Saturday, September 05, 2009 LOS ANGELES: Madonna smashed her own record for top-grossing tour by a solo artist, but the "Material Girl" had to play more shows in bigger venues, according to data released by concert promoter.The pop singer's yearlong "Sticky & Sweet" world tour, which wrapped in Israel on Wednesday, pulled in $408 million after playing to more than 3.5 million fans at 85 shows.It broke the record set in 2006 by her previous outing, the "Confessions" tour, which grossed $194 million from 1.2 million fans at 60 shows. A promoter spokesman said the previous trek featured many arena stops, while the latest one was centered on bigger stadiums.On September 28, Madonna will release "Celebration" CD and video compilations, which will draw the curtain on her 27-year relationship with Warner Music Group Corp. In 2007, she signed a pioneering, 10-year, $120 million "360" deal with Live Nation covering recording, merchandising and touring.The top-grossing tour overall is the Rolling Stones' $558 million "Bigger Bang" trek of 2005-2007, which drew 4.7 million people to 144 shows.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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