EVERYONE loves a party, but some parties are more equal than others.
From the booze to the band, costs vary wildly and can scale at a sadly sobering rate.
While corporate companies have been splurging the cash for their office parties for years, a new trend of the prosperous private party has been slowly building up a head of steam.
From a 2014 Jennifer Lopez gig lasting 40 minutes for a wealthy Chinese family costing a cool £1 million (with less guests than there were crew), to a recent gig from Flo Rida for a thirteen-year-old boy’s bar mitzvah, costing up to £300,000 – hiring a superstar is now becoming the norm, providing of course you are at least as wealthy as said superstar in the first place.
It’s a bit like hiring the A-Team in terms of secrecy though – with few artists openly discussing their opportunities to absolutely rake in a truck of dollar and confidentially agreements the norm to protect details from being disclosed.
Regardless of this though, and for all you tech bros out there looking to go large and spunk that dough, here are some of the top celebrities you can book if your cheque book is up to it.
Some of the data is courtesy of Seattle Talent Buying, who sensibly caveat their listings with the disclaimer: “Some of the sources referenced are many years old and may have paid inflated or deflated pricing depending on their market and who was buying or selling the act.”
So it’s just a guide price, and don’t blame us if you have no cash left for vol-au-vents once you’ve paid for the talent.
Elton John
Perhaps unlikely that you could even book the Rocket Man as he is just winding down from his whopping ‘Yellow Brick Road’ farewell tour that spanned five years with over 300 concerts.
But if you could Elton is most likely in the £1.6 million range.
Bruno Mars
Uptown Funk singer Bruno has been wowing audiences for well over 15 years with his fusion of musical styles, including pop, R&B, funk, soul, reggae, disco and rock
According to Fox Business, it was reported that the CEO of Motorola, Greg Brown, allegedly paid Bruno Mars £2.6 million to perform at his son’s wedding in 2021.
The Eagles
Legendary American rock band behind classics such as Hotel California, Take It Easy and Desperado, don’t come cheap.
According to Billboard the Eagles were once paid nearly £5 million to play Hotel California – and nothing else. Yep just one song.
One Direction
Coming third place on The X Factor didn’t stop Harry Styles and the boys from absolutely coining it in in the years that followed. The band who have been on a hiatus since 2015 are (excitingly) rumoured to be coming back this year.
When they were still performing together it was believed a private show would set you back a mere £1.5 million.
Rod Stewart
If you can drag Rod the Mod away from his model train sets (Rod has spent the last 23 years painstakingly building an epic model railway city), then you could expect to part with around £650,000 for a private show.
The Rolling Stones
In 2002, David Bonderman, a billionaire in the private equity industry, reportedly spent a staggering £15 million to secure a performance by Mick and Co for his 60th birthday celebration, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. This information was originally sourced from Rolling Stone’s 2003 Rock’s 50 Richest List, which is unfortunately no longer accessible.
