List of highest-grossing concert tours

The Eras Tour by Taylor Swift is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time and the first to yield over $1 billion in revenue

The following is a list of concert tours that have generated the most gross income, largely from ticket sales. The rankings are based largely on 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 data about tours before 2000.[3]

Michael Jackson's Bad tour and Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour, which both ran 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, causing the touring industry to skyrocket.[4] In 2023, Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour became the first tour to surpass $1 billion in revenue.[A] The tour reportedly grossed $1.039 billion from 60 shows in one calendar year, surpassing Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road which earned $939.1 million from 330 shows 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 have featured 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.

  1. ^ "Box Office Information". Billboard. October 3, 1981. Retrieved August 25, 2023 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Waddell, Ray D.; Barnet, Rich; Berry, Jake (2007). This Business of Concert Promotion and Touring. Billboard Books. p. 56. Retrieved August 25, 2023 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference femalepollstar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Bloomberg (September 12, 2019). "Why concert tickets cost four times as much as 20 years ago, and why we're happy to pay for them". South China Morning Post. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  5. ^ Gensler, Andy (December 8, 2023). "Taylor Swift Sets All-Time Touring Record With $1 Billion Gross". Pollstar. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  6. ^ Atwal, Sanj (December 12, 2023). "Taylor Swift's Eras Tour breaks record as highest-grossing music tour ever". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  7. ^ Shah, Neil (October 3, 2018). "Hip-Hop Is Huge, but on the Concert Circuit, Rock Is King". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 2, 2021.


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