Stones score top tour of 2006

Rolling Stones vocalist Mick Jagger performs during the band's "A Bigger Bang" European tour,
at Dubendorf airfield in Zurich, August 5, 2006. The tour was the top grossing of the year,
according to numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore.[Reuters]

NASHVILLE  - The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang trek was the top grossing tour of the year, according to numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore.

The Stones, who began the tour in August 2005, played North America, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand and Europe before calling it a year on November 25 with total ticket sales of about $437 million.

That total is "not bad," longtime Stones tour producer Michael Cohl told Billboard.com. "And not done, eh?," the Canadian added. "There are still a lot of cancellations in Europe that the band feels obligated to try and make up. So I wouldn't be surprised if it keeps going next year."

(The band's summer trek was delayed by guitarist Keith Richards' head injury, and two Spain shows were scuttled when Mick Jagger went down with laryngitis.)

Second to the Stones in 2006 was Madonna, whose global Confessions run became the top-grossing tour ever by a female artist with sales of just under $195 million.