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List of highest-grossing concert tours
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The following is a list of concert tours that have generated the most gross income. The data and rankings come largely from reports made by trade publications Billboard and Pollstar. Billboard, which launched the boxscore ranking in 1975 through Amusement Business, has featured the ranking on its own magazine since October 3, 1981.[1] Pollstar began reporting data on November 29, 1981,[2] but it has relatively little information about pre-2000 tours.[3] In the 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 were Michael Jackson's Bad World Tour and Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour, both running from 1987 until 1989. Tina Turner became the first female act to achieve the feat, with her Wildest Dreams Tour (1996–1997). Pollstar estimated that Taylor Swift's Eras Tour was the first to collect $1 billion in 2023,[5][6] though Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour became the first to officially report the number in August 2024.[7] The Eras Tour concluded in December 2024 with $2.07 billion, becoming the first tour to reach $2 billion.[8]
The Rolling Stones set the all-time record for touring revenue three times (1990, 1995 and 2006), more than any other act. Their Voodoo Lounge Tour remained the highest-grossing tour of all time for 11 years (1995–2006), longer than any other record-holder. They are the only musicians to achieve 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 eight times each, more than any other act. Some of the highest-grossing tours had extensive schedules. Inside the Top 20, Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road is the longest (330 shows in five years), while Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour is the shortest (56 shows in a single year).
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Highest-grossing tours
† | Indicates ongoing tour |
* | Indicates tour with dates split between two different calendar decades |
- Ed Sheeran on the ÷ Tour
Timeline of the highest-grossing tour
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Highest-grossing tours by decade
1980s
- Michael Jackson on the Bad World Tour
- David Bowie on the Glass Spider Tour
1990s
- U2 on the PopMart Tour
2000s
- Madonna on the Sticky & Sweet Tour
- U2 on the Vertigo Tour
2010s
- Coldplay on the Head Full of Dreams Tour
- Roger Waters during the Wall Live
2020s
- Harry Styles on the Love On Tour
- Pink on the Summer Carnival tour
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Highest-grossing tours by year
Summarize
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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]
- U2 on the Joshua Tree Tour 2017, the most recent of their eight that achieved highest-grossing tour of the year
- The Rolling Stones on the No Filter Tour, the most recent of their eight that achieved highest-grossing tour of the year
- Madonna on the MDNA Tour, the most recent of her three that achieved highest-grossing tour of the year
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See also
- List of highest-grossing concert tours by women
- List of highest-grossing concert tours by Latin artists
- List of most-attended concert tours
- List of most-attended concerts
- List of highest-grossing benefit concerts
- List of highest-grossing concert residencies
- List of highest-grossing live music artists
Notes
- Eagles' Hell Freezes Over Tour grossed $79.4 million in 1994, $63.3 million in 1995, and $10.2 million in 1996.[43][44]
- Celine Dion's Taking Chances World Tour grossed $236.6 million in 2008 and $42.6 million in 2009.[54][55]
- 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]
- 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]
- Bruno Mars' 24K Magic World Tour grossed $200.1 million in 2017 and 167.6 million in 2018.[63][64]
- 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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References
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