List of highest-grossing concert tours

For the most-attended concert tours, see List of most-attended concert tours.
The Eras Tour by Taylor Swift is the highest-grossing tour of all time.

The following is a list of concert tours that have generated the most gross income. The data and rankings come largely from reports by trade publications Billboard and Pollstar. Billboard, which launched the boxscore ranking in 1975 through its spin-off magazine Amusement Business, has featured the ranking in its own magazine since the issue date of October 3, 1981.[1] Pollstar began reporting box office data on November 29, 1981,[2] but it has relatively little information about pre-2000 tours.[3] In the early 21st century, tour revenue skyrocketed as record sales collapsed and musicians began relying on live shows for their income.[4]

The first tours to surpass $100 million in revenue, according to reports, were Michael Jackson's Bad World Tour and Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour, both of which ran from 1987 to 1989. In December 2023, Pollstar estimated that Taylor Swift's Eras Tour was the first tour to collect over $1 billion in revenue,[5][6] although Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour became the first to report $1 billion to official boxscore in August 2024.[7] The Eras Tour concluded in December 2024, with a gross of $2.07 billion, becoming the first tour to surpass $2 billion.[8]

More than any other act, the Rolling Stones set the all-time record for touring revenue three times (1990, 1995, and 2006), with their Voodoo Lounge Tour remaining the highest-grossing tour for 11 years (1995–2006), longer than any other record-holder. They are the only act to have the highest-grossing tour of the decade twice, in the 1990s and the 2000s. The Rolling Stones and U2 have mounted the highest-grossing tour of the year at least eight times, more than any other act. Some of the highest-grossing tours had extensive schedules spanning multiple years. Among the top 20 tours of all time, Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road is the longest-running tour with a total of 330 shows in five different calendar years, while Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour is the shortest one with 56 shows in a single year.

Highest-grossing tours

Key
† Indicates ongoing tour
* Indicates tour dates are split between two different calendar decades
Top 20 highest-grossing tours of all time
Rank Peak Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2023 dollars) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 1 $2,077,618,725 $2,077,618,725 Taylor Swift The Eras Tour 2023–2024 149 $13,943,750 [8]
2 2 $1,145,056,215 $1,145,056,215 Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour † 2022–2025 175 $6,543,178 [9]
3 1 $939,100,000 $939,100,000 Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road 2018–2023 330 $2,845,758 [10]
4 1 $776,200,000 $925,014,604 Ed Sheeran ÷ Tour 2017–2019 255 $3,043,922 [11]
5 1 $736,421,586 $997,437,284 U2 360° Tour 2009–2011 110 $6,694,742 [12]
6 6 $630,792,517 $630,792,517 Bruce Springsteen · E Street Band 2023–2025 Tour † 2023–2025 110 $5,734,477 [A]
7 4 $617,325,000 $617,325,000 Harry Styles Love On Tour 2021–2023 169 $3,652,811 [13]
8 8 $584,700,000 $584,700,000 Pink Summer Carnival 2023–2024 97 $6,027,835 [14]
9 7 $584,551,454 $584,551,454 Ed Sheeran +–=÷× Tour † 2022–2025 103 $5,675,257 [15]
10 7 $584,200,000 $696,203,983 Guns N' Roses Not in This Lifetime... Tour 2016–2019 158 $3,697,468 [15]
11 7 $579,879,268 $579,879,268 Beyoncé Renaissance World Tour 2023 56 $10,353,571 [16]
12 1 $558,255,524 $820,315,772 The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang Tour 2005–2007 144 $3,876,774 [17]
13 5 $546,500,000 $614,485,325 The Rolling Stones No Filter Tour 2017–2021 58 $9,422,414 [18]
14 3 $523,033,675 $650,135,260 Coldplay A Head Full of Dreams Tour 2016–2017 114 $4,588,015 [19]
15 3 $459,000,000 $600,372,000 Roger Waters The Wall Live 2010–2013 219 $2,094,401 [20]
16 3 $441,900,000 $617,432,687 AC/DC Black Ice World Tour 2008–2010 165 $2,678,182 [21]
17 8 $430,000,000 $512,440,453 Metallica WorldWired Tour 2016–2019 143 $3,006,993 [22]
18 2 $411,000,000 $583,700,326 Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour 2008–2009 85 $4,835,294 [3]
19 10 $397,300,000 $473,471,144 Pink Beautiful Trauma World Tour 2018–2019 156 $2,546,795 [23]
20 20 $390,800,000 $390,800,000 Red Hot Chili Peppers Unlimited Love Tour 2022–2024 119 $3,284,034 [24]

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 · E Street Band Born in the U.S.A. Tour $90,000,000 [26]
1989 Michael Jackson Bad World Tour $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 [17]
2011 U2 360° Tour $736,421,586 [12]
2019 Ed Sheeran ÷ Tour $776,200,000 [11]
2023 Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road $939,100,000 [10]
Taylor Swift The Eras Tour $1,039,263,762 [5]
2024 $2,077,618,725 [8]

Highest-grossing tours by decade

1980s

Top 10 highest-grossing tours of the 1980s
Rank Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2023 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 $135,000,000 $331,828,188 Pink Floyd A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour 1987–1989 197 $685,279 [28]
2 $125,000,000 $307,248,322 Michael Jackson Bad World Tour 1987–1989 123 $1,016,260 [27]
3 $98,000,000 $240,882,685 The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels Tour 1989 * 60 $1,633,333 [34]
4 $90,000,000 $254,962,871 Bruce Springsteen · E Street Band Born in the U.S.A. Tour 1984–1985 156 $576,923 [26]
5 $86,000,000 $230,643,234 David Bowie Glass Spider Tour 1987 86 $1,000,000 [35]
6 $75,000,000 $219,955,157 The Jacksons Victory Tour 1984 55 $1,363,636 [25]
7 $60,000,000 $160,913,884 Genesis Invisible Touch Tour 1986–1987 111 $540,541 [36]
8 $60,000,000 $154,575,127 Tina Turner Break Every Rule World Tour 1987–1988 220 $272,727 [37]
9 $56,000,000 $150,186,292 U2 The Joshua Tree Tour 1987 109 $513,761 [38]
10 $50,000,000 $167,569,546 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 2023 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 $320,000,000 $639,860,231 The Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge Tour 1994–1995 129 $2,480,620 [31]
2 $274,000,000 $512,197,632 The Rolling Stones Bridges to Babylon Tour 1997–1998 108 $2,537,037 [40]
3 $250,000,000 $513,920,072 Pink Floyd The Division Bell Tour 1994 110 $2,272,727 [30]
4 $173,610,864 $325,844,705 U2 PopMart Tour 1997–1998 93 $1,866,783 [41]
5 $165,000,000 $313,171,642 Michael Jackson HIStory World Tour 1996–1997 83 $1,987,952 [42]
6 $152,900,000 $297,040,611 Eagles Hell Freezes Over Tour 1994–1996 122 $1,274,107 [B]
7 $151,000,000 $318,487,906 U2 Zoo TV Tour 1992–1993 157 $961,783 [45]
8 $133,000,000 $243,257,691 Celine Dion Let's Talk About Love World Tour 1998–1999 97 $1,371,134 [46]
9 $130,000,000 $246,741,294 Tina Turner Wildest Dreams Tour 1996–1997 255 $509,804 [47]
10 $105,000,000 $196,280,114 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 2023 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 $558,255,524 $820,315,772 The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang Tour 2005–2007 144 $3,876,774 [17]
2 $411,000,000 $583,700,326 Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour 2008–2009 85 $4,835,294 [3]
3 $389,000,000 $587,930,670 U2 Vertigo Tour 2005–2006 131 $2,969,466 [49]
4 $358,825,665 $507,791,003 The Police The Police Reunion Tour 2007–2008 146 $2,457,710 [50]
5 $311,637,730 $442,586,483 U2 360° Tour 2009 * 44 $7,082,676 [C]
6 $311,000,000 $515,107,815 The Rolling Stones Licks Tour 2002–2003 117 $2,658,120 [40]
7 $279,200,000 $394,814,332 Celine Dion Taking Chances World Tour 2008–2009 129 $2,164,341 [D]
8 $264,100,000 $375,073,616 AC/DC Black Ice World Tour 2008–2009 * 127 $2,079,528 [E]
9 $250,000,000 $390,015,335 Cher Living Proof: The Farewell Tour 2002–2005 325 $769,231 [F]
10 $235,000,000 $332,559,505 Bruce Springsteen · E Street Band Magic Tour 2007–2008 104 $2,259,615 [59]

2010s

Top 10 highest-grossing tours of the 2010s
Rank Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2023 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 $776,200,000 $925,014,604 Ed Sheeran ÷ Tour 2017–2019 255 $3,043,922 [11]
2 $584,200,000 $696,203,983 Guns N' Roses Not in This Lifetime... Tour 2016–2019 158 $3,697,468 [15]
3 $523,033,675 $650,135,260 Coldplay A Head Full of Dreams Tour 2016–2017 114 $4,588,015 [19]
4 $459,000,000 $600,372,000 Roger Waters The Wall Live 2010–2013 219 $2,094,401 [20]
5 $430,000,000 $512,440,453 Metallica WorldWired Tour 2016–2019 143 $3,006,993 [22]
6 $424,783,856 $575,343,341 U2 360° Tour 2010–2011 * 66 $6,436,119 [C]
7 $415,600,000 $495,279,656 The Rolling Stones No Filter Tour 2017–2019 * 44 $9,445,455 [60]
8 $397,300,000 $473,471,144 Pink Beautiful Trauma World Tour 2018–2019 156 $2,546,795 [23]
9 $390,778,581 $485,741,065 U2 The Joshua Tree Tours 2017 & 2019 2017, 2019 66 $5,920,888 [61]
10 $367,700,000 $446,151,763 Bruno Mars 24K Magic World Tour 2017–2018 196 $1,876,020 [G]

2020s

Top 10 highest-grossing tours of the 2020s (as of December 2024)
Rank Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2023 dollar) 		Artist Tour title Year(s) Shows Average
gross 		Ref.
1 $2,077,618,725 $2,077,618,725 Taylor Swift The Eras Tour 2023–2024 149 $13,943,750 [8]
2 $1,145,056,215 $1,145,056,215 Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour † 2022–2025 175 $6,543,178 [9]
3 $630,792,517 $630,792,517 Bruce Springsteen · E Street Band 2023–2025 Tour † 2023–2025 110 $5,734,477 [A]
4 $617,325,000 $617,325,000 Harry Styles Love On Tour 2021–2023 169 $3,652,663 [13]
5 $584,700,000 $584,700,000 Pink Summer Carnival 2023–2024 97 $6,027,835 [14]
6 $584,551,454 $584,551,454 Ed Sheeran +–=÷× Tour † 2022–2025 103 $5,675,257 [65]
7 $579,800,000 $579,800,000 Beyoncé Renaissance World Tour 2023 56 $10,353,571 [66]
8 $471,400,000 $471,400,000 Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road 2020–2023 * 136 $3,466,176 [H]
9 $390,800,000 $390,800,000 Red Hot Chili Peppers Unlimited Love Tour 2022–2024 119 $3,284,034 [24]
10 $350,985,529 $350,985,529 The Weeknd After Hours til Dawn Tour 2022–2023 61 $5,753,861 [70]

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.[71][72] 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, Billboard's figure included Sheeran's gross from November 2018 shows; therefore, Pollstar's figure is closer to accurate for the 2019 calendar year.[73][74]

Annual highest-grossing tours
Year Actual gross Adjusted gross
(in 2023 dollars) 		Artist Tour title Shows Ref.
1987 $35,100,000 $94,134,622 U2 The Joshua Tree Tour 79 [75]
1988 $27,600,000 $71,104,558 Pink Floyd A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour 35 [76]
1989 $98,000,000 $240,882,685 The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels Tour 60 [34]
1990 $74,100,000 $172,811,921 New Kids on the Block The Magic Summer Tour 152 [77]
1991 $34,700,000 $77,623,552 Grateful Dead Grateful Dead Summer Tour 76 [78]
1992 $67,000,000 $145,471,188 U2 Zoo TV Tour 73 [79]
1993 $45,600,000 $96,179,129 Grateful Dead Grateful Dead Tour 1993 81 [80]
1994 $121,200,000 $249,148,451 The Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge Tour 60 [81]
1995 $225,668,374 $451,238,181 84 [82]
1996 $60,300,000 $117,145,512 Eagles Hell Freezes Over Tour 45 [83]
1997 $138,500,000 $262,874,378 U2 PopMart Tour 78 [84]
1998 $193,350,000 $361,435,811 The Rolling Stones Bridges to Babylon Tour 82 [85]
1999 $89,200,000 $163,147,263 No Security Tour 45 [86]
2000 $122,500,000 $216,736,232 Tina Turner Twenty Four Seven Tour 108 [87]
2001 $143,000,000 $246,064,274 U2 Elevation Tour 113 [88]
2002 $126,100,000 $213,611,767 Paul McCartney Driving World Tour 58 [89]
2003 $299,520,230 $496,093,927 The Rolling Stones Licks Tour 115 [90]
2004 $125,000,000 $201,638,478 Madonna Re-Invention World Tour 56 [91]
2005 $260,000,000 $405,615,948 U2 Vertigo Tour 90 [92]
2006 $425,100,000 $642,491,845 The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang Tour 110 [93]
2007 $212,227,302 $311,852,540 The Police The Police Reunion Tour 66 [94]
2008 $281,600,000 $398,505,348 Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour 58 [54]
2009 $311,637,730 $442,586,483 U2 360° Tour 44 [51]
2010 $201,100,000 $280,981,474 Bon Jovi The Circle Tour 80 [95]
2011 $293,281,487 $397,231,553 U2 360° Tour 44 [53]
2012 $305,158,363 $404,990,574 Madonna The MDNA Tour 88 [40]
2013 $259,500,000 $339,426,000 Bon Jovi Because We Can 102 [96]
2014 $290,000,000 $373,241,496 One Direction Where We Are Tour 69 [97]
2015 $250,733,097 $322,295,695 Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour 85 [98]
2016 $268,300,000 $340,620,466 Bruce Springsteen · E Street Band The River Tour 76 [99]
2017 $316,990,940 $394,022,407 U2 The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 50 [100]
2018 $432,400,000 $524,656,030 Ed Sheeran ÷ Tour 94 [63]
2019 $215,200,000 $256,458,571 Pink Beautiful Trauma World Tour 68 [74]
2020 $87,100,000 $102,544,374 Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road 38 [67]
2021 $115,500,000 $129,868,353 The Rolling Stones No Filter Tour 12 [101]
2022 $342,192,313 $356,278,465 Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour 64 [102]
2023 $1,039,263,762 $1,039,263,762 Taylor Swift The Eras Tour 60 [5]
2024 $1,043,421,552 $1,043,421,552 80 [64]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Bruce Springsteen grossed $379,496,085 from 66 shows in 2023 and $251,296,432 from 44 shows in 2024.[5][64]
  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)[51] and $424,783,856 in the 2010s (2010 and 2011).[52][53]
  4. ^ Celine Dion's Taking Chances World Tour grossed $236.6 million in 2008 and $42.6 million in 2009.[54][55]
  5. ^ Within the 2000s decade, AC/DC's Black Ice World Tour grossed $37.5 million in 2008 and $226.6 million in 2009.[56][55]
  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.[57] Total gross for the tour's 325 dates is estimated between $200 million and $250 million.[58]
  7. ^ Bruno Mars' 24K Magic World Tour grossed $200.1 million in 2017 and 167.6 million in 2018.[62][63]
  8. ^ Within the 2020s decade, Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road grossed $87.1 million in 2020,[67] $274 million in 2022,[68] and $110.3 million in 2023.[69]

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