What is Dave Matthews's net worth?
Dave Matthews is a singer, songwriter, musician, actor, record label owner, and producer who has a net worth of $350 million. He formed the band in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991, and they quickly gained a dedicated following with their unique blend of rock, jazz, and world music influences. The band's major label debut, "Under the Table and Dreaming," released in 1994, featured hit singles like "What Would You Say" and "Ants Marching," propelling them to international success.
Throughout his career, Matthews has released numerous studio albums with the band, consistently topping charts and earning critical acclaim. The Dave Matthews Band is known for their energetic live performances and extensive touring, having sold millions of concert tickets worldwide. Matthews has also collaborated with various artists, showcasing his versatility as a musician.
In addition to his work with the band, Matthews has pursued solo projects, including the release of his debut solo album, "Some Devil," in 2003. He has also been involved in philanthropic efforts, supporting various charitable causes.
During the period from 2000 to 2010, the band sold more tickets and earned more money than any other act in North America. The band's 2012 album, "Away from the World," made them the only group to have six consecutive studio albums debut at number one on the Billboard charts.
Early Life
David John Matthews was born on January 9, 1967, in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is the third of four children of John and Val Matthews. When Dave was two, his family moved to Yorktown Heights in Westchester County, New York, for his father's job as a physicist with IBM. In 1974, the Matthews family moved to Cambridge, England, for a year. Following that, the Matthews family moved back to New York. Dave's father died of lung cancer in 1977. After that, the family moved back to Johannesburg. Dave graduated from Damelin College High School in South Africa in 1985 and moved back to the U.S. to avoid being drafted into the South African military. Dave moved to New York in 1986 and took a job at IBM for a short time. That same year, he moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where his mother was living.
Dave taught himself to play the guitar when he was nine years old, but it wasn't until he moved to Charlottesville that he started performing publicly. A mutual friend introduced Dave to local guitar legend Tim Reynolds. The two began performing together, and eventually, Reynolds convinced Dave to record some of his own songs. In 1991, Matthews had the idea to form his own band. During this period, he was bartending at Miller's in Charlottesville.
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Career
Dave founded the Dave Matthews Band in early 1991 with saxophonist LeRoi Moore, drummer Carter Beauford, bassist Stefan Lessard, violinist Boyd Tinsley, and keyboardist Peter Griesar (who left the band in 1993). The Dave Matthews Band's first gig was on March 14, 1991, at Trax Nightclub in Charlottesville. The band released its first EP, "Recently," in 1994. The live album's five tracks were taken from shows performed at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, and from Trax in Charlottesville.
On September 20, 1994, DMB released its debut studio album, "Under the Table and Dreaming." The album brought the band its first commercial hits, "What Would You Say," "Satellite," and "Ants Marching." "Under the Table and Dreaming" brought the band worldwide fame and was eventually certified six times platinum. "Under the Table and Dreaming" and its follow-up album, "Crash," brought the band a Grammy Award and four additional Grammy nominations. Crash's hits included "Crash into Me," "Too Much," and "Tripping Billies."
"Before These Crowded Streets," their studio's third album, was released in April 1998 and was an instant commercial success, with over 900,000 albums sold worldwide in the first week. Their fourth studio album, "Everyday," was released in February 2001 and was a huge commercial success. The band has since released the albums "Busted Stuff," "Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King," "Away From The World," and "Come Tomorrow." The 2018 release of "Come Tomorrow" debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, making DMB the first band to have seven consecutive studio albums debut at #1.
Additionally, Dave Matthews recorded a solo album, "Some Devil," which was released in 2003.
Touring Revenue
Dave Matthews Band has toured every summer, almost without fail, since the early 1990s. (Technically, they took 2011 off but played four festival-style shows called the Dave Matthews Band Caravan as well as mounted mini-tours with Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. Basically, DMB lives to tour. And they've figured out a way to make their popular concerts exceptionally profitable.
Here are some stats dating back to 2010:
- 2010: 114 shows played (including a European tour)
- 2011: 44 shows played
- 2012: 78 shows played
- 2013: 62 shows played
- 2014: 57 shows played
- 2015: 75 shows played
- 2016: 50 shows played
For the years from 2000 to 2009, DMB grossed more than $500 million from touring alone and sold more tickets (11,230,696) than any other band on the planet. The band plays to more than one million fans on each tour and many of those fans see more than one show.
DMB's tours are rather unique in the music business. For instance, Lady Gaga also brings in an enormous amount of money on her tours, but her shows are also very expensive to produce, and tickets go for upwards of $100 each. By comparison, DMB's tickets average out to about $60, with lawn seats running $45 and pit or lower reserved for $85. But more than that, it is the band itself, of course, that draws in its legion of fans every tour with their long jams and differing set lists.
The band knows how to court its fans and turn that obsessiveness into cold, hard cash. For instance, in one example of the "Labor Dave" set of shows at The Gorge in Washington State over Labor Day weekend, the band played three consecutive nights to a captive crowd that camps at the venue in order to see them. During those three shows, the boys played 63 songs—without a single repeat—and during the second of the three shows played a song (Cry Freedom) for the first time on the 2016 tour. Unlike Bon Jovi, who plays the same set list night after night, DMB plays a different set list every single night. THAT is why fans see 2, 3, 4, 15, etc., shows a tour. The Dave Matthews Band has never had a tour that didn't turn a big profit.
This tour model was first employed by another legendary jam band, The Grateful Dead. The Dead toured constantly—playing about 200 shows a year from 1965 to 1995. Like DMB, they courted their fans and treated the concert like a party rather than a product, and their fans were like members of a community. The Dead became one of the most successful bands of all time. Dave Matthews has done the same thing with his band, tours, and fanbase.
Now, while Dave Matthews makes plenty of money touring, he also has other revenue streams. Another place that DMB slays is in merchandise sales. All the way back in 1998, the band sold $200,000 worth of merchandise PER DAY while on tour. Now add in the Dave Matthews Band Warehouse fan club, which has roughly 100,000 members paying $35 per year for early access to concert tickets. That's another $3.5 million a year!
Dave Matthews has basically perfected the modern method of making money as a band. And he does it from roughly May to mid-September annually.
Acting Career
Dave Matthews was acting before he ever formed his band. He appeared in a number of productions at Charlottesville's Offstage Theatre and Live Arts Theater in the early 1990s.
In 2005, Dave played Otis, a man who works at a pet store in the film "Because of Winn-Dixie." In 2007, he played a homosexual salesman in "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry." That same year, Mattews played a piano-playing musical savant in the Fox television show "House." In 2008, he played a racist redneck in "You Don't Mess with the Zohan." He also starred in "Lake City" alongside Sissy Spacek. Matthews also had roles in three films in 2011, "The Other Side," "In the Woods," and "Just Go With It."
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Personal Life
In January 1994, Matthews' older sister, Anne, who lived in South Africa, was murdered by her husband, who subsequently committed suicide on or around January 27 of that year. The event had a profound effect on Matthews' outlook on life and was referenced in a few of his songs. Anne Matthews was survived by her two children, who, upon her death, traveled to America, where Dave and his younger sister, Jane, took responsibility for their upbringing.
His sister Jane is the namesake of DMB's song, "The Song That Jane Likes."
Dave Matthews married longtime girlfriend, Ashley Harper in 2000. They have twin daughters, Stella and Grace, born August 15, 2001, and a son, August, born June 19, 2007.
Matthews wrote the song "Grace is Gone" in the late 90s and recorded them as a part of the scrapped album known by fans as the Lilywhite Sessions (after producer Steve Lilywhite) and later released on 2002's Busted Stuff. Years later, his daughter Stella reportedly asked her father, "Daddy, when are you gonna put me in a song?" Matthews incorporated that line into his song Alligator Pie off the 2010 album Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King. The line says: "'When my Stella cries, 'Daddy when you gonna put me in a song?"
Matthews is also on the Farm Aid board of directors along with fellow musicians Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, who raise money for family farmers in the United States with an annual benefit concert.
In 2011, Matthews collaborated with winemakers Steve Reeder and Sean McKenzie in creating Dreaming Tree Wines.
Real Estate
Dave Matthews is one of the largest private landowners in the state of Virginia. He owns hundreds, potentially thousands of acres in Virginia, primarily around Charlottesville. He has also worked with local governments to acquire many acres of what has become public land. Since 1999, he has owned an 18th-century farm called Blenheim, which he transformed into Blenheim Vineyards. Today Blenheim produces 5,500 cases of wine per year, including their signature Petit Verdot and several special edition wines that have featured unique labels with drawings by Matthews.
Dave and his family have lived in a modest home in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. He purchased the home in 2001 for $360,000.
