List of highest grossing concert tours

The Eras Tour by Taylor Swift is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time.

Concert tours generate most of their income from ticket sales. Billboard and Pollstar are two major publications that regularly provide the official gross revenue figures for concerts worldwide. Billboard launched the boxscore ranking in 1975 through its spin-off magazine Amusement Business, and has additionally been featured in the Billboard magazine itself since the issue date of October 3, 1981.[1] Pollstar began reporting box office data on November 29, 1981.[2] However, Pollstar's data for tours before 2000 is minimal.[3]

Michael Jackson's Bad tour and Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour, both running from 1987 to 1989, were the first tours to have reportedly surpassed $100 million in revenue. As record sales collapsed in the early 21st century, musicians began relying on live music shows for their income, and the touring industry has since skyrocketed.[4] In 2023, Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour became the first tour in history to surpass $1 billion in revenue and set a new record for the highest-grossing tour of all time.[A] She earned $1.039 billion from 60 shows in one calendar year, surpassing the previous record-holder Elton John, whose Farewell Yellow Brick Road earned a revenue of $939.1 million from 330 shows across five different calendar years from 2018 to 2023.

While the touring industry is largely dominated by bands and male soloists of rock music,[7] some of the highest-grossing tours came from pop stars such as Swift, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Beyoncé and Madonna, as well as country singer Garth Brooks. The Rolling Stones had broken the all-time tour milestone three times (1990, 1995, and 2006), with their Voodoo Lounge Tour remaining the longest record holder for eleven years (1995–2006). They also became the only act to have the highest-grossing tour of the decade twice (the 1990s and the 2000s). U2 achieved the highest-grossing tour of the year at least eight times, more than any other act in history.

Highest-grossing tours

Key
† Indicates the tour ongoing
* Indicates the tour dates split in two different calendar decades
Top 20 highest-grossing tours of all time
Rank Peak Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2022 dollars) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 1 $1,039,263,762 $1,039,263,762 Taylor Swift The Eras Tour † 2023 60 $17,321,063 [A]
2 1 $939,100,000 $939,100,000 Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road 2018–2023 330 $2,845,758 [8]
3 1 $776,200,000 $888,442,379 Ed Sheeran ÷ Tour 2017–2019 255 $3,043,922 [9]
4 1 $736,421,586 $958,001,690 U2 U2 360° Tour 2009–2011 110 $6,694,742 [10]
5 4 $735,300,000 $735,300,000 Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour † 2022–2023 122 $6,027,049 [11]
6 4 $617,300,000 $617,800,000 Harry Styles Love On Tour 2021–2023 169 $3,652,663 [12]
7 3 $584,200,000 $668,678,225 Guns N' Roses Not in This Lifetime... Tour 2016–2019 158 $3,697,468 [13]
8 7 $579,800,000 $579,800,000 Beyoncé Renaissance World Tour 2023 56 $10,353,571 [14]
9 1 $558,255,524 $787,883,017 The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang Tour 2005–2007 144 $3,876,774 [15]
10 5 $546,500,000 $590,190,470 The Rolling Stones No Filter Tour 2017–2021 58 $9,422,414 [16]
11 3 $523,033,675 $624,430,917 Coldplay A Head Full of Dreams Tour 2016–2017 114 $4,588,015 [17]
12 3 $459,000,000 $576,635,143 Roger Waters The Wall Live 2010–2013 219 $2,094,401 [18]
13 3 $441,900,000 $593,021,303 AC/DC Black Ice World Tour 2008–2010 165 $2,678,182 [19]
14 8 $430,000,000 $492,180,138 Metallica WorldWired Tour 2016–2019 143 $3,006,993 [20]
15 13 $417,661,372 $417,661,372 Ed Sheeran +–=÷× Tour † 2022–2023 77 $5,424,174 [21]
16 2 $411,000,000 $560,622,615 Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour 2008–2009 85 $4,835,294 [3]
17 10 $397,300,000 $454,751,555 Pink Beautiful Trauma World Tour 2018–2019 156 $2,546,795 [22]
18 12 $390,778,581 $466,536,362 U2 The Joshua Tree Tours 2017 and 2019 2017, 2019 66 $5,920,888 [23]
19 1 $389,000,000 $564,685,705 U2 Vertigo Tour 2005–2006 131 $2,969,466 [24]
20 20 $379,496,085 $379,496,085 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 2023 Tour † 2023 66 $5,749,941 [5]

Timeline of the highest-grossing tour

Timeline of the highest-grossing tour record
Established Artist Tour title Record-setting gross Ref.
1984 The Jacksons Victory Tour $75,000,000 [25]
1985 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Born in the U.S.A. Tour $90,000,000 [26]
1989 Michael Jackson Bad $125,000,000 [27]
Pink Floyd A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour $135,000,000 [28]
1990 The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour $175,000,000 [29]
1994 Pink Floyd The Division Bell Tour $250,000,000 [30]
1995 The Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge Tour $320,000,000 [31]
2006 U2 Vertigo Tour $333,000,000 [32]
The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang Tour $437,000,000 [33]
2007 $558,255,524 [15]
2011 U2 U2 360° Tour $736,421,586 [10]
2019 Ed Sheeran ÷ Tour $776,200,000 [9]
2023 Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road $939,100,000 [8]
Taylor Swift The Eras Tour $1,039,263,762 [A]

Highest-grossing tours by decade

1980s

Top 10 highest-grossing tours of the 1980s
Rank Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2022 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 $135,000,000 $318,708,725 Pink Floyd A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour 1987–1989 197 $685,279 [28]
2 $125,000,000 $295,100,671 Michael Jackson Bad 1987–1989 123 $1,016,260 [27]
3 $98,000,000 $231,358,926 The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels Tour 1989 * 60 $1,633,333 [34]
4 $90,000,000 $244,882,426 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Born in the U.S.A. Tour 1984–1985 156 $576,923 [26]
5 $86,000,000 $221,524,312 David Bowie Glass Spider Tour 1987 86 $1,000,000 [35]
6 $75,000,000 $211,258,808 The Jacksons Victory Tour 1984 55 $1,363,636 [25]
7 $60,000,000 $154,551,845 Genesis Invisible Touch Tour 1986–1987 111 $540,541 [36]
8 $60,000,000 $148,463,703 Tina Turner Break Every Rule World Tour 1987–1988 220 $272,727 [37]
9 $56,000,000 $144,248,389 U2 The Joshua Tree Tour 1987 109 $513,761 [38]
10 $50,000,000 $160,944,363 The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones American Tour 1981 1981 50 $1,000,000 [39]

1990s

Top 10 highest-grossing tours of the 1990s
Rank Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2022 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 $320,000,000 $614,562,131 The Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge Tour 1994–1995 129 $2,480,620 [31]
2 $274,000,000 $491,946,917 The Rolling Stones Bridges to Babylon Tour 1997–1998 108 $2,537,037 [40]
3 $250,000,000 $493,601,257 Pink Floyd The Division Bell Tour 1994 120 $2,083,333 [30]
4 $173,610,864 $312,961,811 U2 PopMart Tour 1997–1998 93 $1,866,783 [41]
5 $165,000,000 $300,789,801 Michael Jackson HIStory World Tour 1996–1997 83 $1,987,952 [42]
6 $152,900,000 $285,296,541 Eagles Hell Freezes Over Tour 1994–1996 122 $1,274,107 [B]
7 $151,000,000 $305,895,877 U2 Zoo TV Tour 1992–1993 157 $961,783 [45]
8 $133,000,000 $233,640,032 Celine Dion Let's Talk About Love World Tour 1998–1999 97 $1,371,134 [46]
9 $130,000,000 $236,985,904 Tina Turner Wildest Dreams Tour 1996–1997 255 $509,804 [47]
10 $105,000,000 $188,519,804 Garth Brooks The Garth Brooks World Tour 1996–1998 220 $477,273 [48]

2000s

Top 10 highest-grossing tours of the 2000s
Rank Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2022 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 $558,255,524 $787,883,017 The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang Tour 2005–2007 144 $3,876,774 [15]
2 $411,000,000 $560,622,615 Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour 2008–2009 85 $4,835,294 [3]
3 $389,000,000 $564,685,705 U2 Vertigo Tour 2005–2006 131 $2,969,466 [24]
4 $358,825,665 $487,714,513 The Police The Police Reunion Tour 2007–2008 146 $2,457,710 [49]
5 $311,637,730 $425,087,979 U2 U2 360° Tour 2009 * 44 $7,082,676 [C]
6 $311,000,000 $494,742,041 The Rolling Stones Licks Tour 2002–2003 117 $2,658,120 [40]
7 $279,200,000 $379,204,591 Celine Dion Taking Chances World Tour 2008–2009 129 $2,164,341 [D]
8 $264,100,000 $360,244,362 AC/DC Black Ice World Tour 2008–2009 * 127 $2,079,528 [E]
9 $250,000,000 $374,595,331 Cher Living Proof: The Farewell Tour 2002–2005 325 $769,231 [F]
10 $235,000,000 $319,411,128 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Magic Tour 2007–2008 104 $2,259,615 [58]

2010s

Top 10 highest-grossing tours of the 2010s
Rank Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2022 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 $776,200,000 $888,442,379 Ed Sheeran ÷ Tour 2017–2019 255 $3,043,922 [9]
2 $584,200,000 $668,678,225 Guns N' Roses Not in This Lifetime... Tour 2016–2019 158 $3,697,468 [13]
3 $523,033,675 $624,430,917 Coldplay A Head Full of Dreams Tour 2016–2017 114 $4,588,015 [17]
4 $459,000,000 $576,635,143 Roger Waters The Wall 2010–2013 219 $2,094,401 [18]
5 $424,783,856 $552,596,040 U2 U2 360° Tour 2010–2011 * 66 $6,436,119 [C]
6 $430,000,000 $492,180,138 Metallica WorldWired Tour 2016–2019 143 $3,006,993 [20]
7 $415,600,000 $475,697,826 The Rolling Stones No Filter Tour 2017–2019 * 44 $9,445,455 [59]
8 $397,300,000 $454,751,555 Pink Beautiful Trauma World Tour 2018–2019 156 $2,546,795 [22]
9 $390,778,581 $466,536,362 U2 The Joshua Tree Tours 2017 and 2019 2017, 2019 66 $5,920,888 [23]
10 $367,700,000 $428,512,298 Bruno Mars 24K Magic World Tour 2017–2018 196 $1,876,020 [G]

2020s

Top 10 highest-grossing tours of the 2020s (as of January 2024)
Rank Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2022 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 $1,039,263,762 $1,039,263,762 Taylor Swift The Eras Tour † 2023 60 $17,321,063 [A]
2 $735,300,000 $735,300,000 Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour † 2022–2023 122 $6,027,049 [11]
3 $617,300,000 $617,300,000 Harry Styles Love On Tour 2021–2023 169 $3,652,663 [12]
4 $579,800,000 $579,800,000 Beyoncé Renaissance World Tour 2023 56 $10,353,571 [14]
5 $471,400,000 $471,400,000 Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road 2020–2022 * 136 $3,466,176 [H]
6 $417,661,372 $417,661,372 Ed Sheeran +–=÷× Tour † 2022–2023 77 $5,424,174 [21]
7 $379,496,085 $379,496,085 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 2023 Tour † 2023 66 $5,749,941 [5]
8 $350,985,529 $350,985,529 The Weeknd After Hours til Dawn Tour 2022–2023 61 $5,753,861 [11]
9 $314,100,000 $314,100,000 Bad Bunny World's Hottest Tour 2022 43 $7,304,651 [65]
10 $257,600,000 $257,600,000 Pink Summer Carnival † 2023 41 $6,282,927 [66]

Highest-grossing tours by year

This list represents the top-grossing tour of each year according to either Pollstar or Billboard Boxscore (formerly Amusement Business). The two publications may differ on their annual figures due to different total of dates reported or different year-end tracking period. For example, Pollstar listed Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour as the top tour of 2008 with $281.6 million, but Billboard ranked it third on their year-end chart whose tracking period ended on November 11, 2008, thus excluding 20 shows by Madonna.[67][68] In 2019, Billboard listed Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour as the top tour of the year ($223.7 million), instead of Pink's Beautiful Trauma World Tour ($215.2 million) as reported by Pollstar. However, the Billboard's figure included Sheeran's gross from November 2018 shows, therefore the Pollstar's figure is closer to accurate for the 2019 calendar year.[69][70]

Annual highest-grossing tours
Year Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2022 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Shows Ref.
1987 $35,000,000 $90,155,243 U2 The Joshua Tree Tour 79 [71]
1989 $98,000,000 $231,358,926 The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels Tour 60 [34]
1990 $74,100,000 $165,979,470 New Kids on the Block The Magic Summer Tour 152 [72]
1991 $34,700,000 $74,554,557 Grateful Dead Grateful Dead Summer Tour 76 [73]
1992 $67,000,000 $139,719,706 U2 Zoo TV Tour 73 [74]
1993 $45,600,000 $92,376,503 Grateful Dead Grateful Dead Tour 1993 81 [75]
1994 $121,200,000 $239,297,890 The Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge Tour 60 [76]
1995 $63,300,000 $121,568,072 Eagles Hell Freezes Over Tour 58 [43]
1996 $43,600,000 $81,353,363 Kiss Alive/Worldwide Tour 92 [77]
1997 $138,500,000 $252,481,136 U2 PopMart Tour 78 [78]
1998 $193,350,000 $347,145,753 The Rolling Stones Bridges to Babylon Tour 82 [79]
1999 $89,200,000 $156,696,924 No Security Tour 45 [80]
2000 $122,500,000 $208,167,150 Tina Turner Twenty Four Seven Tour 108 [81]
2001 $143,000,000 $236,335,651 U2 Elevation Tour 113 [82]
2002 $126,100,000 $205,166,216 Paul McCartney Driving World Tour 58 [83]
2003 $299,520,230 $476,479,903 The Rolling Stones Licks Tour 115 [84]
2004 $125,000,000 $193,666,314 Madonna Re-Invention World Tour 56 [85]
2005 $260,000,000 $389,579,145 U2 Vertigo Tour 90 [86]
2006 $425,100,000 $617,089,700 The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang Tour 110 [87]
2007 $212,227,302 $299,522,852 The Police The Police Reunion Tour 66 [88]
2008 $281,600,000 $382,749,675 Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour 58 [53]
2009 $311,637,730 $425,087,979 U2 U2 360° Tour 44 [50]
2010 $201,100,000 $269,872,333 Bon Jovi The Circle Tour 80 [89]
2011 $293,281,487 $381,526,242 U2 U2 360° Tour 44 [52]
2012 $305,158,363 $388,978,496 Madonna The MDNA Tour 88 [40]
2013 $259,500,000 $326,006,143 Bon Jovi Because We Can 102 [90]
2014 $290,000,000 $358,484,678 One Direction Where We Are Tour 69 [91]
2015 $250,733,097 $309,553,117 Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour 85 [92]
2016 $268,300,000 $327,153,383 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band The River Tour 76 [93]
2017 $316,990,940 $378,443,976 U2 The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 50 [94]
2018 $432,400,000 $503,912,748 Ed Sheeran ÷ Tour 94 [61]
2019 $215,200,000 $246,318,990 Pink Beautiful Trauma World Tour 68 [70]
2020 $87,100,000 $87,100,000 Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road 38 [62]
2021 $115,500,000 $124,733,759 The Rolling Stones No Filter Tour 12 [95]
2022 $342,192,313 $342,192,313 Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour 64 [96]
2023 $1,039,263,762 $1,039,263,762 Taylor Swift The Eras Tour 60 [A]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e The figure is an estimation "based on Pollstar box office reports combined with extensive research including ticket prices in each market, record capacities at each venue and comparable tour data". Swift has yet to report her numbers formally.[5][6]
  2. ^ Eagles' Hell Freezes Over Tour grossed $79.4 million in 1994, $63.3 million in 1995, and $10.2 million in 1996.[43][44]
  3. ^ a b U2's 360° Tour grossed $311,637,730 in the 2000s decade (2009)[50] and $424,783,856 in the 2010s (2010 and 2011).[51][52]
  4. ^ Celine Dion's Taking Chances World Tour grossed $236.6 million in 2008 and $42.6 million in 2009.[53][54]
  5. ^ Within the 2000s decade, AC/DC's Black Ice World Tour grossed $37.5 million in 2008 and $226.6 million in 2009.[55][54]
  6. ^ Cher's Living Proof: The Farewell Tour grossed $194,683,927 from 280 reported shows according to Billboard, bringing an average gross of $695,000 per show.[56] Total gross for the tour's 325 dates is estimated between $200 million and $250 million.[57]
  7. ^ Bruno Mars' 24K Magic World Tour grossed $200.1 million in 2017 and 167.6 million in 2018.[60][61]
  8. ^ Within the 2020s decade, Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road grossed $87.1 million in 2020,[62] $274 million in 2022,[63] and $110.3 million in 2023.[64]

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