other stats The 20 biggest concert tours of all time | The Weeknd enters the top 20

[Feanor]

 

Concert tours are becoming an increasingly bigger part of the music industry & pop culture, so I wanted to compile a list of the 20 highest-grossing concert tours of all time, which will be kept up-to-date over time as more data becomes available.

This list is unadjusted for inflation (more on that below) and the source (almost always Pollstar or Billboard) for each box office number is linked + the no. of shows & tickets sold is given.

 

 

1. Coldplay - Music Of The Spheres World Tour (2022-25)

$1.06B | 164/222 shows * | 9.61M tickets

 

2. Taylor Swift - The Eras Tour (2023-24)

$1.04B | 60/149 shows * | 4.35M tickets

 

3. Elton John - Farewell Yellow Brick Road (2018-23)

$939.1M | 329 shows | 6.04M tickets

 

4. Ed Sheeran - ÷ Tour (2017-19)

$776.2M | 255 shows | 8.88M tickets

 

5. U2 - U2 360° Tour (2009-11)

$736.4M | 110 shows | 7.27M tickets

 

6. Harry Styles - Love On Tour (2021-23)

$617.3M | 169 shows | 5.02M tickets

 

7. Ed Sheeran - +–=÷× Tour (2022-25)

$584.6M | 103/149 shows * | 6.13M tickets

 

8. Guns N' Roses - Not In This Lifetime… Tour (2016-19)

$584.2M | 158 shows | 5.37M tickets

 

9. Beyoncé - Renaissance World Tour (2023)

$579.8M | 56 shows | 2.78M tickets

 

10. Rammstein - Rammstein Stadium Tour (2019-24)

$562.9M | 105/135 shows * | 6.00M tickets

 

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11. The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang Tour (2005-07)

$558.3M | 140 shows | 4.68M tickets

 

12. The Rolling Stones - No Filter Tour (2017-21)

$546.5M | 58 shows | 2.87M tickets

 

13. Coldplay - A Head Full Of Dreams Tour (2016-17)

$523.0M | 114 shows | 5.39M tickets

 

14. P!nk - Summer Carnival (2023-24)

$472.9M | 78/95 shows * | 3.59M tickets

 

15. Roger Waters - The Wall Live (2010-13)

$459.0M | 219 shows | 4.13M tickets

 

16. AC/DC - Black Ice World Tour (2008-10)

$441.9M | 165 shows | 4.90M tickets

 

17. Metallica - WorldWired Tour (2016-19)

$433.8M | 143 shows | 4.20M tickets

 

18. Madonna - Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008-09)

$411.0M | 85 shows | 3.55M tickets

 

19. P!nk - Beautiful Trauma Tour (2018-19)

$397.3M | 156 shows | 3.09M tickets

 

20. The Weeknd - After Hours Til Dawn Tour (2022-24)

$391.4M | 68 shows | 3.45M tickets

 

 

Honorable mention:

21. U2 - The Joshua Tree Tours 2017 & 2019 (2017 & 2019)

$390.8M | 65 shows | 3.28M tickets

 

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And because inflation is an often debated topic for touring stats, here is also an estimation of the top 10 biggest tours when adjusted for 2023 dollars:

Spoiler

1. Coldplay - Music Of The Spheres World Tour (2022-25)

$1.06B | 164/222 shows * | 9.61M tickets

 

2. Taylor Swift - The Eras Tour (2023-24)

$1.04B | 60/149 shows * | 4.35M tickets

 

3. U2 - U2 360° Tour (2009-11)

$997.4M | 110 shows | 7.27M tickets

 

4. Elton John - Farewell Yellow Brick Road (2018-23)

$939.1B | 329 shows | 6.04M tickets

 

5. Ed Sheeran - ÷ Tour (2017-19)

$925.0M | 255 shows | 8.88M tickets

 

6. The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang Tour (2005-07)

$820.3M | 140 shows | 4.68M tickets

 

7. Guns N' Roses - Not in This Lifetime... Tour (2016-19)

$696.2M | 158 shows | 5.37M tickets

 

8. The Rolling Stones - Voodoo Lounge Tour (1994-95)

$657.8M | 158 shows | 6.40M tickets

 

9. Coldplay - A Head Full Of Dreams Tour (2016-17)

$650.1M | 114 shows | 5.39M tickets

 

10. AC/DC - Black Ice World Tour (2008-10)

$617.4M | 165 shows | 4.90M tickets

 

 

Honorable mention:

11. Harry Styles - Love On Tour (2021-23)

$617.3M | 169 shows | 5.02M tickets

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And lastly, as a bonus, this is an unofficial list of the 10 most-attended tours of all time, based on ticket sales only (with sources linked):

Spoiler

1. Coldplay - Music Of The Spheres World Tour (2022-25)

9.61M tickets *

 

2. Ed Sheeran - ÷ Tour (2017-19)

8.88M tickets

 

3. U2 - U2 360° Tour (2009-11)

7.27M tickets

 

4. Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion Tour (1991-93)

7.00M tickets

 

5. The Rolling Stones - Voodoo Lounge Tour (1994-95)

6.40M tickets

 

6. Garth Brooks - The Garth Brooks World Tour (2014–2017) (2014-17)

6.30M+ tickets

 

7. Ed Sheeran - +–=÷× Tour (2022-25)

6.13M tickets *

 

8. Elton John - Farewell Yellow Brick Road (2018-23)

6.04M tickets

 

9. The Rolling Stones - Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour (1989-90)

6.00M+ tickets

 

10. Rammstein - Rammstein Stadium Tour (2019-24)

6.00M tickets

 

 

Honorable mention:

11. Pink Floyd - The Division Bell Tour (1994)

5.50M tickets

* = the tour is still ongoing and/or not all numbers are reported yet

 

 

And for the ATRLers who care about female artists, there's a corresponding thread just about them too:

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Feanor

[TayDuaStan]

So Coldplay's tour is gonna end up around 1.4 billion $ total & Taylor's at around 2-2.5 billion $ total. Biggest touring artists of all time 

Edited September 30 by TayDuaStan

[nicaindo]

Coldplay + Taylor + Sheeran this is like a nightmare a dictatorship of tasteless straight girls

 

[BTS]

Taylor must be scamming her fans with those ticket prices

 

Half the tickets as Coldplay but nearly the same revenue 

[Draper.]

The way Beyoncé could easily be top 3 if she did 100 shows. 

[Doctor Dick]

It's great to achieve this for touring but you just posted point blank why a successful tour should never be held high in terms of who's a bigger legend or not. Harry Styles has sold more tickets than Madonna, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, The Rolling Stones and most of the tours on the list are from the 2020s and 2010s 

 

 

Edited September 30 by Doctor Dick

[xperience30]

[Elusive Chanteuse]

Coldplay put on great live shows. Nice for them with all the **** they get from critics.

 

 

[ariananext]

17 minutes ago, Doctor Dick said:

It's great to achieve this for touring but you just posted point blank why a successful tour should never be held high in terms of who's a bigger legend or not. Harry Styles has sold more tickets than Madonna, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, The Rolling Stones and most of the tours on the list are from the 2020s and 2010s 

 

 

That's because prices keep increasing I guess. The price you pay today for a newbie is the same you used to pay back then (and in some cases even just 5 years ago) for a legend. And the number of shows also matters.

[TheArgonaut]

Omg Taylor, fight back 

[wastedpotential]

@Taylor Swift what if you just called Billboard Boxscore up? 

 

[Doctor Dick]

3 minutes ago, ariananext said:

That's because prices keep increasing I guess. The price you pay today for a newbie is the same you used to pay back then (and in some cases even just 5 years ago) for a legend. And the number of shows also matters.

I think the main reasons are:

 

• Prices have increased
• Number of shows
• Number of available continents and arenas + stadiums being way higher
• More people are willing to go out and experience an artist live

[MattieB]

The This is it tour would've outdone all of them

 

[MP3]

I don't know why Taylor doesn't release the box score numbers, I mean Coldplay do similar numbers and they release all of them, why hide them? 

[Enrique523]

My favorite female artist and my favorite band are top 2, everything is well in the world 

[Dennis Trejos]

2 hours ago, MP3 said:

I don't know why Taylor doesn't release the box score numbers, I mean Coldplay do similar numbers and they release all of them, why hide them? 

She will probably reveal them once the tour is over, surely accompanied by the release of the tour documentary, she knows how to play the PR game very well. I can imagine a Variety magazine cover with the highlight "The Biggest Tour of all Time"

Edited October 1 by Dennis Trejos

[Assassin]

Coldplay, Harry and Ed really care about their fans by keeping the tickets affordable

[chiliam]

5 hours ago, Dennis Trejos said:

She will probably reveal them once the tour is over, surely accompanied by the release of the tour documentary, she knows how to play the PR game very well. I can imagine a Variety magazine cover with the highlight "The Biggest Tour of all Time"

this better be the case 

her chart and legend status obsessed better release those boxscores

[Feanor]

 

The Weeknd enters the top 20 at exactly #20, just narrowly finishing ahead of U2 with his After Hours Til Dawn Tour, which has grossed $391.4M in ticket sales after 68 shows.

He becomes the first black male artist to enter the top 20, and only the 2nd black artist overall after Beyoncé.