High price to see Material Girl in NZ

Madonna has sold more than 300 million albums.

Pop queen Madonna is finally coming to New Zealand - but tickets for the show won't come cheap.

The 56-year-old singer has confirmed two Auckland Vector Arena shows in March, the first time the star will have played in the country during a career that stretches back to the mid-1980s.

The New Zealand-Australia leg of the Rebel Heart tour will start in Auckland on March 5 and 6 before heading across the Tasman for six dates in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

It's believed top-end tickets for the Auckland shows could go for $500 or more. On Ticketmaster, ticket prices range between $99.90 to $499.90.

In comparison, AC/DC tickets went on sale yesterday for $170.

Tickets for the Rebel Heart concerts in New Zealand go on sale on Monday, July 6, at 10am via Ticketmaster.

Spark customers can access a special pre-sale commencing at 11am on Tuesday, June 30.

My Live Nation members can access tickets during the pre-sale from 10am Friday, July 3, until 5pm the next day.

The tour begins in Montreal on September 8 and heads through North America, Britain and Europe until early next year.

The tour follows the release of Rebel Heart, Madonna's 13th studio album - one that has widely been judged a commercial flop. But she remains a major live drawcard, with Billboard reporting ticket demand in many cities on the North American and European legs of the tour requiring secondary dates.

While her album sales have declined in the past decade, her concert income has increased, with her 2012 MDNA Tour grossing more than US$300 million ($433 million).

Since breaking through internationally with her 1984 Like a Virgin album, Madonna has sold more than 300 million albums.