Big Money Leann Rimes Second Only To Rolling Stones In Overall Financial Impact Over The Past Year

Maybe it’s time to think of LeAnn Rimes as the giant killer in pop music.

As unlikely as it may seem given all the hoopla surrounding the Rolling Stones and U2 stadium tours, the 15-year-old country music sensation apparently generated more pop dollars in North America during 1997 than U2, and almost more than the Stones.

While the record industry traditionally looks at concert receipts and album sales separately in year-end surveys, the Los Angeles Times’ new Ultimate Top 10 combines the grosses to give a clearer picture of the overall financial impact of various pop artists.

In a year in which album and concert revenues were up substantially over 1996, the Rolling Stones generated an estimated $100 million, $89.3 million of which was from the veteran British band’s “Bridges to Babylon” tour and the rest from modest sales of the album of the same title.

The figures are based on SoundScan’s list of the year’s top 200 album sellers in the United States and Pollstar magazine’s ranking of the top 100 grossing tours in North America.

But Rimes almost matched the Stones figure in record sales alone: $96.3 million.

In fact, you could make a case that she exceeded the Stones’ total because Rimes didn’t get any credit for tour revenue in Pollstar’s ranking because she spent much of the year as an opening act or co-headliner. While she was responsible for lots of ticket sales, the credit goes to the headliner under the Pollstar system.

“I’m sure LeAnn sold a lot of tickets when she toured, for instance, with (headliner) Alan Jackson, but there’s really no way to figure out what an opening act generally means to the show,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar.

But Rimes’ album sales alone were enough to enable her to squeeze past U2, whose “PopMart” tour and “Pop” album together generated approximately $96.2 million.

The Ultimate Top 10 for 1997

1. The Rolling Stones, $100 million.

2. LeAnn Rimes, $96.3 million.

3. U2, $96.2 million.

4. The Spice Girls, $83.8 million.

5. The Notorious B.I.G., $80 million.

6. Celine Dion, $75.7 million.

7. Metallica, $74.1 million.

8. Garth Brooks, $69.4 million.

9. Fleetwood Mac, $68.8 million.

10. Tupac Shakur, $62.5 million.

Those figures shouldn’t be confused with artist earnings. The totals represent what the public spent on various acts.

Looking over the list, it’s interesting to note how differently the artists generated the money. The bulk of the Stones and U2’s gross came from their tours, while all of the money generated by Rimes, the Spice Girls and the two slain rappers - the Notorious B.I.G. and Shakur - came from album sales.

By contrast, Dion, Metallica, Brooks and Fleetwood Mac registered significant grosses in both areas. Metallica, for instance, generated $34.1 million in concert revenue and an estimated $40 million from album sales.

Another big winner this year was the record industry itself.

Album sales, generally regarded the best single barometer of the industry’s economic health, jumped 5.7 percent to 652 million units during 1997, according to Mike Shalett, chief executive officer of SoundScan, which monitors record sales in the United States. In 1996, album sales increased less than 1 percent from 1995.

“After we hit this speed bump the last two years when growth was minimal, there was all this negative talk … the ‘business is in the doldrums … blah, blah, blah.,’ so the ‘97 sales are great for the confidence of the industry.”

Shalett attributed much of the year’s commercial strength to the variety of styles found among the best sellers.

“If you look at the list of the year’s best sellers, you find something for everyone … teen pop, folk alternative, R&B, country, hip hop, alternative rock, diva pop. The only thing missing (from the Top 10) is Kenny G and the three tenors.”

That diversity, he said, resulted in 70 albums that sold a million units or more during 1997 vs. just 56 in 1995 in the United States.

The year’s 10 biggest-selling albums, according to SoundScan figures through Sunday: the Spice Girls’ “Spice,” 5.3 million; Jewel’s “Pieces of You,” 4.3 million; Puff Daddy’s “No Way Out,” 3.4 million; Garth Brooks’ “Sevens,” 3.4 million; Hanson’s “Middle of Nowhere,” 3.2 million; the Notorious B.I.G.’s two-disc “Life After Death,” 3.2 million; the Wallflowers’ “Bringing Down the Horse,” 3.1 million; Celine Dion’s “Falling Into You,” 3 million; the “Space Jam” sound track, 3 million; and Rimes’ “You Light Up My Life - Inspirational Songs,” 3 million.

The year’s biggest-selling single in a runaway was Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997”: more than 8 million copies.

Pollstar’s Bongiovanni said the North American concert grosses rebounded sharply from a disappointing 1996. Although the $1.3 billion was up from the $1 billion amount of 1996, it was still $100 million short of the record concert gross set in 1994.

“We had our first stadium tours since 1994, coupled with a general rise in ticket prices - and not just for the top-level acts,” he said. “It has filtered down to the midlevel acts as well.

“Those are the two factors that combined to add up to so much money.”

The Rolling Stones’ “Bridges to Babylon” tour grossed $89.3 million in 26 cities - or about $3.4 million per city. U2’s “PopMart” tour generated $79.9 in 37 cities - or $1.7 million per city.

The other acts with the highest concert grosses, according to Pollstar: Fleetwood Mac, $36.3 million; Metallica, $34.1 million; Brooks & Dunn/ Reba McEntire pairing, $33.5 million; Garth Brooks, $26.9 million; Tina Turner, $24.8 million; the Artist Formerly Known As Prince, $24.6 million; Jimmy Buffett, $24.4 million; and Aerosmith, $22.3 million.

The biggest album of 1996 was Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill,” with an estimated 7.4 million sold, and the biggest tour that year was KISS, which grossed $43.6 million in 75 cities.

The biggest single of 1996: Los Del Rio’s “Macarena,” about 3.7 million.