If you’re the type of person who loves to see live music, then we have some good news for you. A new survey from Pollstar shows that concert tours are bigger than ever before, with artists like Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran consistently bringing in huge crowds of fans. And while all sorts of genres are represented on this list (pop, rock, country), most of these bands are pop acts like U2 and Elton John. So if you’re looking for something fun to do this summer…or any time during the year really (especially if it’s snowing where you live), check out these top-grossing tours below:
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour ($1.4B)
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour was the highest grossing music tour of all time. It grossed $1.4 billion and became the highest grossing tour by a female artist, passing Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour ($1 billion). Swift performed for over 2 million fans in North America, Europe and Australia during her two-year run on The Eras Tour between May 2019 and August 2021.
Elton John: Yellow Brick Road: The Final Tour ($939M)
The Elton John: Yellow Brick Road: The Final Tour, which concluded in 2018, was the highest grossing music tour of all time. It covered North America and Europe as well as Asia and Oceania. The tour had three legs that lasted from 2013 to 2018. The name was taken from a song by Elton John called “Yellow Brick Road.”
Ed Sheeran: Divide World Tour ($776M)
Ed Sheeran’s Divide World Tour is the second highest grossing music tour of all time, earning $776 million from about 1.4 million attendees. The tour was in support of his third studio album ÷ (Divide). It began in March 2018 and ended in December 2019, having visited North America and Europe multiple times during its run.
U2: 360 Tour ($736M)
The U2: 360 Tour was the highest grossing music tour for a decade, with its $736 million in ticket sales. The tour began on 30 March 2009 and ended on 21 July 2011. It was in support of U2’s album No Line On The Horizon, which came out in March 2009. The band played 110 shows over two years across North America and Europe; they also performed at multiple festivals during this period as well as one show in Hong Kong and another one in South Africa (where they played Johannesburg). In addition to playing stadiums and arenas on their own tour dates, they also performed at some benefit concerts with other artists like Bruce Springsteen or Jay Z.
Coldplay: Music of The Spheres World Tour ($617.8M)
The highest grossing music tour of all time is Coldplay’s three-year, 16-country journey that traveled to over 80 cities and saw performances in front of over 7 million fans. The band’s 2016 tour was named after a song on their latest album A Head Full Of Dreams, which was released in December 2015. This achievement also makes this iteration of their world tour the highest grossing one ever!
I hope you enjoyed this list of the highest grossing music tours of all time!
