British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has broken the Australian record for most tickets sold for a single gig, with 107,000 people slated to attend his Friday, 3rd March show at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Sheeran’s Thursday night show has also sold over 100,000 tickets, with final release still on sale. It means that well over 200,000 tickets have been sold for Sheeran’s first shows in Melbourne since March 2018.
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“Ed loves to break a record and he’s smashed this one,” Mushroom CEO Matt Gudinski said in a statement. “Melbourne is set for two incredibly special nights with one of the greatest performers ever.”
The shows are a part of Sheeran’s extensive + – = ÷ x Tour – known more generally as the Mathematics tour – the Australian leg of which began in Brisbane in mid-February. Young Coodjinburra soul singer Budjerah was selected to support Sheeran on the tour, along with British singer Maisie Peters, who is signed to Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records.
The Melbourne milestone isn’t the first record Sheeran has broken on the current tour: he drew the biggest audience ever in the Welsh city of Cardiff, with 75,000 attending his 2022 show. Sheeran’s 2018 tour of Australia and New Zealand broke the record for total ticket sales, with the tour aggregate eclipsing one million.
After landing in Melbourne on Monday, Sheeran paid tribute to his late friend and mentor Michael Gudinski – founder of Mushroom Group – by clinking a glass of Penfolds 707 on Gudinski’s statue at Rod Laver Arena.
Ed Sheeran + – = ÷ x Tour 2023
- Thursday, 2nd March– Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
- Friday, 3rd March – Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
- Tuesday, 7th March– Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
- Sunday, 12th March– Optus Stadium, Perth
Tickets on sale now via Frontier Touring.
Further Reading
Ed Sheeran Honours Old Friend Michael Gudinski in Melbourne
Budjerah And Maisie Peters To Support Ed Sheeran On Australian Tour
