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These are the 10 highest-grossing tours of all time.

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DUBLIN, IRELAND - JUNE 12: English singer-songwriter Elton John performs on stage during the ... [+] 'Farewell Yellow Brick Road'-Tour in the 3Arena in Dublin on June 12, 2019. (Photo by Debbie Hickey/Getty Images)

Touring has become even more important to musicians in the streaming era, as many musicians earn more on the road from ticket sales than from record sales these days. At the same time, the price of admission to see a chart-topper has done up, and those two factors–among others–mean that many of the highest-grossing tours of all time have taken place in the past decade or two.

At the top of the list is Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which grossed an impressive $853 million, according to Billboard Boxscore . The tour began in 2018 and after a Covid-related break, is still ongoing, so that record-breaking sum will increase before the piano player is done on the road for good.

The second spot on this important list goes to Ed Sheeran's ÷ (Divide) Tour, which grossed $776 million. This tour began in 2017 and ran until 2019.

U2's U2 360° Tour comes in third place, having grossed $736 million. This tour was notable for its unique stage design, which featured a massive, claw-shaped stage that allowed fans to view the concert from every angle. The tour began in 2009 and ended in 2011, after 110 shows across five continents.

Guns N' Roses' Not in This Lifetime... Tour takes fourth place, with a gross of $584 million. The tour reunited original members Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan, and ran from 2016 to 2022, covering a little more than 150 shows. The trek was notable for its reformation of the legendary rock band, but also because the group toured...and then basically doubled the venture, playing more concerts than initially intended.

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The Rolling Stones take up two spots in the top 10—the only act to do so—with their A Bigger Bang Tour and No Filter Tours, which grossed $558 million and $547 million, respectively. The A Bigger Bang Tour ran from 2005 to 2007, while the No Filter Tour began in 2017 and was set to end in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rockers picked it back up in 2021, adding to the venture's total.

The final spots on the list of the highest-grossing tours of all time are occupied by Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams Tour (No. 7, $524 million), Roger Waters' The Wall Live (No. 8, $459 million), AC/DC's Black Ice World Tour (No. 9, $442 million) and finally Harry Styles' Love on Tour (No. 10, $418 million). Styles is the most recent addition to this group, as his trek just broke this top 10 in April 2023. He grabbed that lowest spot from Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Like John at No. 1, Styles has not finished his current tour as of the writing of this article, so he may advance on this all-time ranking.

These are the 10 highest-grossing tours of all time.

No. 1 - Elton John - Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour - $853 million

No. 2 - Ed Sheeran - The ÷ (Divide) Tour - $776 million

No. 3 - U2 - U2 360° Tour - $736 million

No. 4 - Guns N' Roses - Not in This Lifetime... Tour - $584 million

No. 5 - The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang Tour - $558 million

No. 6 - The Rolling Stones - No Filter Tour - $547 million

No. 7 - Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams Tour - $524 million

No. 8 - Roger Waters - The Wall Live - $459 million

No. 9 - AC/DC - Black Ice World Tour - $442 million

No. 10 - Harry Styles - Love on Tour - $418 million

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What are the Top 10 highest grossing tours of all time?

11 October 2023, 09:13

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By Sam Prance

Here are all the highest grossing tours of all time - but do they include Beyoncé, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift?

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Every year has its fair share of iconic tours but what are the top 10 highest grossing tours ever? Did your fave make the cut?

In 2023 alone, we've seen huge artists like Beyoncé , Taylor Swift , Coldplay, Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran put on some of the biggest tours of their careers to date. How much have they grossed though and how do they compare to tours by legends like Madonna, Elton John and The Rolling Stones? Who ranks among the top 10 highest grossing tours of all time?

We've put together a full breakdown of the 10 highest grossing tours in music history. We've also included details like how many shows they did and how much they've made on average per show.

Bookmark this page and we'll update it as and when new artists enter the ranking. Is Beyoncé part of it? What about Taylor Swift? Here's what we know.

How much did Taylor Swift make on The Eras Tour?

Before we get into the top 10, it's worth mentioning that Taylor Swift is yet to reveal any data for her ongoing Eras Tour . With 146 sold out stadium dates with recording breaking attendance figures at almost every date, it seems all but certain that Taylor will enter the top 10 highest grossing tours of all time by the time that the tour ends.

10) How much did Coldplay make on the A Head Full of Dreams Tour?

Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams Tour - $523,033,675

When Coldplay went on tour in 2016 and 2017 in support of their seventh studio album A Head Full of Dreams , they sold out stadiums all around the world. Over the course of 114 shows, the band had an average gross of $4,588,015 per show and it isn't even their highest grossing tour to date.

9) How much did The Rolling Stones make on the No Filter Tour?

The Rolling Stones - No Filter Tour - $546,500,000

With just 58 shows, The Rolling Stones' No Filter Tour truly made history when it became one of the top 10 highest grossing tours of time. The band only performed in Europe and North America between 2017 and 2021 but still grossed an amazing $546,500,000 with a huge average gross of $9,422,414 per show.

8) How much did The Rolling Stones make on the A Bigger Bang Tour?

The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang Tour - $558,255,524

As it stands, The Rolling Stones' highest grossing tour is their 2005-2007 A Bigger Bang Tour. Together Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts performed 146 shows with an average gross of $3,876,774 per show. The tour setlist included all of The Rolling Stones biggest hits alongside tracks from their A Bigger Bang album.

7) How much did Guns N' Roses make on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour?

Guns N' Roses - Not in This Lifetime Tour - $584,200,000

Beating The Rolling Stones are Guns N' Roses with their Not in This Lifetime... Tour. Featuring many of their most beloved songs, the tour ran for 158 shows between 2016 and 2019 and it had an average gross of $3,697,468 per show.

6) How much did Beyoncé make on the Renaissance World Tour?

Beyoncé - Renaissance World Tour - $592,388,129

Beyoncé grossed a huge total of $592,388,129 across all 56 Renaissance World Tour shows. This makes it the sixth highest grossing tour ever with a record-breaking average gross of $10,578,359 per show. Beyoncé has doubled the record she set with the Formation World Tour as the highest grossing tour of all time by a Black artist.

READ MORE: Beyoncé Renaissance Tour setlist: Every song Beyoncé plays on the Renaissance World Tour

5) How much did Harry Styles make on the Love On Tour?

Harry Styles - Love On Tour - $617,300,000

Harry Styles's Love On Tour is one of the most recent additions to the highest grossing tours of all time list and it's one of the only tours on the list that started out as an arena tour before expanding to stadiums due to overwhelming demand. Between 2021 and 2023, Harry performed 169 shows with an average gross of $3,652,663 per show.

4) How much did Coldplay make on the Music of the Spheres World Tour?

Coldplay - Music of the Spheres World Tour - $617,822,656

Coldplay are currently yet to finish their Music of The Spheres World Tour so this position is far from fixed. For the moment, the band has reported data for 107 shows out of 165 with an average gross of $5,774,044. With concerts until September 2024, it's possible that it will become the first tour to gross over $1 billion but Taylor Swift may outgross them.

3) How much did U2 make with their U2 360° Tour?

U2 - U2 360° Tour - $736,421,586

U2 currently sit at number 3 on the list with their infamous U2 360° Tour. Held between 2009 and 2011, it was the highest grossing tour of all time for almost a decade. Together with his band, Bono sold out 110 shows with an average gross of $6,694,742 per show. The tour was in support of U2's 12th studio album No Line on the Horizon.

2) How much did Ed Sheeran make on the ÷ Tour?

Ed Sheeran - ÷ Tour - $776,200,000

Like Harry Styles' Love On Tour, Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour initially took place in arenas. However, the ÷ era was so big that it was not long before Ed was selling out stadiums in North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, South America and Africa. Over the course of three years, Ed performed 255 concerts with an average gross of $3,043,922 per show.

1) How much did Elton John make on the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour?

Elton John - Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour - $939,100,000

In first place is Elton John's historic Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which ran from 2018 to 2023. The show acted as the ultimate greatest hits tour featuring all of Elton's most famous songs alongside his recent hits with Dua Lipa and Britney Spears. Over the course of the tour, Elton did 330 shows with an average gross of $2,845,758 per show.

Will Elton add another leg to the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour? Will Taylor and Coldplay beat him? Only time will tell.

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30 of the top-grossing music tours of all time

A record-setting $10.4 billion was spent in 2018 on concert tickets around the world. Thanks to streaming services and the preference of audiences for singles,  album sales are down overall , but it's clear fans are still willing to pay to see their favorite artists in person. And their proximity to the artist doesn’t seem to matter, as ticket sales are up in every venue from intimate clubs to massive stadiums.

Stacker has rounded up 30 of the top-grossing music tours of all time. These tours were largely played in stadiums, but a few included smaller venues. The data have been pulled from a compiled list of sources, and concerts have been ranked by the tour’s gross (adjusted for inflation). While this is not a comprehensive list of all concert tours, it’s the most accurate representation as of January 2019.

Two of the tours on the list are still announcing new dates, so if you want to be part of concert tour history, consider snagging tickets now while you have the chance.

ALSO: Highest-paid musicians in 2018

#30. Pink Floyd: A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $272,863,087 Total tour attendance: 5.50 million Shows played: 197 Year(s): 1987–89

The English rock band  Pink Floyd formed in 1965. Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright were students when they met and began playing together, but their famous "A Momentary Lapse of Reason” tour didn’t come until much later, toward the end of their time as a group. In fact, Waters had left the band by the time this Pink Floyd tour took place and was  replaced by David Gilmour .

#29. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Magic Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $273,464,451 Total tour attendance: 2.20 million Shows played: 100

Year(s): 2007–08

For many an instrumentalist, landing a job with  the E Street Band would be a dream come true. The band has backed Bruce Springsteen from his debut album, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” in 1973, but, contrary to popular belief, they weren’t always Springsteen’s band. They were merely a group of local musicians who came together for a paid gig (the album recording) and then ended up getting enough paid gigs after that (for both Springsteen and other musicians) that it made sense to become a band. From 2007-2008, the band joined Springsteen for a  23-songs-per-set tour that was called "euphoric” and "profound.”

#28. Bon Jovi: Because We Can

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $279,110,786 Total tour attendance: 2.66 million Shows played: 102 Year(s): 2013

New Jersey band  Bon Jovi appeared on the scene in 1980 with big hair and electric smiles. Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan, Tico Torres, Alec John Such, and Richie Sambora made up the original band, which had hits like "Livin’ on a Prayer” and "You Give Love a Bad Name.” Their "Because We Can” tour was wildly successful, with the group  hitting multiple continents , but it was also full of drama, as  Sambora quit the band in the middle night, hours before their fourth show.

#27. The Eagles: Long Road Out of Eden Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $288,513,488 Total tour attendance: 2.0 million Shows played: 155 Year(s): 2008–11

One of the  most successful musical acts of the 1970s , The Eagles (originally composed of Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner) set out on their "Long Road Out of Eden” tour in 2008. The tour  coincided with the release of their new album of the same name and featured other artists like The Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban.

#26. Paul McCartney: Out There!

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $291,414,474 Total tour attendance: 1.96 million Shows played: 84 Year(s): 2013–15

Ever since his days as a Beatle, Paul McCartney has been wildly popular. In 2013, he embarked on his solo  "Out There!” tour , during which he played 91 gigs, sang a total of 3,631 songs (an average of 40 a show)—including 13 that he’d never performed before—and  drank zero glasses of water while on stage.

#25. Billy Joel: Billy Joel in Concert

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $301,000,000 Total tour attendance: 2.07 million Shows played: 120 Year(s): 2014–present

One of two tours on the list that is still announcing new dates, Billy Joel’s "Billy Joel in Concert” tour so far has booked 16 dates for 2019. While on this tour, Joel has created a sort of  residency for himself at Madison Square Garden, playing one show there a month, as long as ticket sales stay high (already six dates at MSG have been announced for 2019). The first artist to do that, Joel also broke the record for solo performances at The Garden, previously held by Sir Elton John, when he played his  65th concert on July 1, 2015 .

#24. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: The Rising Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $301,677,551 Total tour attendance: 3.23 million Shows played: 120 Year(s): 2002–03

Another wildly popular Bruce Springsteen tour, "The Rising Tour” began a week after the release of Springsteen’s 12th studio album, "The Rising."  The album won critical acclaim for how well it captured the feelings and aftermath of 9/11. However, the tour didn’t get off to an equally great start—Rolling Stone  called the tour’s opening nights "inhibited," pointing to tech and tonal issues. Eventually, the tour hit its stride, bringing in $300 million over its 14-month run.

#23. One Direction: Where We Are Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $307,106,208 Total tour attendance: 3.44 million Shows played: 69 Year(s): 2014

After  finishing third on "The X Factor” in 2003, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne found almost unprecedented levels of success with One Direction. Winning comparisons to The Beatles for both their popularity and their British origins, their "Where We Are Tour” was the group’s fourth and final tour as a complete band. ( Malik left in the spring of 2015 .)

#22. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: The River Tour 2016

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $319,972,060 Total tour attendance: 2.67 million Shows played: 89 Year(s): 2016–17

Bruce Springsteen went on tour with the E Street Band in 2016 to mark the 35th anniversary of his 1980 EP "The River.” There are a whopping 20 songs on the album, and Springsteen  performed it in its entirety at all North American tour stops. That set list, combined with a collection of his classic hits like "Born to Run” and "Thunder Road” meant that many of the shows  lasted upwards of three hours . His  longest concert ever took place during this tour, clocking in at just over four hours.

#21. Cher: Living Proof: The Farewell Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $320,710,513 Total tour attendance: 3.50 million Shows played: 326 Year(s): 2002–05

Cher is known for her extravagant concerts, with multiple costume changes, elaborate sets, dancers, and video montages. "The Farewell Tour”  was no exception . When the tour was announced in 2002, Cher claimed that it would be her last (spoiler alert: it wasn’t), and planned a massive, glittery farewell for herself with an incredible 326 stops. While 3.5 million fans were lucky enough to attend the concerts, millions more were able to watch a televised special that  won three Emmy Awards .

#20. Celine Dion: Taking Chances World Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $326,058,136 Total tour attendance: 2.60 million Shows played: 132 Year(s): 2008–09

Celine Dion’s "Taking Chances World Tour” marked her return to the touring circuit after taking an extended break for her first Las Vegas residency, " A New Day... ” The tour was  directed by Jamie King , who also directed Madonna’s "Confessions World Tour,” and included lots of new material from Dion’s album "Taking Chances,” as well as several of her classics like "My Heart Will Go On” and "The Prayer.”

#19. U2: The Joshua Tree Tour 2017

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $329,889,628 Total tour attendance: 2.71 million Shows played: 51 Year(s): 2017

On a crisp fall afternoon in Dublin in 1976, Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. gathered in Mullen’s kitchen and  decided to form a band : U2. A half-dozen albums later, U2 released "The Joshua Tree” in 1987, which won them the Grammy for Album of the Year and spawned two of their most classic tracks, "With or Without You” and "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” In 2017, marking the 30th anniversary of their landmark album, the group embarked on their " Joshua Tree Tour ,” in which they played the entire song list in order every night.

#18. Madonna: The MDNA Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $333,024,687 Total tour attendance: 2.21 million Shows played: 88 Year(s): 2012

In 2012, Madonna’s "MDNA Tour,” which followed the release of her 12th studio album of the same name, was the highest-grossing tour of the year. It didn't  come without controversy , though. The tour opened on a cathedral backdrop with biblical scriptures booming from the speakers and men dressed as monks filling the stage, before quickly shifting into Madonna’s #1 hits "Girl Gone Wild” and "Material Girl.” Later in the show, Madonna pulled out a fake gun and "shot” multiple people, a move that didn’t go over well with some audience members.

#17. Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $345,700,000 Total tour attendance: 2.89 million Shows played: 53 Year(s): 2018

Taylor Swift began her career as a country artist; her self-titled debut hit shelves in 2006 and was full of twangy guitar and fiddle interludes. These days, she’s very much a pop artist, and her sixth studio album, "Reputation,” proves it. The  accompanying tour , which lasted for a large portion of 2018, also proved that she has a massive fan base whose members go to great lengths to support her. Swift's sets primarily came from the "Reputation,” album with only one or two classics mixed in.

#16. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood: World Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $364,300,000 Total tour attendance: 4.74 million Shows played: 390 Year(s): 2014–17

Unlike Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks is a huge believer in  playing the old stuff . The "Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood: World Tour” is a perfect example of that. Married in 2005, the country music powerhouses teamed up for this three-year-long party, singing hits from both of their solo repertoires, as well as some of their fan-favorite duets like "In Another’s Eyes.”

#15. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Wrecking Ball World Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $415,280,347 Total tour attendance: 3.65 million Shows played: 136 Year(s): 2012–13

The final Bruce Springsteen tour on this list, the "Wrecking Ball World Tour” has been Springsteen’s most successful tour to date. Grossing over $400 million, the tour was  his first in three years (a long break for the Boss) and his most heavily attended of all time.

#14. The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Babylon Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $421,181,298 Total tour attendance: N/A Shows played: 108 Year(s): 1997–98

Closing in on six decades of being " the greatest rock & roll band in the world ,” the Rolling Stones are one of the  oldest bands still performing today . Announced at a news conference  held under the Brooklyn Bridge , the Stones’ "Bridges to Babylon” tour supported their album of the same name—their 23rd U.S. studio album.

#13. The Police: Reunion Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $421,251,623 Total tour attendance: 3.30 million Shows played: 156 Year(s): 2007–08

Proving that we often don’t know a good thing ‘til it’s gone, The Police’s reunion tour grossed more than any of their heyday tours. The band reunited for 156 shows, playing their  final show at Madison Square Garden . Most nights of the tour opened with their classic hit "Message in a Bottle,” but the August 2008 show began with Cream’s "Sunshine of Your Love”—a moving tribute to the band who had played their own final show at MSG years prior. The last song the band played live together? "Next to You.” That was the first song on their 1978 debut LP.

#12. Pink Floyd: The Division Bell Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $422,597,665 Total tour attendance: 6.0 million Shows played: 110 Year(s): 1994

When Pink Floyd  played their final tour in 1994 , only two of the band’s founding members (Nick Mason and Richard Wright) took the stage. They were joined by David Gilmour, who became an official member in the late 1980s, and eight other musicians who filled the holes left by Syd Barrett and Roger Waters. This final tour was run in conjunction with the release of the group’s final album, "The Division Bell.”

#11. The Rolling Stones: Licks Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $423,574,349 Total tour attendance: 3.47 million Shows played: 115 Year(s): 2002–03

To  mark their 40th anniversary , the Rolling Stones released their first compilation album, "Forty Licks,” which featured 40 of their most popular and beloved songs. They also went on a year-long tour, primarily playing the  songs on the compilation , but sprinkling in a handful of other band favorites.

#10. Madonna: Sticky & Sweet Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $476,474,639 Total tour attendance: 3.55 million Shows played: 85 Year(s): 2008–09

Her eighth tour supporting her 11th album "Hard Candy,” the "Sticky & Sweet” tour was Madonna’s  least controversial tour . Known for gimmicks like hanging from a cross, the "Sticky & Sweet” tour had none of that. It did include an impressive array of the pop diva’s most famous hits from her 30-year career, as well as some iconic dance moves, but it was perhaps the pop star’s most family-friendly tour ever.

#9. U2: Vertigo Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $483,515,954 Total tour attendance: 4.62 million Shows played: 131 Year(s): 2005–06

Concert films have become a major trend over the last several decades, and U2’s "Vertigo” tour was no exception. The tour, whose set list leaned heavily on the band’s most recent release "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” spurred three concert films: " Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago ,” " Vertigo: Live from Milan ,” and " U2 3D .”

#8. Roger Waters: The Wall Live

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $493,336,432 Total tour attendance: 4.13 million Shows played: 219 Year(s): 2010–13

Roger Waters, a founding member of Pink Floyd, embarked on a solo career in the mid-1980s. His tour "The Wall Live” has been called "one of the most ambitious and complex rock shows ever staged.” It also marked  the first time that "The Wall” had been played in its entirety since a one-off performance beside the (fallen) Berlin Wall in 1990.

#7. AC/DC: Black Ice World Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $506,821,305 Total tour attendance: 4.85 million Shows played: 167 Year(s): 2008–10

In 1973, Australian brothers Malcolm and Angus Young  founded AC/DC . They didn’t stay a duo for long, swiftly being joined, and left, by a variety of other musicians. Their biggest album, "For Those About to Rock, We Salute You,” topped charts in 1983, but in 2008 they were still going strong. Their "Black Ice World Tour” was significant for being  the last full tour of longtime vocalist Brian Johnson.

#6. The Rolling Stones: Voodoo Lounge Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $526,158,550 Total tour attendance: 6.34 million Shows played: 124 Year(s): 1994–95

For close to a decade, and through several of their other tours, the "Voodoo Lounge” tour was the Rolling Stones’ top-grossing tour. It’s a particularly impressive feat when you consider that the band, which by this time had been performing together for 30 years,  had just lost a member . Bill Wyman walked away from the band, saying that he was tired of touring and would no longer continue playing with the group. Beginning with the "Voodoo” tour, Wyman was replaced with the group’s  current bassist, Darryl Jones .

#5. Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $546,023,369 Total tour attendance: 5.39 million Shows played: 114 Year(s): 2016–17

No matter your personal taste in music, it’s highly probable that you know Coldplay’s breakthrough single, "Yellow,” which climbed the charts in 2000. The British pop-rock band, fronted by Chris Martin, has had a series of wildly successful albums over the past two decades. In 2016–2017, their tour "A Head Full of Dreams” became one of the top-grossing tours of all time, showing just how big an influence the group has had on the music scene. The tour also spawned the group’s  only live album "Live in Buenos Aires,” recorded at the final show.

#4. Ed Sheeran: '÷' Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $556,500,000 Total tour attendance: 6.39 million Shows played: 205 Year(s): 2017– present

British-born pop singer Ed Sheeran  released his debut album "+” in 2011, and it instantly won him millions of fans. In a genius move, he signed with Elton John’s management team the same year, and the rest, as they say, is history. His third album "÷” was released in 2017, and the album’s tour began the same year. The tour has been far and away Sheeran’s best. So many fans are still demanding to see him that there are regular shows scheduled until August 2019, with the possibility of adding even more dates.

#3. Guns N' Roses: Not in This Lifetime... Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $563,300,000 Total tour attendance: 4.38 million Shows played: 159 Year(s): 2016–18

By the mid-1980s, the rock and roll scene had begun to feel a little stale. Nothing new, or exciting, or experimental had popped up in a number of years. But in 1985, that all changed when Guns N’ Roses hit the stage. Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan, and Steven Adler mixed elements of classic rock with metal undertones and slasher influences and brought something totally new to the industry. However, in 1993, the band began to splinter. Their "Not in This Lifetime…” tour marked the first time in over two decades that Rose, Slash, and McKagan shared a stage—something fans were clearly excited to see.

#2. The Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $674,547,559

Total tour attendance: 4.68 million

Shows played: 144

Year(s): 2005–07

For a few years, the Rolling Stones held the title for the top-grossing tour of all time thanks to their "A Bigger Bang” tour. Avid Stones fans claim that this is the group’s best tour, but it’s also one that almost didn’t happen. Midway through the tour, the Stones took a month-long break. While on vacation with his wife in Fiji,  Keith Richards took a hard fall out of a coconut tree and suffered a major concussion. Richards said he only "spent a couple of days” in the hospital; it later came out that he’d actually  had brain surgery to remove a blood clot resulting from the fall.

#1. U2: 360º Tour

Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $820,194,986

Total tour attendance: 7.27 million

Shows played: 110

Year(s): 2009–11

The honor for top-grossing music tour of all time is held by U2. And this tour was big. Not only did the tour break the record for the highest-grossing tour, but the band’s Oct. 25, 2009 date at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, also holds the  record for the highest attendance at a single concert with over 97,000 people. In addition, U2 had a  stage set that was 164 feet high that accompanied them to every venue—twice the height of the previous stage set record.

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Highest-grossing Concert Tours of All Time

Who has hauled the highest-grossing tour total of all time? From Elton John to Harry Styles, find out who made the top 10 of all time.

These days, scoring a ticket to see your favorite music artist has proven to be a Herculean task. With bots replacing scalpers, superfans are struggling more than ever to get a ticket to the show. However, someway, somehow, people are showing up in record numbers.

Looking back on the top 10 highest-grossing tours, the list may surprise you. Harry Styles ‘ most recent marathon Love on Tour propelled him to become the first of his contemporaries to crack the list. However, these numbers are all under fire as Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are expected to shatter tour totals and breaking the billion mark.

As T Swift takes over for Elton John, The Rolling Stones logged the largest sum per show. The British sensations took in an average of $9.4 million per show with 58 performances between 2017 and 2019.

Let’s dive in with the top 10 highest-grossing tours of all time.

Get on our list for weekly sports business, industry trends, interviews, and more.

Highest-grossing Tours of All Time: The Top 10

1. taylor swift — eras tour (2023-2024).

• Total Gross: $1.04 billion (via Pollstar )
• Tickets Sold: 4.35 million
• Average Gross per Show: $1.67 million

2. Elton John — Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour (2018-2023)

• Total Gross: $939.1 million
• Tickets Sold: 6 million
• Average Gross per Show: $2.84 million

3. Ed Sheeran — The ÷ (Divide) Tour (2017-2019)

• Total Gross: $776 million
• Tickets Sold: 8.9 million
• Average Gross per Show: $3 million

4. U2 — U2 360° Tour (2009-2011)

• Total Gross: $736 million
• Tickets Sold: 7.3 million
• Average Gross per Show: $6.69 million

5. Coldplay — Music of the Spheres World Tour ( 2022-2023 )

• Total Gross: $617.8 million
• Tickets Sold: 6.3 million
• Average Gross per Show: $5.77 million

6. Harry Styles — Love on Tour (2021-2023)

• Total Gross: $617.3 million
• Tickets Sold: 5 million
• Average Gross per Show: $3.65 million

7. Guns N’ Roses — Not in This Lifetime… Tour (2016-2019)

• Total Gross: $584 million
• Tickets Sold: 5.4 million
• Average Gross per Show: $3.69 million

8. Beyoncé — Renaissance Tour (2023)

• Total Gross: $579 million (via Forbes )
• Tickets Sold: TBD
• Average Gross per Show: $10.34 million

9. The Rolling Stones — A Bigger Bang Tour (2005-2007)

• Total Gross: $558 million
• Tickets Sold: 3.5 million
• Average Gross per Show: $5.02 million

10. The Rolling Stones — No Filter Tour (2017-2019)

• Total Gross: $547 million
• Tickets Sold: 2.9 million
• Average Gross per Show: $9.4 million

10. Coldplay — A Head Full of Dreams Tour (2015-2017)

• Total Gross: $524 million
• Average Gross per Show: $4.56 million

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28 of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time.

In the time of digital streaming services, live performances have become an increasingly lucrative space for musicians — especially as ticket prices continue to rise. But even before concert tickets went for hundreds of dollars a pop, some of the most popular groups and solo acts raked in multimillions with their world tours.

Find Out: The Richest Celebrity From Every State See: 24 Celebrities Who Tried and Failed To Start New Careers

Take a look at the bands that have had multiple high-grossing tours — and which solo singer was the highest grossing of them all.

Last updated: Oct. 21, 2021

David Bowie's Glass Spider Tour: $86 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $198 million

Although David Bowie's Glass Spider Tour was poorly received at the time -- it spanned from May to November in 1987 -- it was one of the highest-grossing tours when adjusted to today's dollars. The centerpiece of the tour set was a giant spider that required 43 trucks to transport it between stops, IQ reported.

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Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveShow Tour: $126.8 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $160 million

Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveShow Tour grossed $126.8 million and was attended by more than 1.6 million people worldwide, Billboard reported. The tour kicked off in January 2007 in San Diego and featured Pink -- who had a high-grossing tour of her own -- as a special guest.

Check Out: 15 Highest-Grossing Actors of All Time

Genesis' Turn It on Again World Tour: $129 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $162.7 million

Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford reunited in June 2007 to tour around the world as Genesis. The Turn It on Again Tour grossed in excess of $129 million over 46 performances, Ultimate Classic Rock reported. The group announced on March 4 that they would be reuniting again for a 2020 tour.

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Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love Tour: $133 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $208.8 million

Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love Tour took the Canadian crooner to 11 different countries across 97 shows and grossed $133 million, according to CelineDionCharts.com. The tour kicked off in Boston in August 1998 to promote Dion's album of the same name. The 1997 album featured the immensely popular hit single "My Heart Will Go On."

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Bon Jovi's Lost Highway Tour: $210 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $255.1 million

Bon Jovi's Lost Highway Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2008, Reuters reported. The world tour started in October 2007 with 10 sold-out shows in the band's home state of New Jersey and continued into 2008 with stops in Canada, Japan, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Holland and Austria, according to an AEG Live press release.

The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over Tour: $253 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $434.3 million

After performing together in 1980 in what they assumed would be their last show, The Eagles' Don Henley said that the band would perform together again "when hell freezes over." Fourteen years later, the band reunited and in a nod to Henley's comment, recorded the live album "Hell Freezes Over" and embarked on a corresponding tour, originally planned as a six-week trek, Pollstar reported. The tour ended up lasting for two years -- from July 2013 to 2015 -- and grossed $253 million, with over 2 million tickets sold across 147 shows.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z's On the Run II Tour: $253.5 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $264.1 million

Hip-hop power couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z kicked off their joint On the Run II Tour in June 2018 in Cardiff, Wales, and performed a total of 48 stadium dates; the tour ended in October 2018 in Seattle. By the end of the tour, it had grossed $253.5 million, Billboard reported.

One Direction's Where We Are Tour: $282.2 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $311.8 million

One Direction's Where We Are Tour became the first tour to break the $200 million ticket sales barrier in 2014, Billboard reported. It went on to be the highest-grossing tour of the year with a gross of $282.2 million, which was 6 1/2 times more than what One Direction's previous year tour had grossed, the New York Post reported. The tour kicked off in April 2014, and the band was joined by 5 Seconds of Summer during the North American dates.

The Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge Tour: $300 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $514.9 million

When the Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge Tour wrapped, it was the most successful in North American history, Rolling Stone reported. The tour -- which started in August 1994 in support of the band's album of the same name -- included 117 dates on six continents, and it grossed $300 million from a combination of ticket sales, T-shirts and television rights.

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The Rolling Stones' Licks Tour: $311 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $442.1 million

The Rolling Stones topped their own concert gross record with their 2002-2003 Licks Tour, which grossed $311 million, according to Billboard. The tour kicked off in September 2002 and boasted an impressive roster of supporting acts that included No Doubt, The Strokes, Jonny Lang, Sheryl Crow and The Pretenders.

U2's Joshua Tree Tour (2017): $316 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $337.2 million

U2 embarked on the Joshua Tree Tour in 2017 in honor of the 30th anniversary of their No. 1 album of the same name. The tour included 50 shows in over a dozen countries, kicking off in May 2017 and wrapping up in October 2017. The tour sold more than 2.7 million tickets and grossed $316 million, Billboard reported.

Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour: $345.7 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $360.1 million

Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour broke records when it became the highest-grossing U.S. tour of all time in November 2018, with a gross of $266.1 million and over 2 million tickets sold domestically, Billboard reported. The tour -- which spanned from May to November 2018 -- grossed $345.7 million in total.

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band's Wrecking Ball Tour: $355.6 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $399.3 million

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band's Wrecking Ball World Tour reached fans in more countries than any previous Springsteen tour, Shore Fire Media reported. It started in March 2012 in New York City and included 133 shows in 26 countries across North America, South America, Europe and Australia. The tour ended in September 2013 in Brazil.

The Police's Reunion Tour: $362 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $439.8 million

The Police reunited for a 2007-2008 tour that spanned 151 shows and earned the band a $362 million gross, Rolling Stone reported. Their May 28, 2007, performance in Vancouver, Canada, was the first time they played together in 23 years, NME reported -- and their final show in New York in August 2008 marked the last time The Police ever played together.

Garth Brooks' Garth Brooks World Tour With Trisha Yearwood: $364 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $388.4 million

Garth Brooks had been semi-retired for 14 years when he launched his world tour with his wife and fellow country superstar Trisha Yearwood in 2014. He opened his tour in Chicago in June of that year, and it stretched into 2017, with 390 shows played and 6.4 million tickets sold, USA Today reported.

Bruno Mars' 24K Magic Tour: $367 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $382.3 million

In support of his 2016 Grammy-winning album "24K Magic," Bruno Mars embarked on a 200-date world tour that started in March 2017 and ended in November 2018. The tour grossed more than $367 million, Pollstar reported.

U2's Vertigo Tour: $389 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $504.7 million

U2 embarked on the Vertigo Tour in March 2005 with a U.S. leg. Throughout the year, the band toured in Europe and North America and wrapped the tour with a fourth leg in 2006 that took them around the world. This is one of three U2 tours that have the distinction of being one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time.

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Pink's Beautiful Trauma World Tour: $397.3 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $406.5 million

Pink's March 2018 to November 2019 tour made history as the highest-grossing tour for a woman in over a decade, Billboard reported.

Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour: $408 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $497.5 million

Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour spanned three continents and ran from August 2008 to September 2009. At the time the show wrapped, it was the top-grossing tour by a solo artist of all time, Billboard reported.

The Rolling Stones' No Filter Tour: $415.6 Million (So Far)

Gross adjusted for inflation: $425.2 million

The Rolling Stones kicked off their No Filter Tour in September 2017 in Europe. The second leg of the tour, which took place in the summer of 2018, included dates throughout the U.K., Ireland and Europe. The third leg of the tour took the legendary rock band throughout North America during the summer of 2019. By the end of this leg, the band had grossed $415.6 million, Billboard reported. But the tour isn't over, so millions more will most certainly roll in. The fourth leg of the tour — which will take place in North America — was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Metallica's WorldWired Tour: $430 MIllion (So Far)

Gross adjusted for inflation: $440 million

Metallica kicked off its WorldWired Tour in October 2016 in support of their album "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct." The tour was slated to continue into 2020, but came to a halt due to COVID-19, as the band was forced to cancel or reschedule all performances. The tour had grossed $430 million as of September 2019, Consequence of Sound reported.

AC/DC's Black Ice Tour: $441 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $529 million

AC/DC's Black Ice World Tour followed the band's album of the same name and was the group's biggest tour ever with 169 dates and over 5 million attendees, AC-DC.net reported. The tour kicked off in October 2008 in the U.S. and ended in June 2010 in Spain.

Roger Waters' The Wall Live Tour: $460 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $516.5 million

Pink Floyd fans flocked in droves to Roger Waters' The Wall Live Tour, which ran from September 2010 to September 2013. The tour marked the first time the 1979 album of the same name had been performed live in its entirety by the band or any of its former members in two decades, Pollstar reported. The Wall Live Tour grossed $460 million across 220 performances, with 4.1 million tickets sold.

Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams Tour: $523 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $558.1 million

Shortly after Coldplay performed at the Super Bowl 50 Halftime show, the band kicked off their A Head Full of Dreams Tour in March 2016. The tour, which wrapped in November 2017, included 114 shows in 76 cities and 31 countries. At the time the tour ended, it was the third-highest-grossing global tour of all time with $523 million in ticket sales, Live Nation reported.

The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour: $558 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $704 million

It remains to be seen if The Stones' No Filter Tour can beat the band's high-grossing A Bigger Bang World Tour, which kicked off in August 2005 and ended two years later. Mick Jagger and the rest of the band held the distinction of having the highest-grossing tour of all time until U2 took over that title in 2011.

Guns N' Roses' Not in This Lifetime... Tour: $584.2 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $597.7 million

Guns N' Roses' Not in This Lifetime... Tour lasted over three years and included 158 concert dates across six continents. It grossed $584.2 million with nearly 5.4 million tickets sold, Billboard reported. The tour -- which kicked off in April 2016 and was extended through November 2019 -- featured a reunion of classic-era members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan.

U2's U2 360 Degrees Tour: $736.4 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $856.4 million

U2's U2 360 Degrees Tour had three legs that spanned from June 2009 to July 2011. Guests on the epic tour included Lenny Kravitz, Muse and Arcade Fire. When the tour wrapped, it had broken records to become the highest-grossing tour of all time -- and held that title until it was dethroned in 2019. However, when adjusted for inflation, it still holds the top title.

Ed Sheeran's Divide Tour: $775.6 Million

Gross adjusted for inflation: $793.6 million

Ed Sheeran holds the record for the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. His Divide Tour started in March 2017 and ended in August 2019, and took him around the world, with 246 shows across Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, North America and South America. The concert sold over 8.5 million tickets, Billboard reported.

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Laura Woods contributed to the reporting for this article.

All data was calculated using the last year of each tour, for those still ongoing, GOBankingRates calculated figures from 2019. All inflation data was calculated using a CPI inflation calculator. All data was collected and is up to date as of March 8, 2021.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : 28 of the Highest-Grossing Concert Tours of All Time

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28 of the Highest-Grossing Concert Tours of All Time

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In the time of digital streaming services, live performances have become an increasingly lucrative space for musicians — especially as ticket prices continue to rise. But even before concert tickets went for hundreds of dollars a pop, some of the most popular groups and solo acts raked in multimillions with their world tours.

Take a look at the bands that have had multiple high-grossing tours — and which solo singer was the highest grossing of them all.

Last updated: Oct. 21, 2021  

David Bowie’s Glass Spider Tour: $86 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $198 million

Although David Bowie’s Glass Spider Tour was poorly received at the time — it spanned from May to November in 1987 — it was one of the highest-grossing tours when adjusted to today’s dollars. The centerpiece of the tour set was a giant spider that required 43 trucks to transport it between stops, IQ reported.

Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveShow Tour: $126.8 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $160 million

Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveShow Tour grossed $126.8 million and was attended by more than 1.6 million people worldwide, Billboard reported. The tour kicked off in January 2007 in San Diego and featured Pink — who had a high-grossing tour of her own — as a special guest.

Genesis’ Turn It on Again World Tour: $129 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $162.7 million

Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford reunited in June 2007 to tour around the world as Genesis. The Turn It on Again Tour grossed in excess of $129 million over 46 performances, Ultimate Classic Rock reported. The group announced on March 4 that they would be reuniting again for a 2020 tour.

Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love Tour: $133 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $208.8 million

Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love Tour took the Canadian crooner to 11 different countries across 97 shows and grossed $133 million, according to CelineDionCharts.com. The tour kicked off in Boston in August 1998 to promote Dion’s album of the same name. The 1997 album featured the immensely popular hit single “My Heart Will Go On.”

Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway Tour: $210 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $255.1 million

Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2008, Reuters reported. The world tour started in October 2007 with 10 sold-out shows in the band’s home state of New Jersey and continued into 2008 with stops in Canada, Japan, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Holland and Austria, according to an AEG Live press release.

The Eagles’ Hell Freezes Over Tour: $253 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $434.3 million

After performing together in 1980 in what they assumed would be their last show, The Eagles’ Don Henley said that the band would perform together again “when hell freezes over.” Fourteen years later, the band reunited and in a nod to Henley’s comment, recorded the live album “Hell Freezes Over” and embarked on a corresponding tour, originally planned as a six-week trek, Pollstar reported. The tour ended up lasting for two years — from July 2013 to 2015 — and grossed $253 million, with over 2 million tickets sold across 147 shows.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s On the Run II Tour: $253.5 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $264.1 million

Hip-hop power couple Beyonc é and Jay-Z kicked off their joint On the Run II Tour in June 2018 in Cardiff, Wales, and performed a total of 48 stadium dates; the tour ended in October 2018 in Seattle. By the end of the tour, it had grossed $253.5 million, Billboard reported.

One Direction’s Where We Are Tour: $282.2 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $311.8 million

One Direction’s Where We Are Tour became the first tour to break the $200 million ticket sales barrier in 2014, Billboard reported. It went on to be the highest-grossing tour of the year with a gross of $282.2 million, which was 6 1/2 times more than what One Direction’s previous year tour had grossed, the New York Post reported. The tour kicked off in April 2014, and the band was joined by 5 Seconds of Summer during the North American dates.

The Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge Tour: $300 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $514.9 million

When the Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge Tour wrapped, it was the most successful in North American history, Rolling Stone reported. The tour — which started in August 1994 in support of the band’s album of the same name — included 117 dates on six continents, and it grossed $300 million from a combination of ticket sales, T-shirts and television rights.

The Rolling Stones’ Licks Tour: $311 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $442.1 million

The Rolling Stones topped their own concert gross record with their 2002-2003 Licks Tour, which grossed $311 million, according to Billboard. The tour kicked off in September 2002 and boasted an impressive roster of supporting acts that included No Doubt, The Strokes, Jonny Lang, Sheryl Crow and The Pretenders.

U2’s Joshua Tree Tour (2017): $316 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $337.2 million

U2 embarked on the Joshua Tree Tour in 2017 in honor of the 30th anniversary of their No. 1 album of the same name. The tour included 50 shows in over a dozen countries, kicking off in May 2017 and wrapping up in October 2017. The tour sold more than 2.7 million tickets and grossed $316 million, Billboard reported.

Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour: $345.7 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $360.1 million

Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour broke records when it became the highest-grossing U.S. tour of all time in November 2018, with a gross of $266.1 million and over 2 million tickets sold domestically, Billboard reported. The tour — which spanned from May to November 2018 — grossed $345.7 million in total.

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s Wrecking Ball Tour: $355.6 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $399.3 million

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s Wrecking Ball World Tour reached fans in more countries than any previous Springsteen tour, Shore Fire Media reported. It started in March 2012 in New York City and included 133 shows in 26 countries across North America, South America, Europe and Australia. The tour ended in September 2013 in Brazil.

The Police’s Reunion Tour: $362 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation: $439.8 million

The Police reunited for a 2007-2008 tour that spanned 151 shows and earned the band a $362 million gross, Rolling Stone reported. Their May 28, 2007, performance in Vancouver, Canada, was the first time they played together in 23 years, NME reported — and their final show in New York in August 2008 marked the last time The Police ever played together.

Garth Brooks’ Garth Brooks World Tour With Trisha Yearwood: $364 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $388.4 million

Garth Brooks had been semi-retired for 14 years when he launched his world tour with his wife and fellow country superstar Trisha Yearwood in 2014. He opened his tour in Chicago in June of that year, and it stretched into 2017, with 390 shows played and 6.4 million tickets sold, USA Today reported.

Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic Tour: $367 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $382.3 million

In support of his 2016 Grammy-winning album “24K Magic,” Bruno Mars embarked on a 200-date world tour that started in March 2017 and ended in November 2018. The tour grossed more than $367 million, Pollstar reported.

U2’s Vertigo Tour: $389 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $504.7 million

U2 embarked on the Vertigo Tour in March 2005 with a U.S. leg. Throughout the year, the band toured in Europe and North America and wrapped the tour with a fourth leg in 2006 that took them around the world. This is one of three U2 tours that have the distinction of being one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time.

Pink’s Beautiful Trauma World Tour: $397.3 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $406.5 million

Pink’s March 2018 to November 2019 tour made history as the highest-grossing tour for a woman in over a decade, Billboard reported.

Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour: $408 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $497.5 million

Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour spanned three continents and ran from August 2008 to September 2009. At the time the show wrapped, it was the top-grossing tour by a solo artist of all time, Billboard reported.

The Rolling Stones’ No Filter Tour: $415.6 Million (So Far)

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $425.2 million

The Rolling Stones kicked off their No Filter Tour in September 2017 in Europe. The second leg of the tour, which took place in the summer of 2018, included dates throughout the U.K., Ireland and Europe. The third leg of the tour took the legendary rock band throughout North America during the summer of 2019. By the end of this leg, the band had grossed $415.6 million, Billboard reported. But the tour isn’t over, so millions more will most certainly roll in. The fourth leg of the tour — which will take place in North America — was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Metallica’s WorldWired Tour: $430 MIllion (So Far)

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $440 million

Metallica kicked off its WorldWired Tour in October 2016 in support of their album “Hardwired…To Self-Destruct.” The tour was slated to continue into 2020, but came to a halt due to COVID-19, as the band was forced to cancel or reschedule all performances. The tour had grossed $430 million as of September 2019, Consequence of Sound reported.

AC/DC’s Black Ice Tour: $441 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $529 million

AC/DC’s Black Ice World Tour followed the band’s album of the same name and was the group’s biggest tour ever with 169 dates and over 5 million attendees, AC-DC.net reported. The tour kicked off in October 2008 in the U.S. and ended in June 2010 in Spain.

Roger Waters’ The Wall Live Tour: $460 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $516.5 million

Pink Floyd fans flocked in droves to Roger Waters’ The Wall Live Tour, which ran from September 2010 to September 2013. The tour marked the first time the 1979 album of the same name had been performed live in its entirety by the band or any of its former members in two decades, Pollstar reported. The Wall Live Tour grossed $460 million across 220 performances, with 4.1 million tickets sold.

Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams Tour: $523 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $558.1 million

Shortly after Coldplay performed at the Super Bowl 50 Halftime show, the band kicked off their A Head Full of Dreams Tour in March 2016. The tour, which wrapped in November 2017, included 114 shows in 76 cities and 31 countries. At the time the tour ended, it was the third-highest-grossing global tour of all time with $523 million in ticket sales, Live Nation reported.

The Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang Tour: $558 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $704 million

It remains to be seen if The Stones’ No Filter Tour can beat the band’s high-grossing A Bigger Bang World Tour, which kicked off in August 2005 and ended two years later. Mick Jagger and the rest of the band held the distinction of having the highest-grossing tour of all time until U2 took over that title in 2011.

Guns N’ Roses’ Not in This Lifetime… Tour: $584.2 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $597.7 million

Guns N’ Roses’ Not in This Lifetime… Tour lasted over three years and included 158 concert dates across six continents. It grossed $584.2 million with nearly 5.4 million tickets sold, Billboard reported. The tour — which kicked off in April 2016 and was extended through November 2019 —  featured a reunion of classic-era members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan.

U2’s U2 360 Degrees Tour: $736.4 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $856.4 million

U2’s U2 360 Degrees Tour had three legs that spanned from June 2009 to July 2011. Guests on the epic tour included Lenny Kravitz, Muse and Arcade Fire. When the tour wrapped, it had broken records to become the highest-grossing tour of all time — and held that title until it was dethroned in 2019. However, when adjusted for inflation, it still holds the top title.

Ed Sheeran’s Divide Tour: $775.6 Million

• Gross adjusted for inflation:  $793.6 million

Ed Sheeran holds the record for the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. His Divide Tour started in March 2017 and ended in August 2019, and took him around the world, with 246 shows across Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, North America and South America. The concert sold over 8.5 million tickets, Billboard reported.

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Jennifer Taylor contributed to the reporting for this article.

All data was calculated using the last year of each tour, for those still ongoing, GOBankingRates calculated figures from 2019. All inflation data was calculated using a CPI inflation calculator. All data was collected and is up to date as of March 8, 2021.

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The greatest musical siblings of all time

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0 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $250 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $422 million

Year(s): 1994

1 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $274 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $491 million

Year(s): 1997-1998

2 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $279 million

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $382 million

Year(s): 2008-2009

3 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $305 million

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $389 million

Year(s): 2012

4 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $311 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $494 million

Year(s): 2002-2003

5 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $320 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $631 million

Shows : 134

Year(s): 1994-1995

6 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $340 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $446 million

Year(s): 2012-2013

7 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $345 million

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $402 million

Year(s): 2018

8 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $362 million

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $421 million

Year(s): 2007-2008

9 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $364 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $400 million

Year(s): 2014-2017

10 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $379 million 

Year(s): 2023-ongoing

11 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $389 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $564 million

Year(s): 2005-2006

12 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $390 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $466 million

Year(s): 2017-2019

13 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $397 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $454 million

Year(s): 2018-2019

14 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $411 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $560 million

15 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $493 million 

Year(s): 2022-ongoing

16 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $430 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $492 million

Year(s): 2016-2019

17 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $441 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $593 million

Year(s): 2008-2010

18 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $459 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $576 million

Year(s): 2010-2013

19 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $523 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $624 million

Year(s): 2016-2017

20 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $546 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $590 million

Year(s): 2017-2021

21 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $558 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $787 million

Year(s): 2005-2007

22 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $579 million

Year(s): 2023

23 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $584 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $668 million

24 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $617 million 

Year(s): 2021-2023

25 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $735 million

26 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $736 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $958 million

Year(s): 2009-2011

27 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $776 million 

Tour gross adjusted for inflation: $888 million

28 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $939 million

Year(s): 2018-2023

29 / 31 Fotos

Actual tour gross: $1.04 billion 

Year(s): 2023-ongoing 

Sources: (Billboard) (Stacker)

See also: Concerts that ended in tragedy

30 / 31 Fotos

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The highest-grossing concert tours of all time

Did you go to any of these concerts.

28/03/24 | StarsInsider

D ue to streaming services and the preferences for singles, album sales are down overall. But one thing remains clear: fans are still willing to pay to see their favorite artists in person. Touring has also become even more important to musicians in the streaming era, as many musicians earn more from ticket sales than from record sales. On top of that, ticket prices have gone up, which means that many of the highest-grossing tours of all time have taken place in the past decade or two.

From Taylor Swift to the Rolling Stones and Beyoncé, click on for the highest-grossing music tours of all time.

All amounts in USD.

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Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Is the Highest-Grossing of All Time and First-Ever to Hit $1 Billion

By Ethan Millman

Ethan Millman

Taylor Swift ‘s Eras Tour is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, according to data from live music trade publication Pollstar , with the tour becoming the first ever to gross at least $1 billion. Swift dethrones Elton John’s years-long Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour for the top spot.

In a monumental, near-unprecedented year for a pop star, the all-time touring record is just one of the major accomplishments Swift has achieved in 2023, and perhaps her most significant financially as concert tours have become the biggest moneymaker for musicians. The Eras Tour was by far the biggest concert tour in the world this year, earning more than the next two highest-ranked tours (Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen) combined, as Pollstar data reflects.

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By the time the shows actually started, each tour date became a major social media moment, and the cities she played celebrated her with honorary mayorships and temporary city name changes . A world leader even implored Swift to set aside dates in their country.

Swift’s dominance has been evident in every aspect of the music business, from concert gross and merchandise to her album sales and streams, and even in the movie theaters, where her Eras Tour film has become one of the top-grossing concert movies of all time . Spotify crowned Swift the most streamed artist of 2023 last month with over 26.1 billion global streams, which amounts to $100 million in earnings . Those streams don’t take into account the other streaming services like Apple Music and Amazon Music, or her over 5 million traditional album sales just in the U.S.

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10 of the Highest-Grossing Tours of All Time

by Alex Hopper May 21, 2023, 1:18 pm

It seems tours are getting bigger and bigger these days—both in length and in stature. Some tours will go on for years on end, amassing incomprehensible amounts of money.

Videos by American Songwriter

Find out which artists have had the biggest turn-out for their shows in this list of the highest-grossing tours all of time —as ranked by Forbes .

10. Love on Tour – Harry Styles ($418 million)

It seems Harry Styles may never be off the road at the rate he is going. His Love on Tour began in September of 2021 and is scheduled to continue until this July when he will wrap things up in Italy.

So far, the tour has racked up $418 million in profits.

The tour has seen Styles promote two different albums: His 2019 record Fine Line and his latest release, Harry’s House . With the release of Harry’s House , Styles updated his stage set-up and his setlist to better reflect the album’s aesthetic.

9. Black Ice World Tour – AC/DC ($442 million)

The Black Ice World Tour saw AC/DC return to the stage for the first time in eight years. The tour had a sprawling eight legs and lasted more than 20 months – length seems to be a unifying factor between these high-grossing tours.

The time AC/DC spent away from the road drummed up a significant amount of yearning for the Australian rockers, producing a turn-out of fans that summed up to $442 million.

8. The Wall Live – Roger Waters ($459 million)

Roger Waters originally called it quits with Pink Floyd around the time of The Wall Tour in 1981. The tour was a relatively small endeavor for the band back then, so it made it all the more enticing when Waters brought back the album in 2010 for a solo tour.

The tour lasted for more than three years, four continents, and amassed $459 million.

7. A Head Full of Dreams Tour – Coldplay ($524 million)

Looking to more contemporary bands, Coldplay earned the accolade of the highest-grossing tour in 2016 with the A Head Full of Dreams Tour.

The tour earned Coldplay a reputation for being a can’t-miss touring act around with grandiose stage set-ups, stadium-sized production, and killer anthems.

All in all, the tour brought in $524 million.

6. No Filter Tour – The Rolling Stones ($547 million)

The No Filter Tour is one of the smallest tours on this list, but that makes it all the more impressive that The Rolling Stones garnered $547 million in the process. The tour was made up of four quick summer treks between 2017 and 2021.

The Stones are obviously one of the biggest bands in the world so it’s no surprise they were bringing in that kind of cash, but the next stop on this list saw an even bigger turn-out for the group.

5. A Bigger Bang Tour – The Rolling Stones ($558 million)

The Rolling Stones pulled off an even bigger bang with their 2005-2007 tour. The trek was in support of their A Bigger Bang album and grossed $558 million across its duration.

The tour was so pivotal to the group’s career that they released an album’s worth of live recordings from a stop in Rio de Janeiro in 2021.

“It was amazing,” Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone of the show . “It was a really good audience. They know how to enjoy themselves on those occasions.”

The Stones have always known how to pull in an audience and their two appearances on this list only add further proof to that claim.

4. Not in This Lifetime Tour – Guns N’ Roses ($584 million)

It’s no surprise a comeback tour would make it onto this list. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Guns N’ Roses gave their comeback trek a tongue-in-cheek name: The Not in This Lifetime Tour. Luckily for all the GnR fans out there, the group shockingly did decide to reunite in their original form for this trek in 2016.

The wanting GnR fans came out in droves to the tune of $584 million.

3. U2 360° Tour – U2 ($736 million)

Coming in at No. 3 is U2’s 360° Tour. As made evident by the name, the tour features a massive stage that gave fans a 360° view of the Irish rockers. The technological innovations paired with U2’s seminal catalog made this their biggest tour to date.

Every date on the tour sold out, resulting in $736 million in revenue.

2. The ÷ (Divide) Tour – Ed Sheeran ($776 million)

Though he has now been usurped by the No. 1 tour on this list, Ed Sheeran held on to the title of the highest-grossing tour for quite some time. By the time the final curtain was drawn, Sheeran amassed a gross loot of $776 million.

That feat is made all the more impressive when you consider Sheeran’s relatively simple live show. The singer-songwriter forgoes an excess of flashy production or costume changes and instead boils live music down to its basics: a guitar, a singer, and a host of incredible songs.

1. Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour – Elton John ($853 million)

It’s hard for a trek to not become the highest-grossing tour of all time when it has been rolling on for years and it features one of rock’s most iconic performers.

Elton John kicked off his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour back in 2018 and is slated to wrap it up this July in Stockholm. Over the year-long tour, John has grossed a whopping $853 million.

A major draw for the tour is the fact that John has announced his retirement from touring.

“I want to be with my family,” John told CBS . “I mean, I’ve been touring since I was 17 in the back of a van. I’ve had the most incredible life. I’ve been so lucky, and I’ve loved every single minute of it. But I’ve had enough of that applause, and I really want … I’ll be 76 years of age when I stop touring in 2023. I want to do something different with the rest of my life.”

Photo by Simone Joyner/Getty Images

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These are the 10 highest-grossing tours of all-time: Will Taylor Swift beat them all?

Taylor swift’s eras tour has already broken numerous records and today, an extra 14 shows have been added to the european leg..

Taylor Swift has been on the road since mid-March, taking her Eras show , a three-and-a-half hour career retrospective from coast to coast in the United States before it sets off on another whistle-stop journey to South America , Asia and Europe . Just five months in, the tour has been an overwhelming success - it smashed the record for the most concert tickets sold by an artist in a single day , drew the biggest single-day attendance ever seen in Nashville (71,000) and set the biggest three-day attendance on record twice - 210,607 over three nights in Arlington, Texas then 217,635 at the MetLife in New Jersey at the end of May.

Cincinnati I couldn’t love you more. Had the best two nights with you!! Last night was so special getting to sing ‘I miss you, I’m sorry’ with @gracieabrams in the acoustic set and bringing out @aaron_dessner to play ‘Ivy’ in his hometown. 🥹 See you soon Kansas City, meanwhile… pic.twitter.com/w7oyGn2Mxb — Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 2, 2023

The Eras Tour , which features star guests, celebrity duets, will travel the globe for the next 12 months. Such is the demand for tickets that an additional 14 dates have been added to next year’s itinerary.

Taylor Swift Eras Tour: 14 new dates added

• 12 May Paris (La Défense Arena)
• 19 May Stockholm (Friends Arena)
• 25 May Lisbon (Estádio da Luz)
• 3 June Lyon (Groupama stadium)
• 9 June Edinburgh (Murrayfield stadium)
• 13 June Liverpool (Anfield)
• 23 June London (Wembley)
• 30 June Dublin (Aviva stadium)
• 4 July Amsterdam (Johan Cruiff ArenA)
• 14 July Milan (San Siro)
• 17 July Gelsenkirchen (VELTINS-Arena)
• 19 July Gelsenkirchen (VELTINS-Arena)
• 1 August Warsaw (PGE Narodowy)
• 8 August Vienna (Ernst-Happel stadium)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

In November last year, when the artist announced details of the Eras Tour , Billboard Boxscore , which compiles concert tour attendance data, estimated that Swift’s tour would gross $590 million. That figure however, was based solely on the initial 52 dates of the US leg and before the tour was extended to Europe, Asia, South America and Australasia. With the additional 14 dates confirmed today, the Eras Tour will complete 120 nights across the globe by the time it ends in August 2024.

Fans must register to apply for tickets which go on general sale in the UK on Monday 17 July but it looks as though most, if not all, of the European dates will also sell out which suggests that the Eras Tour will become the highest-grossing tour of all time, bringing in between $1 billion and $1.4 billion in sales .

Tonight is the night 🚀 The start of my final North American tour shows and the first time back at Dodger Stadium since 1975. See you at 8pm, LA – don’t be late! #EltonFarewellTour 📸: Terry O'Neil pic.twitter.com/5BGKOBSB2X — Elton John (@eltonofficial) November 18, 2022

The record was recently set by Elton John , whose Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour grossed $853 million , according to Billboard Boxscore’ s latest figures . Elton’s farewell tour started in 2018 but many of the dates had to be rescheduled during the Covid-19 pandemic - it reaches its conclusion later this week at the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm .

Glasgow, we had a F'N' blast with you! Thank you for comin' out pic.twitter.com/26rxW8CGxG — Guns N' Roses (@gunsnroses) June 29, 2023

So let’s take a look at the top 10 tours in terms of revenue , according to Billboard Boxscore.

Top 10 highest-grossing tours of all-time

• $853 million Elton John : Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour (2018-20, 22-8 July 2023)
• $776 million Ed Sheeran : The ÷ Tour (2017-19)
• $736 million U2 : 360° Tour (2009-11)
• $584 million Guns N’ Roses : Not in This Lifetime... Tour (2016-19)
• $558 million The Rolling Stones : A Bigger Bang Tour (2005-07)
• $547 million The Rolling Stones : No Filter Tour (2017-19, 21)
• $524 million Coldplay : A Head Full of Dreams Tour (2016-17)
• $459 million Roger Waters : The Wall Live (2010-13)
• $442 million AC/DC : Black Ice World Tour (2008-10)
• $418 million Harry Styles : Love on Tour (2021-present)

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Taylor Swift breaks Guinness World Record for highest-grossing tour of all time

The singer’s tour has become the first to cross the $1 billion mark (£795 million)..

Charisa Bossinakis

Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has broken the Guinness World Record for the highest-grossing tour of all time.

The singer’s slew of concerts have become the first to cross the $1 billion mark (£795 million).

Pollstar reported that the tour, which began in March 2023 and is set to finish December next year after a total of 151 shows, has already earned $1.04 billion (£840 million).

According to Pollstar, 4.3 million tickets have already been sold, and the tour is predicted to earn around $2 billion (£1.5 billion) when it wraps up.

Merchandise has also contributed to these staggering numbers, as its revenue alone is $200 million (£104 million).

That’s a fair few t-shirts.

Her record breaks Elton John’s Farewell tour, which ended this year and earned $939 million (£749 million) over 328 shows.

The Cruel Summer singer’s tour has generated more coin than this year’s two highest-earning tours (Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce) combined.

Swifties took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to celebrate the queen's milestone.

One user wrote: “Nothing will ever top this, we may be at front of the last big artist with the power to achieve this…”

Another said: “Taylor has broken yet another record!! Cultivating an entire generation of fans.”

While a third shared: “My woman been breaking and setting records everyday.”

It seems that Ms Swift is on top of the world right now, as the singer’s concert film of the tour had one of the biggest box office openings this year.

Step aside Barbenheimer.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film earned an estimated $95 to $97 million on its opening weekend, automatically placing the movie within the top 10 openings this year, according to the film’s distributor, AMC Theaters.

Aside from being a commercial success, the film was also a hit with critics.

Adrian Horton, writer for The Guardian , said the film points out ‘the intoxication’ of being in Swift’s ‘temple’, while Roy Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted the concert movie avoids cliches and breathes new life into the genre.

Well, if you couldn’t snag a ticket to the tour, perhaps seeing it in theatres is the next best thing.

Topics:  News , Music , Celebrity , Taylor Swift

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Nicki Minaj Makes History With the Highest-Grossing Tour of All Time for a Female Rapper

Proving she is the queen of rap..

Nicki Minaj is cementing herself as the queen of hip-hop. Making history recently with the highest-grossing tour by a female rapper of all time, her Pink Friday 2 tour hit the milestone within the first 17 performances. The tour has officially grossed a record-setting $34.9 million USD with under 20 shows.

According to Touring Data, the Trinidadian rapper has also claimed the top spot for having the highest-grossing concert. On March 30, the artist reported a whopping $2.858 million USD at her Madison Square Garden show. It comes as no surprise to hip-hop fans that Minaj still remains at the top, a decade and a half after she entered the industry. When she released the album, it netted the largest first week vinyl sales by any female rapper in history. The track “Super Freaky Girl” off the album saw Minaj hit her first No. 1 single as a solo artist. Her career longevity has been recognized by many across the industry. In a 2023 episode of Stepping Into the Shade Room , Ja Rule reiterated her position in the game stating that before her there were no female MCs like her. “Minaj re-opened the door” for her peers which made way for the likes of GloRilla and Ice Spice, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion and more.

. @NICKIMINAJ earned her highest grossing concert of all-time on March 30, 2024, with $2.858 million at Madison Square Garden in New York as part of the "Pink Friday 2 Tour". — Touring Data (@touringdata) April 8, 2024

. @NICKIMINAJ earns the highest-grossing concert by a female rapper in history, with $2.858 million at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 30, 2024. — Touring Data (@touringdata) April 8, 2024

. @NICKIMINAJ becomes the female rapper with the most concerts earning over $2 million in ticket sales each (11). — Touring Data (@touringdata) April 8, 2024

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European cities hope jet-setting Taylor Swift fans will splash the cash for Eras tour

The superstar arrives in Europe next month – and Swifties, tourist boards and venues are already preparing

T im Brown, 44, and his wife, Marcella, 34, may not consider themselves bona fide “Swifties”, but when it was announced last June that Taylor Swift would be visiting their corner of the globe this summer they could not resist joining the scramble for a pair of tickets.

A post-pandemic appetite for live music events has fuelled huge worldwide interest in the American singer-songwriter’s Eras tour, which surpassed in $1bn sales in November to become the highest-grossing series of concerts in history.

The pop culture event of the summer will arrive in Europe next month, kicking off in Paris on 9 May and wrapping up in London on 20 August with 49 dates in between in Sweden, Ireland, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Austria, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

The unique nature of the tour’s ticketing system, which was tweaked after a number of hitches last year, means there will be a mass movement of travelling fans who will not only be Swiftie in affiliation but swift-like in their willingness to travel across the continent.

In expectation of intense demand, Ticketmaster introduced a pre-registration system that rewarded some early applicants with access codes to the ticket sale proper, via staggered windows for each city.

Notionally designed to prioritise genuine fans over “scalpers” – people who buy and resell tickets for a quick profit – the pre-sales system also meant many fans registered for tickets in multiple destinations across Europe to increase their chances.

Tim and Marcella, who live in Norwich, registered not just for the nearest concerts – in London and Liverpool – but also in Amsterdam and Lisbon. The pair got lucky with a pair of €91 tickets in the Portuguese capital and have turned the trip into a weekend break. “I used to live in Lisbon so I thought why not kill two birds with one stone,” Tim said. “We booked ourselves flights and four nights’ accommodation the same day.” They are far from alone.

Katie Soo, the chief business officer of DICE, a rival ticketing company, said: “The excitement and uncertainty inherent in the ticket-purchasing process might have inadvertently incentivised fans to apply for tickets in multiple cities, thereby increasing the likelihood of travelling across Europe to attend the concerts.”

Hotel prices

Several European cities have already reported a sharp rise in demand for hotel and short-term rental accommodation over the summer, when the Swift hurricane will arrive. In Edinburgh, Liverpool and Cardiff, rooms at the Travelodge chain around Swift’s June dates have been sold out since August 2023, a month after tickets for the shows went on sale.

In Paris, where fans anticipate Swift to debut an updated version of the Eras show with songs from the new Tortured Poets Department album, 80% of hotels and apartments listed on Booking.com are already full up. In Warsaw on 2 August, only 9% of hotels listed on the same site are still available.

Not all of the 18 cities covered by the Eras tour are obvious tourism destinations. From 17-19 July, Swift will play three concerts at the 65,000-capacity home ground of the football club Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen in Ruhr valley, western Germany. The city’s less-than-familiar name prompted one US chatshow host to quip that “the place might not even exist”.

Yet even in Germany’s rust belt the influx of Swift fans is temporarily transforming the hotel market: any two-bedroom apartments that remain available are going for €800-2,000 a night, with cheaper accommodation available only in surrounding cities that are just as off the usual tourist track as Gelsenkirchen, such as Essen, Bochum or Herne.

Cities with stricter rules on allowing Airbnb-style holiday lets and a more limited stock of short-term rental apartments are reporting a particularly marked increase in rates during Swift’s visit, with about 30% year-on-year spikes in rental rates in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Milan, according to AirDNA, a data analytics company specialising in the short-term rentals market.

Of all the tour’s European stops, Vienna is experiencing the most notable impact on its rental market, with booking rates for the nights of Swift’s concerts recorded in February 44% higher than at the same point the previous year. By the end of March the number of nights booked in the Austrian capital for the length of Swift’s stay in the second week of August had risen by 430% compared with the same period in 2023.

When Luke Tilden’s wife, Tatjana, suggested last summer that the couple buy their 13- and 15-year-old daughters, Lena and Maya, tickets to a Taylor Swift gig for Christmas, the 53-year-old Briton initially waved it off. “There’s no chance in hell we’d get a ticket without paying through our noses, I thought,” said Tilden, who works as an interpreter at the European parliament in Strasbourg.

But after pre-registering for tickets in London, Paris and Munich, the Tildens got unexpectedly lucky for four tickets in southern Germany and have turned the concert visit into a mini-holiday: “We’ll visit the in-laws in Bavaria, enjoy the countryside, do a bit of hiking.”

The hope in cities across Europe is that this will be replicated on a massive scale, with fans’ excitement translating into generous spending sprees on food, shopping and leisure. In Stockholm, for example, where authorities are expecting 159,000 visitors to arrive from 135 countries in mid-May, the chamber of commerce has forecast a spending boost of €50m. “We hope the whole town will buzz from the Eras tour,” said Tomas Andersson, a spokesperson for the Swedish capital’s tourism board.

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Whether fans will necessarily act like ordinary tourists, however, is up for debate. “Pop-culture tourists do not necessarily care about traditional buildings and authentic restaurants,” said Maria Lexhagen, a professor at the European Tourism Research Institute, Mid Sweden University.

“Joining up with other fan communities is stronger motivation, as is the idea that they might get closer to the stars themselves. Many of them will map out where Swift is spending her time in the city – they will seek out seemingly marginal but meaningful places like back alleys or coffee shops.” Venues may be hoping for a repeat of Sydney in February, when Swift swept into an unassuming Italian restaurant in the suburbs and sent its name into global media headlines.

In Stockholm the tourism board said it was expecting bookshops and secondhand clothes stores, rather than museums and royal palaces, to attract most of the arriving visitors. Some venues are being proactive: one restaurant within walking distance of the multipurpose Friends Arena in the Solna municipality is putting on a “Taylor Swift brunch experience” with a karaoke stage; the waterfront nightclub Debaser is hosting a pre-concert party on 16 May, an all-ages all-day party with a Swift-themed quiz on 19 May and an afterparty the day after.

Environment

As the Swift circus rolls across the continent, the transport infrastructure of urban centres will also be put to the test. Around the tour’s three-night stop in Dublin at the end of June, Irish Rail has announced additional late-night services to Cork and Limerick to meet an expected increase in demand. Extra tram and bus services are likely to be announced nearer the time.

Unlike rail operators, most airlines do not have capacity to charter additional flights. Due to yield management – airlines adjusting prices based on expected demand – a scramble for airborne journeys into cities that host the Eras tour is more likely to result in more expensive tickets rather than additional flights.

Officials at Lisbon airport said no additional flights had been chartered around Swift’s concerts on 24 and 25 May but that demand would probably be reflected in slightly higher load factors. A spokesperson for Amsterdam Schiphol said general aviation slots could be requested at short notice but nothing out of the ordinary had been logged so far.

Calculating the environmental impact of the tour with any certainty was difficult, experts said. “We can expect that some Swift fans will travel a long way to see one, if not several, shows across Europe”, said Stefan Gössling, a professor of tourism at Linnaeus University in Kalmar, Sweden. “But measuring the environmental impact of these trips is extremely difficult – it would involve a lot of guesswork.”

This did not mean the carbon footprint was negligible. “Every flight taken by a person adds to demand and hence influences supply considerations,” Gössling said. “The greater the demand, the more aircrafts are in service.”

The pop star’s carbon footprint is easier to estimate. Swift owns two jets by the French manufacturer Dassault, whose journeys are trackable. During the 2023 leg of the Eras tour, Swift’s planes spent 166 hours crisscrossing the US in about 75 individual journeys, though it is possible they were used by people other than the singer.

According to data available through the open-access aviation tracker ADS-B exchange, Swift’s jets caused carbon emissions of about 2,830 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent over the course of the US Eras tour – about 1,700 times the annual contribution of an average person.

A spokesperson for Swift told US media last year that in advance of the tour’s start in March 2023, the pop star bought more than double the carbon credits needed to offset all tour travel. Carbon offset credits are tradable certificates that allow purchasers to compensate for emissions by investing in environmental projects that claim to reduce carbon emissions, though recent studies have questioned the efficacy of these schemes.

Additional reporting by Ajit Niranjan

• Taylor Swift
• Travel & leisure
• Music industry
• Hospitality industry
• Airline industry
• Pop and rock

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The 30 Highest-Grossing Movies of All Time

Posted: April 8, 2024 | Last updated: April 15, 2024

Every few years, a blockbuster movie comes along and breaks the box office, joining the list of highest-grossing movies of all time.

Several of the films near the top of this list were released in the past decade, benefitting from today's higher ticket prices, but every movie here has shown enough staying power at the worldwide box office to smash record after record.

That makes the No. 1 title, "Avatar," even more impressive, since the underwater epic came out 15 years ago, when ticket prices were lower, yet is still on top of the worldwide list. Its sequel, "The Way of Water," hovers not far behind at No. 3. The takeaway? Never underestimate James Cameron, since he has three out of the top four entries worldwide.

Note that this list is not adjusted for inflation; determining the top films of all time at the time they were released is an imperfect science. Looking at only domestic (U.S. and Canada) releases, the top films adjusted for inflation are estimated to be "Gone With the Wind," "Star Wars," "The Sound of Music," "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" and "Titanic."

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1. Avatar (2009)

Worldwide gross: $2,923,706,026

Domestic gross: $785,221,649

James Cameron's sci-fi fantasy epic "Avatar" smashed records and remains the reigning box office champion. Sam Worthington stars as paralyzed former Marine Jake Sully, who finds a new life on the planet Pandora when he begins inhabiting an avatar version of its native people.

2. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Worldwide gross: $2,799,439,100

Domestic gross: $858,373,000

Marvel fans from around the world waited in anticipation for the MCU's follow up to "Avengers: Infinity War." With the fate of the entire universe on the line, heroes from all different realms and planets teamed up to defeat Thanos and bring half the population back to life.

3. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Worldwide gross: $2,320,250,281

Domestic gross: $684,075,767

More than a decade after the unparalleled success of "Avatar," James Cameron followed up his biggest hit with "The Way of Water," which jumps several years ahead to show Jake and Netreyi (Zoë Saldaña) raising a family together. When humans return to threaten Pandora, they turn to the planet's water-dwelling inhabitants in search of safety.

4. Titanic (1997)

Worldwide gross: $2,264,750,694

Domestic gross: $674,292,608

Kate and Leo — need we use last names? — star as star-crossed lovers in James Cameron's timeless drama about the ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic. With a swoon-worthy love story, an iconic soundtrack showcasing the talents of James Horner and Céline Dion, and the intrigue of a historic tragedy, "Titanic" is a story we'll "never let go" of.

5. Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015)

Worldwide gross: $2,071,310,218

Domestic gross: $936,662,225

"Star Wars" fans have always proven to be a dedicated group, and they certainly showed up for "The Force Awakens," which features beloved franchise icons and newcomers alike. In the seventh installment to the Skywalker Saga, Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Hans Solo (Harrison Ford) are looking for Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) amid their fight against the Galactic Empire. While Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) leads the dark side, General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) helms the Resistance.

6. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Worldwide gross: $2,052,415,039

Domestic gross: $678,815,482

The "Avengers" saga led up to the penultimate chapter "Infinity War," in which our beloved MCU heroes fight to stop Thanos from retrieving the powerful infinity stones, which he plans to use to wipe out half the population of the universe.

7. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Worldwide gross: $1,921,847,111

Domestic gross: $814,115,070

"No Way Home" stirred tons of chatter long before its December 2021 release date, with fans speculating that its multiverse storyline would bring together Peter Parkers of past and present. While Marvel and cast members remained tight-lipped, audiences were indeed treated to the unprecedented joy of seeing Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland share the screen.

8. Jurassic World (2015)

Worldwide gross: $1,671,537,444

Domestic gross: $653,406,625

"Jurassic World" revived the beloved franchise that began with Steven Spielberg's classic 1993 film, "Jurassic Park." Chris Evans and Bryce Dallas Howard star in the blockbuster reboot, in which dinosaurs run loose at the titular theme park on Isla Nublar.

9. The Lion King (2019)

Worldwide Gross : $1,663,079,059

Domestic Gross : $543,638,043

"The Lion King" struck a chord with critics and audiences alike as the second live action reimagining of a classic Disney movie after "The Jungle Book" in 2016. The 2019 film tells the same Shakespearian legend as the first, following the young lion Simba on a quest to avenge the life of his father Mufasa and reclaim his place on Pride Rock as king.

10. The Avengers (2012)

Worldwide Gross: $1,520,538,536

Domestic Gross: $623,357,910

It's the film that officially cemented the MCU as box office lightning for the next decade. "The Avengers" saw Earth's mightiest heroes join forces on the big screen for the first time to do battle with the Norse God Loki his army of alien super soldiers.

12. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Worldwide Gross: $1,495,696,292

Domestic Gross: $718,732,821

The sequel to the 1986 classic soared high above expectations and gave a much needed post-pandemic jolt to cinemas across the world. "Top Gun: Maverick" saw Pete "Maverick" Mitchell return to the Navy 30 years later to train a fresh batch of pilots for a missions that seems all but impossible.

13. Frozen II (2019)

Worldwide Gross: $1,453,683,476

Domestic Gross: $477,373,578

Following the massive success of "Frozen," the sequel more than delivered on the same magic and charm that wowed family audiences around the world. "Frozen II" sees Elsa leaving her kingdom of Arendelle and venturing into far off lands on a journey of self discovery.

14. Barbie (2023)

Worldwide Gross: $1,445,638,421

Domestic Gross: $636,238,421

The pink-plastered blockbuster sensation was an immediate viral hit and the undisputed must see movie of 2023. "Barbie" saw the iconic plastic doll leave her home of Barbie Land for the first time to face the harsh realities waiting in the real world.

15. Avengers Age of Ultron (2015)

Worldwide Gross: $1,405,018,048

Domestic Gross: $459,005,868

The second film in the "Avengers" series was an explosive follow-up to the original that saw the MCU adapt a darker presentation in its action and themes. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" pinned the Earth's mightiest heroes against the robot overlord Ultron after Tony Stark's plans for a team of dispensable robot peacekeepers goes horribly wrong.

16. Frozen (2013)

Worldwide Gross: $1,397,045,694

Domestic Gross : $400,953,009

The iconic first film is not only the third-highest grossing Disney musical of all time, but it is most likely number one in the hearts of many across the globe. In "Frozen," after Queen Elsa uses her ice powers to cast an eternal winter over the kingdom of Arendelle, her sister Anna teams up with a mountain man and a whimsical snowman to reverse the curse and save her home.

17. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Worldwide gross: $1.3 billion

Domestic gross: $574 million

This comedy-adventure animated film follows the origin story of the famous plumber brothers Mario and Luigi who become separated when transported to a different dimension. The brothers get caught up in a battle between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Koopas, and try to find their way back to one another.

18. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Domestic gross: $381 million

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermoine (Emma Watson) prepare for their final battle against Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) in the second half of the conclusion to the magical series. They continue to search for the Dark Lord's final Horcruxes to rid the world of his evil.

19. Black Panther (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1.35 billion

Domestic gross: $700 million

Former prince T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is crowned king of the country of Wakanda after his father's passing, but is challenged by Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). T'Challa's position as king and Black Panther is tested when a conflict he becomes involved in puts Wakanda and the world at risk.

20. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1.33 billion

Domestic gross: $620 million

The second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" follows Rey (Daisy Ridley) learning the ways of the Force from Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and the Resistance's fight against Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the First Order.

21. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1.31 billion

Domestic gross: $417 million

The sci-fi adventure follow up to "Jurassic World," "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" sees Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) return to Isla Nublar to save the remaining dinosaurs from a soon-to-erupt volcano. Set three years after the fall of the Jurassic World theme park, the pair discover new breeds of dinosaurs and a plot that threatens the Earth.

22. Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1.27 billion

Domestic gross: $504 million

The live-action musical fantasy film follows Belle (Emma Watson) and the Beast (Dan Stevens) in their love story. Adapted from the animated version of the movie, the Beast is a former prince cast under a spell that forces him to live as a beast until he finds true love in Belle, who he keeps prisoner.

23. Incredibles 2 (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1.24 billion

Domestic gross: $608 million

"Incredibles 2" follows the Incredibles family as they attempt to restore the public's love for superheroes. Elastigirl continues to fight crime while Mr. Incredible stays home and takes care of Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack. As the cybercriminal Screenslaver tries to hypnotize the world through computer screens to turn the public against the heroes, the family teams up to take the criminal down.

24. The Fate of the Furious (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1.23 billion

Domestic gross: $226 million

The eighth movie in the Fast & Furious franchise, "The Fate of the Furious" follows Dom (Vin Diesel) turning against his team under the influence of a woman named Cipher (Charlize Theron). The rest of the racing crew must team up to stop Cipher and reconnect with Dom.

25. Iron Man 3 (2013)

Worldwide gross: $1.21 billion

Domestic gross: $409 million

"Iron Man 3" is third movie in the Iron Man franchise. Robert Downey Jr. suits up as Tony Stark and faces a malevolent enemy known as the Mandarin.

26. Minions (2015)

Worldwide gross: $1.16 billion

Domestic gross: $336 million

"Minions," the prequel to 2010's "Despicable Me," follows the Minions' search for their new evil master after accidentally killing all of their old ones.

27. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Domestic gross: $379 million

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is the final battle between good and evil. It stars Elijah Wood, Sean Astin and Ian McKellen.

28. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Domestic gross: $408 million

Disagreements separates the Avengers into two factions: one led by Captain America (Chris Evans) and the other by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). As the debate between the two heroes escalates, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) are forced to pick a side.

29. Aquaman (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1.15 billion

Domestic gross: $335 million

Jason Momoa stars as the film's namesake in "Aquaman." The hero must retrieve the Trident of Atlan and embrace his powers to rule the underwater kingdom.

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