I see the Eagles have added another round of weekend dates at Sphere. It's hard to believe that they're so popular, they can sell out 68 shows in a couple of years. So it seems to me, rather than Las Vegas not getting enough of the Eagles, the Eagles can't get enough of Las Vegas. Are there any numbers for how much the band makes per show? And who's in the band these days, anyways?
Based on all the reports we've seen, the Eagles have -- yes indeed -- sold out every single performance of their now-historic residency at Sphere. Driven by overwhelming demand, the run has expanded to a record-breaking 68 total shows. The 58 they've completed so far have drawn more than 900,000 fans and grossed nearly $290 million.
As such, the Eagles rank as the second-highest-earning act per show since Sphere opened three years ago, outpacing Dead & Company, but trailing U2 in average gross earnings per performance. The figures, based on the public ticket numbers and gross revenue, range between $4.7 million and $5.3 million for each Eagles show.
This, of course, is the gross box office revenue. From the band's actual personal earnings per show are deducted venue cuts, production costs (such as their high-end visuals), touring crew expenses, etc. But they also get a piece of the merch sales.
As you imply, this is a highly lucrative gig for the band. With its five current members, which we'll get to, even if the band earns half of the gate, say $2.5 million per show on average, that's $500,000 per member per show, roughly $250,000 an hour. And hey, even if they earn half of that, $125,000 isn't a bad wage for playing the same songs night after night, month after month, year after year in Las Vegas.
As for the band, it consists of one founding member, Don Henley. Joe Walsh, who got his start in Cleveland with the James Gang, joined the band in late 1975, brought on as a guitarist and keyboardist to replace founding member Bernie Leadon, a bluegrass-country purist who quit when the band went to a harder rock-oriented style. Timothy B. Schmidt replaced Randy Meisner on bass and vocals in 1977; Meisner quit from exhaustion and tensions with Glen Frey. Country star Vince Gill officially joined the Eagles in 2017 following the passing of founding member Glenn Frey a year earlier; he was drafted to help preserve the band's harmonies and guitar style. Finally and also in 2017, Deacon Frey, one of Glen's sons, joined the band, replacing his father. That's the core lineup for Sphere shows; Scott Crago fills in for Henley on drums when the latter signs and fronts the band.
