List of highest-grossing concert tours
The Eras Tour by Taylor Swift is the highest-grossing tour of all time, as per Pollstar Forbes Coldplay 's Music of the Spheres World Tour is the highest-grossing tour ever based on boxscores reported to Billboard 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 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] 2000 tours.[ 3] 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 , which both ran from 1987 to 1989.
In 2023, Taylor Swift 's Eras Tour allegedly became the first tour to collect US$1 billion in revenue, based on estimates by Pollstar .[ 5] [ 6] Forbes [ A] Coldplay 's Music of the Spheres World Tour became the first to gross over US$1 billion in revenue based on officially reported boxscores.[ 9] [ 10]
While the touring industry is largely dominated by bands and male soloists of rock music ,[ 11] pop stars such as Swift, Ed Sheeran , Harry Styles , Beyoncé , Pink , and Madonna , as well as country singer Garth Brooks . The Rolling Stones set the all-time tour-revenue record three times (1990, 1995, and 2006); their Voodoo Lounge Tour held the record 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. U2 has mounted the highest-grossing tour of the year at least eight times, more than any other act.
Highest-grossing tours
Key
†
Indicates ongoing tour
*
Indicates tour dates are split between two different calendar decades
Timeline of the highest-grossing tour
Highest-grossing tours by decade
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Highest-grossing tours by year
This list represents the top-grossing tour of each year according to either Pollstar Billboard BoxscoreAmusement 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.[ 73] [ 74] 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.[ 75] [ 76]
See also
Notes
^ a b c d Forbes Taylor Swift 's Eras Tour at $780 million from 56 shows in 2023,[ 7] [ 8] ^ Eagles ' Hell Freezes Over Tour grossed $79.4 million in 1994, $63.3 million in 1995, and $10.2 million in 1996.[ 46] [ 47] ^ a b U2 's 360° Tour grossed $311,637,730 in the 2000s decade (2009)[ 53] [ 54] [ 55] ^ Celine Dion 's Taking Chances World Tour grossed $236.6 million in 2008 and $42.6 million in 2009.[ 56] [ 57] ^ Within the 2000s decade, AC/DC 's Black Ice World Tour grossed $37.5 million in 2008 and $226.6 million in 2009.[ 58] [ 57]
^ 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.[ 59] [ 60] ^ Bruno Mars ' 24K Magic World Tour grossed $200.1 million in 2017 and 167.6 million in 2018.[ 63] [ 64] ^ In August 2024, Billboard [ 9] [ 10] Pollstar Forbes [ 7] [ 8]
^ Within the 2020s decade, Elton John 's Farewell Yellow Brick Road grossed $87.1 million in 2020,[ 67] [ 68] [ 69]
References
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