Madonna tour tickets selling quickly

Madonna performs with dancers during the opening number at the 48th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles February 8, 2006.

NASHVILLE - Initial ticket sales for Madonnna's upcoming Confessions tour have been predictably huge, with shows added in several cities and virtually all dates selling out.

The tour, which begins May 21 in Los Angeles, has sold out four shows in Paris at Bercy Stadium beginning August 27, seven shows at London's Wembley Arena beginning August 1, two shows at the 40,000-capacity Amsterdam Arena beginning September 3, and four shows in New York's Madison Square Garden beginning June 28, as well as doubles in Los Angeles, Montreal, Miami and Chicago.

Also sold out are Las Vegas (May 27), Philadelphia (July 12), Hartford, Conn. (June 25), Phoenix (June 8) and San Jose (May 30).

Tour producer Arthur Fogel, president of Live Nation's TNA International, told Billboard.com there had clearly been no resistance to ticket prices that range from $50 to $350. "What you have is a recognition that she creates and delivers a spectacular show every time she goes on the road," said Fogel. "And this tour will be no different."

With a gross potential in the $200 million range, Confessions could be the top-grossing tour ever for a female artist. In 2004, Madonna's Re-Invention tour grossed $125 million and drew more than 900,000 fans to 56 shows.