Part 3/11:
The real monetary gain came from touring, with the Use Your Illusion tour reportedly bringing in $56,000 per night in ticket sales. Yet, expenses were equally staggering; shows incurred costs exceeding $100,000 due to extravagant pyrotechnics, damages, and delays. Upon receiving their first major royalty statement in early 1989, each band member had taken home only an average of $35,000 despite the sales of over 8 million albums. As Slash noted in his memoir, they were platinum artists living on gold record money while someone else was banking the difference.