Taylor Swift Gave Big Bonuses To Eras Tour Workers—Here Are Other Times She's Been Generous With Her Earnings

Topline

Ahead of wrapping up the U.S. leg of her high-grossing Eras Tour, Taylor Swift made news for giving large bonuses—including $100,000 thank you gifts to her truckers—to her crew members, according to People, and it’s not the first time in recent years, or even on this tour, the musician has made big gifts or donations.

Taylor Swift performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at State Farm Stadium on March … [+] 18, 2023 in Swift City, ERAzona (Glendale, Arizona). Swift gave her Eras Tour crew $5.5 million in bonuses ahead of the last shows of the U.S. leg this week. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management )

Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Key Facts

Swift gave back to cities hosting her this year for her first tour since 2018, making “generous donations” to food banks in many cities she stopped at, including Glendale, Arizona, Las Vegas and Atlanta; no cities specified dollar amounts, but a food bank in Tampa said Swift donated enough to “place over 125,000 meals on tables.”

In March 2021, Swift and her mother donated the entirety of a GoFundMe goal—$50,000—to support a family whose father had died of Covid-19.

Swift also donated $13,000 in December 2020 to another GoFundMe supporting a mother who was featured in the Washington Post for struggling to pay bills during the pandemic; alongside her donation, Swift wrote it was brave of the woman to share her story and she felt for her struggles over the past year.

In March 2020, the singer-songwriter donated $1 million to the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund to support recovery efforts after tornadoes in Nashville killed 24 people and ruined homes across a number of counties.

In 2018 and 2017, Swift donated to two different organizations for survivors of sexual assault after she won her own sexual assault case against a Denver DJ who groped her in 2013.

In 2016, Swift donated $1 million to flood relief efforts in Louisiana after 20,000 residents were displaced and 13 people died, CNN reported.

Swift donated $50,000 to New York City public schools in 2015, after she pledged to donate the proceeds from her single “Welcome to New York” to the city’s education department.

Big Number

$5.5 million. That’s the total amount of bonus money Swift gave to her crew on the Eras Tour, People magazine reported. Of that, $5 million went to truckers and $500,000 was dispersed between other crew members.

US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift performs onstage on the first night of her “Eras Tour” at AT&T … [+] Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on March 31, 2023. Swift donated to a number of local food banks in cities that hosted the Eras Tour, including Glendale, Atlanta and Las Vegas. (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP) (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Tangent

Swift’s Eras Tour is poised to make her even more money, potentially helping her reach billionaire status. Pollstar estimated in June that Eras could eventually hit a record-breaking $1.4 billion when it ends in August 2024. Pollstar data from late June showed the average ticket price for the tour was just over $250 on the primary market and average attendance was nearly 54,000 over 38 performances through the end of June, making the tour the biggest of the year so far—beating out Harry Styles, Elton John and Bruce Springsteen. Swift is set to perform a whopping total of 117 worldwide performances on the tour through August 2023.

Forbes Valuation

Forbes estimates Swift to be worth $740 million, as of June 1. However, in late June, Forbes estimated the tour had grossed nearly $110 million, after paying its concert promoter and production costs, which could bring Swift’s net worth up to $780 million.