Taylor Swift’s Record-Breaking ‘Eras’ Tour Set for Final Show

 07 December 2024, Canada, Vancouver: American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift performs during the Eras Tour concert in Vancouver. Photo: Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press via ZUMA Press/dpa
07 December 2024, Canada, Vancouver: American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift performs during the Eras Tour concert in Vancouver. Photo: Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press via ZUMA Press/dpa
TT
20

Taylor Swift’s Record-Breaking ‘Eras’ Tour Set for Final Show

 07 December 2024, Canada, Vancouver: American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift performs during the Eras Tour concert in Vancouver. Photo: Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press via ZUMA Press/dpa
07 December 2024, Canada, Vancouver: American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift performs during the Eras Tour concert in Vancouver. Photo: Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press via ZUMA Press/dpa

Taylor Swift's record-shattering "Eras Tour" is set to end on Sunday in Vancouver with the final performance of a cultural phenomenon that has easily become the highest-grossing musical tour in history.

The globe-spanning event kicked off in the US state of Arizona on March 17, 2023.

When it ends in the Canadian city this weekend, the American singer/songwriter will have performed 149 shows with stops from Buenos Aires to Paris and Tokyo.

Swift's camp has not publicly released ticket revenue numbers for the tour, but the widely cited trade magazine Pollstar has estimated the figure at well over $2 billion.

That smashes the record previously held by Elton John's pandemic-interrupted Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which sold an estimated $939 million in tickets over 328 shows spread across five years.

Beyond the concerts, Swift's presence in venue cities has supercharged local economies.

Her second-last tour stop was Toronto, where she performed six shows over two weekends.

She generated an additional Can$282 million ($199 million) in economic activity in Canada's largest city, tourism promotion organization Destination Toronto estimated.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended one of the Toronto shows with his family.

Last year, before the announcement that Eras would include Canadian stops, Trudeau issued a public appeal urging Swift to come.

"I know places in Canada would love to have you. So, don't make it another Cruel Summer. We hope to see you soon," Trudeau posted on X in July 2023, referring to a hit song from Swift's 2019 album, "Lover."

Not all the political attention Swift attracted during Eras was positive.

Shortly after the US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in September, Swift endorsed the Democrat for president.

That triggered an all-caps Trump post on the former president's Truth Social platform that simply said, "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT."

Eras also earned sterling critical acclaim, with reviewers praising Swift's stamina and energy through shows that have averaged just under four hours.

The New York Times called opening night in Glendale, Arizona a "master class." The Vancouver Sun called Friday's show, her third last, "spectacular."

A setback came this summer in Vienna when three shows were canceled after authorities arrested a man in connection with an extremist attack plot.

And tragedy struck when a fan died from heat exhaustion during a show in Rio de Janeiro in November of last year.

Unprecedented ticket demand led to frustration for many fans and forced Ticketmaster initially to scrap presale plans.



Paramount's New Owners to Increase Film Production, Hang on to Cable Networks

FILE PHOTO: A Paramount logo is shown on the top of a building in Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, US, August 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Paramount logo is shown on the top of a building in Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, US, August 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
TT
20

Paramount's New Owners to Increase Film Production, Hang on to Cable Networks

FILE PHOTO: A Paramount logo is shown on the top of a building in Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, US, August 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Paramount logo is shown on the top of a building in Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, US, August 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Paramount Global unveiled plans on Wednesday to retain and develop its stalwart entertainment brands Nickelodeon, MTV, and BET, while sharply increasing feature film production following its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.

"We're thinking about ... the cable networks, not as declining linear assets that we need to spin off or deal with somehow," said President Jeff Shell. "We're thinking of those brands that we have to redefine."

Shell joined Chairman and CEO David Ellison and the rest of the executive team at a media gathering on Wednesday on the Paramount Pictures lot, where they discussed strategy for their film, television, and streaming businesses - as well as emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The press event was held a week after Paramount completed its merger with Skydance Media, installing new leadership at the media company, Reuters reported.

Television Media Chair George Cheeks acknowledged the decline of cable television - "there's no question it's a super challenging business" - but added that the company's cable networks have created iconic franchises that may well thrive in the world of streaming video.

Shell singled out BET, a network focused on Black culture that Paramount previously explored selling, as an important building block of the company's streaming strategy.

Paramount's plans to develop its legacy cable networks come at a time when other media companies are shedding fading cable networks. Warner Bros Discovery and Comcast have announced plans to separate their cable businesses from their studios and streaming operations.

Josh Greenstein, co-chair of Paramount Pictures, said the studio plans to raise annual output, from eight this year to 15 movies "very quickly," with the ultimate goal of releasing 20 films a year.

The coming slate will include new installments of familiar franchises, such as "Star Trek" or "Transformers," as well as original movies, like the newly acquired James Mangold film project, "High Side," starring Timothée Chalamet.

The studio also will seek out family fare, in the vein of "A Night at the Museum" or "The Goonies."

"We love these movies. We all grew up on these movies, and we don't feel like many people are making them," said Dana Goldberg, co-chair of Paramount Pictures.

Ellison said his goal is to transform Paramount into a haven for the most talented filmmakers and sees emerging technologies like artificial intelligence providing a tool to enhance storytelling.

"I also think we have to acknowledge that this is a technology that is evolving, I think, faster than everyone in Hollywood really thinks it is," said Ellison, who is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. "When you start putting that in a filmmaker's hands, I think you're seeing another moment that'll be as transformative as when John Lasseter and Steve Jobs built Pixar."