The new year has begun and the final numbers and records are in for 2017…
An event that many hard rock fans thought would never happen has not only been a resounding success but is one for the record books.
When The Eagles decided to call it quits, they told fans that they would get back together when “hell freezes over.” As a result, when the guys decided to not only reunite, but to tour as well; they named it the “When Hell Freezes Over” tour.
Similarly, it was believed that when hard rockers Guns ‘N Roses broke up, they told fans “never in a lifetime” would they get back together…well, they did and have called their massive world reunion tour “Never in a Lifetime”.
Spanning the globe on the tour, Guns ‘N Roses now hold a spot in the top five tours in music history. At the end of 2017 the trio of Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan have amassed gross sales of $475 million to take over the fourth spot behind U2, The Rolling Stones, and Coldplay.
The tour is currently scheduled to continue through the year.
But it is another hard rock band that have taken the title of the number one rock band in 2017…the heavy metal band Metallica.
Neilsen Musicas have calculated global numbers to determine that the rocker’s fans have bought or streamed 1,836,000 albums in 2017 (10 single downloads equals one album and 1,500 song streams equals a single album).
The band’s newest album – their tenth – “Hardwired…To Self-Destruct” ranked number three on the list of Top Rock Albums for the year behind Imagine Dragons and Twenty-One Pilots.
Metallica are up for two Grammy Awards when the awards are presented at the end of the month.
While Metallica dominates the rock music charts, another band has dominated the vinyl music resurgence over the past year.
Although they have not been together as a band for over 40 years, The Beatles are still going strong when it comes to music sales. In 2017 14.32 million vinyl albums were sold. The Beatles occupied the top two spots on sales with “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” with 72,000 copies and “Abbey Road” with 66,000 copies; with “Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1” and “Divide” by Ed Sheeran following. Amy Winehouse and Prince tied for fifth. Bob Marley and The Wailers, Pink Floyd, the soundtrack for “La La Land” and Michael Jackson also had significant vinyl album sales last year.