Income Breakdown
Since performing live for the first time in 1982, Metallica has performed over 1600 shows in a total of 7 worldwide tours.
Metallica started out playing small festivals as a supporting act for bands with greater popularity, although some of these gigs were played with Dave Mustaine on guitar, who ended up being replaced by Kirk Hammett in 1983.
Kirk went on to play some of the biggest festivals in the world with Metallica, which includes Download Festival and Monsters of Rock. In addition to that, Metallica’s stadium shows have featured crowds of over 100,000 people. One of their highest attended shows was played in Moscow in 1991, which featured a crowd of roughly 1.6 million.
Apart from performing live, Metallica’s main revenue source is their album sales. The Nielsen-Soundscan has rated them as one of the most commercially successful bands ever, with over 110 million records being sold.
Other revenue streams include Kirk Hammet’s own boutique pedal manufacturing company called KHDK Electronics, in which he collaborates with business partner David Karon. He also released his own signature ESP guitar model.
When Dave Mustaine was dismissed from Metallica, he formed Megadeth shortly afterwards. The band went on to achieve a large degree of commercial fame, although it didn’t quite live up to Metallica’s standards (as you will see below).
Net Worth Comparison
- Kirk Hammett Net Worth – $200 million
- James Hetfield Net Worth – $300 million
- Dave Mustaine Net Worth – $20 million
- Taylor Swift Net Worth – $350 million
