Radical Optimism Tour has become Dua Lipa’s biggest tour yet – and it’s still far from over.
The Live Nation-produced outing has grossed $112.3 million and sold 960,000 tickets over its first 44 shows, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. In comparison, the 29-year-old’s previous 71-date Future Nostalgia run – the singer’s first arena tour – generated $89.3m at the box office.
The Radical Optimism Tour kicked off on 5 November 2024, with 11 shows across Asia, marking Lipa’s first shows there since a 2018 leg of The Self-Titled Tour. Last year’s leg grossed $21m and sold 166,000 tickets.
The outing’s second leg in Australia and New Zealand brought in $17.2m from 139,000 tickets over 10 shows between 17 March and 4 April – up 45% from the Oceania leg of 2022’s Future Nostalgia Tour.
The European leg, meanwhile, comprised double the number of shows on either of the previous legs and more than triple the gross. Over 23 shows, Lipa grossed $74.1m and sold 656,000 tickets. That’s 10 fewer shows than her last run through Europe, but up 188% in earnings, Billboard notes.
On the Future Nostalgia Tour, Lipa hit 28 European arenas, five of which got a second show. This time, she played multiple nights in seven arenas and levelled up to five stadiums.
“The real court of public opinion for touring artists is ticket sales”
Her two nights at London’s Wembley Stadium (20-21 June) grossed $19.1m from 151,000 tickets, becoming the most attended and highest-grossing engagement of Lipa’s career so far.
The first show at the 90,000-cap London stadium went on sale the week after the 29-year-old’s headline set at Glastonbury and sold out in just five minutes.
“The real court of public opinion for touring artists is ticket sales,” Lipa’s agent, David Bradley at WME, told IQ earlier this year. “People can say what they want about streaming figures or album sales and all the rest of it but if you want a true representation of how popular an artist is, put a tour on sale and see how it goes. In this scenario, she has defied all expectations and continues to grows exponentially every year.”
The Radical Optimism Tour will head to North America this September for 22 shows in the US plus two in Toronto, Canada. Following that, the singer-songwriter will head to Latin America for 11 shows before wrapping the global outing on 5 December at Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros.
The entire Radical Optimism Tour is expected to gross $165 million to $175 million, according to estimates from Billboard.
Lipa is represented by WME’s David Bradley, David Levy and Brett Murrihy in Australia, Asia, Europe and New Zealand. CAA’s Rob Light, Marlene Tsuchii and Carole Kinzel represent her in North America and South America.
Bradley spoke to IQ earlier this year about the star’s “mind-blowing” ascension from UK grassroots music venues to extensive world tours. IQ Magazine will feature a behind-the-scenes report on the Radical Optimism Tour later this year.
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