"Bridges to Babylon" Spans River of Money

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Superlatives fail describe the indomitable Rolling Stones. The band fortifies its legend yearly, as is evident in Pollstar's latest tally, which crowns them as the top U.S. Concert draw of 1997. Mick and the boys rolled across the country with the "Bridges to Babylon" tour, selling 1.5 million tickets and racking up more than $89.3 in total. U2 came in second with $79.1million, followed by Fleetwood Mac with $36.3 million.

1997 was the second-best year ever for ticket sales. Consumers dropped $1.3 billion on concerts in 1997, which indicates an industry up-swing.

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Song Stories

“He Will Break Your Heart”

Jerry Butler | 1960

A lightly swinging Latin-influenced, almost cha-cha groove and close harmonies decorated Jerry Butler's early soul hit "He Will Break Your Heart," delivering a stately warning that his rival would never love his girl like he did. The melody came to Butler as he was driving on the highway from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Philadelphia with Curtis Mayfield, and as Butler told Rolling Stone, "I just sang the melody and Curtis put the chords to it." The song's premise, Butler added, "was something that I'd lived ...The lyric was an experience rather than a revelation. Whereas music is usually a revelation."

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