Gig ticket prices have always been a bone of contention here in Ireland. Now Don Henley has been defending the cost of Eagles‘ concert tickets.
Henley, who’s currently in the midst of the band’s 40th anniversary tour, spoke to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and called out Kid Rock, who’s been charging around $20 per ticket after putting it to older stars for over charging fans to the point of them being priced out of attending concerts.
Henley explained that being a top act means that some critics expect you to apologize for reaping the benefits of success, saying, “We’ve grown a little weary of the myth about us breaking the $100 ticket barrier. . . I’ve always found it interesting that the norm in any other business, be it corporations, sports teams, movies, etc., is that the people who excel, the ones who stick around the longest and accomplish something good, the ones who have a track record, are paid more for their services. Call it rank, tenure, seniority, or whatever you want — that’s the way the world works. So, why should the music business be any different?”
He went on to address the situation that Kid Rock is trying to rectify by deliberately undercharging for his concerts: “Is Mr. Rock implying that our job is easy or that we don’t work as hard as anybody else?
Is he saying, like many of our fathers did, that this isn’t a real job? It costs a fortune to tour, these days; we have 100 people out here on this tour. We create jobs, not just here on the road, but in management, accounting, law, electronics — the list goes on and on. If Mr. Rock wants to charge 20 bucks per ticket, good for him.
He’s a relative newcomer, so maybe that’s appropriate. But after 42 years, eight Grammys, induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and over 120 million records sold, we think we’re worth more than 20 bucks, and hundreds of thousands of our fans seem to agree.”
