Billionaire pop queen Taylor Swift rewarded her Eras Tour crew with seriously applause-worthy bonus checks. Just how much extra scratch did Swift’s crew pick up for being a part of her record-breaking $2,077,618,725 in ticket sales tour?
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According to People, the “So High School” singer has awarded an astonishing $197 million in bonuses to her crew over the past two years of the Eras Tour.
The bonuses were distributed among a wide range of team members, including truck drivers, caterers, instrument technicians, merchandise staff, lighting and sound crews, production staff, assistants, carpenters, dancers, band members, security personnel, choreographers, pyrotechnics experts, riggers, hair and makeup artists, wardrobe specialists, physical therapists, and the video production team.
Last year, the singer-songwriter made headlines by giving her truck drivers $100,000 bonuses each after finishing the U.S. leg of her world tour.
How Taylor Swift Delivered Bonus Checks to Her Crew in the Past
Of course, this kind of bonus is above and beyond.
“The typical amount is $5,000 to $10,000 each,” Michael Scherkenbach, the founder of the trucking company that worked for Swift’s tour, explained to CNN.
“So this large amount is unbelievable… These men and women, they live on the road. They sleep during the day and work all night. It’s a grueling task. They leave their families, young children for weeks. For Taylor’s tour, they’ve been away from home for 24 weeks,” Scherkenbach added.
Scherkenbach also shared details about how Swift distributes bonuses, revealing that her father, Scott Swift, surprised the trucking team with a personal visit to deliver the news.
“Scott gave a speech saying that he had discussed this with Taylor and they thought that it was only right that everybody received a bonus,” he recalled. “Taylor insisted on writing a handwritten note to each driver and [added] a wax seal on the envelope with her monogram. The drivers didn’t want to be overly rude and look at it. But one looked and thought it said $1,000, another driver saw it as $10,000, and then the third said, ‘Well this has to be a joke!’”
The Eras Tour concluded on Sunday, Dec. 8, at Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium.