Spice Girls' ?16.5m reunion tops list of worldwide sell-out concerts

Victoria Beckham vowed never to sing again after the end of the Spice Girls reunion concert earlier this year.

But Posh Spice might want to reconsider her decision after figures reveal she and her bandmates hold the record for the highest-grossing series of gigs.

Their 17 sell-out shows at London's O2 arena in January pulled in just over ?16.5million.
Spice Girls

The Spice Girl reunion tour netted ?16.5million for the band, making them the highest-grossing concert act of the year


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One last time: The Spice Girls on the last night of their reunion tour this February, rumoured to be the last time the girls will sing together

The concerts with Beckham, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Mel B and Mel C, had the biggest take out of any of the groups performing around the world from April 2007.

The Spice Girls, who played to a capacity 20,000 audience each night, completed their mini world tour in Toronto, Cananda, in February.

According to business magazine Forbes all 17 shows in London sold out in one minute when tickets went on sale.

After the final concert the five stars issued a statement which said: 'Our time is up... we've come to the end of the road... there are tears of both sadness and joy. Look how far we've come!

'Who would have thought that our reunion could have turned out to be this amazing? It just shows what can grow out of an exciting thought, an idea, a hope, a dream. Yes, our reunion tour is proof that dreams do come true.'

Victoria Beckham later said she had no intention of ever singing again.
Spice Girls

Ambassadors? The band met world-leaders across the world, with Baby, Scary and Ginger pictured here meeting Prince Charles and Nelson Mandela

The O2 arena was also the setting for the second highest grossing concert series from April 2007 - April 2008.

Reclusive star Prince pulled in ?11million after his 21 sell-out concerts last August.

The Police, who like the Spice Girls staged a reunion tour, took three places on the list, which was calculated according to venue.

The band grossed ?7.2million by packing more than 104,000 into France's national stadium, Stade de France, in Paris on two dates in early September 2007.

The band also sold out two shows at the 50,000-seat Tokyo Dome in February, grossing ?3.5million.
Spice Girls

The Police rocked out with a concert at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. They appeared on the Forbes list three times

Another big-ticket performance drew 59,000 Police fans and ?2.9million to Maracan? Stadium in Rio de Janeiro for South America's highest-grossing concert of all time.

The 80s supergroup - Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers - disbanded after their final concert last week at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Rock group Bon Jovi took third place on the list with a 10-day sell out run that grossed ?8.27million and attracted 138,000 fans to the Prudential Centre in Newark, New Jersey.

Music festivals made up the rest of the top ten, with the Download Festival at Donnington Park realising gate receipts of ?10.15million.

Acts who took part included Linken Park, Velvet Revolver and My Chemical Romance.

Ticket sales for all concerts in the US were almost a record ?2billion.

The top ten grossing concerts between April 2007 and April 2008:

1. Spice Girls - ?16.5million

2. Prince - ?11million

3. Bon Jovi - ?8.27million

4.The Police - ?7.75million

5. Justin Timberlake - ?3.75million

6. The Police - ?3.5million

7.The Police - ?2.7million

8. Download Festival, UK - ?10.15million

9. Festival Oxegon, N.Ireland - ?8.6million

10. Coachella Festival, California - ?8.5million