U2 in Talks With Azoffs for Management — But Deal’s Not Done

U2 are in discussion with Irving Azoff, Jeffrey Azoff and Brandon Creed’s Full Stop Management after splitting with manager Guy Oseary last week, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. The talks are ongoing and no final decision has been made by either side. 

The talks follow news that Azoff is now involved in booking the MSG Sphere at the Venetian, part of Azoff Company’s long-term consulting deal with MSG properties. U2 is scheduled to open the MSG Sphere at the Venetian in November 2023, which Billboard first reported in July.  

Oseary had managed U2 under the Live Nation-owned Maverick artist management collective for nearly a decade. In 2020, he left Live Nation but agreed to continue to provide consulting services to CEO Michael Rapino, whose company now has 450 artists under management. 

Azoff and Full Stop’s management clients include Harry Styles, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Lizzo, among many others.

Oseary did not respond to a request for comment, and neither did a rep for the Azoffs and Full Stop. 

Despite switching management, U2 will continue working with Live Nation chairman of global touring and talent Arthur Fogel for all their touring plans, according to one source.  

Live Nation will also produce frontman Bono’s upcoming Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story book tour, which was announced Tuesday. The 14-date Stories of Surrender tour will be will be co-produced by Penguin Random House and run through theaters in 14 cities across North America and Europe, starting Nov. 2 at the Beacon Theatre in New York and wrapping at the Teatro Coliseu in Madrid on Nov. 28.  

U2’s last big tour, the Experience + Innocence Tour in 2018, grossed $126.2 million from 924,000 tickets sold to 59 shows. Before that, the Joshua Tree 30th Anniversary Tour in 2017 grossed $390.8 million with 3.3 million tickets sold to 65 shows. For nearly a decade — until Ed Sheeran topped it in 2019 — the band held the record for the highest grossing tour of all time with its 360 Tour from 2009 to 2011, which generated $736.4 million sales from 7.3 million tickets sold to 110 shows. 

U2 is the second-highest grossing touring band of all time behind The Rolling Stones, according to Billboard Boxscore, topping $2.22 billion earned with 28.3 million tickets sold. The two bands are the only acts ever to surpass the $2 billion-sales mark.