List of highest-grossing concert tours
This is an incomplete list of the highest-grossing concert tours. Some of the gross may be higher than reported on this list because not all concerts are reported. Only tours using reliable references have been added to the list.
| Rank | Actual gross | Inflation (adjusted 2025 gross) |
Artist | Tour name | Year(s) | Shows | Attendance | Average gross (millions) | Average attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $558,255,524 | $851,487,770 | The Rolling Stones | A Bigger Bang Tour | 2005–2007 | 144 | 4,680,000 | 3.8 | 32,500 | [1] |
| 2 | $408,000,000 | $579,032,521 | Madonna | Sticky & Sweet Tour | 2008–2009 | 85 | 3,500,000 | 4.8 | 41,716 | [2] |
| 3 | $389,000,000 | $587,930,670 | U2 | Vertigo Tour | 2005–2006 | 131 | 4,619,021 | 2.96 | 35,259 | [3] |
| 4 | $358,825,665 | $507,791,003 | The Police | The Police Reunion Tour | 2007–2008 | 156 | 1,800,000 | 2.3 | 11,538 | [4] |
| 5 | $320,000,000 | $639,860,231 | The Rolling Stones | Voodoo Lounge Tour | 1994–1995 | 129 | 2.48 | [5][6] | ||
| 6 | $311,637,730[a] | $442,586,483 | U2 | U2 360° Tour | 2009–2010 | 44 | 3,071,290 | 7.1 | 69,802 | [7][8] |
| 7 | $300,000,000 | $496,888,567 | The Rolling Stones | Licks Tour | 2002–2003 | 117 | 3,400,000 | 2.56 | 29,059 | [9] |
| 8 | $279,200,000 | $279,200,000 | Celine Dion | Taking Chances Tour | 2008–2009 | 132 | 2,300,000 | 2.1 | 9,586 | [10] |
| 9 | $235,000,000 | $332,559,505 | Bruce Springsteen | Magic Tour | 2007–2008 | 100 | 2,198,353 | 2.4 | 21,983 | [11] |
| 10 | $221,500,000 | $366,869,392 | Bruce Springsteen | The Rising Tour | 2002–2003 | 120 | 1.8 | [12] | ||
| 11 | $210,600,000 | $298,029,923 | Bon Jovi | Lost Highway Tour | 2007–2008 | 99 | 2,157,675 | 2.1 | 21,794 | [11] |
| 12 | $194,754,447 | $294,349,904 | Madonna | Confessions Tour | 2006 | 60 | 1,210,294 | 3.2 | 20,171 | [13] |
| 13 | $250,000,000 | $422,776,623 | Cher | Living Proof: The Farewell Tour | 2002–2005 | 325 | 3,500,000 | .592 | 6,153 | [14] |
| 14 | $171,677,024 | $320,921,770 | U2 | PopMart Tour | 1997–1998 | 93 | 3,935,936 | 1.8 | 42,322 | [15] |
| 15 | $163,500,000 | $310,324,627 | Michael Jackson | HIStory World Tour | 1996–1997 | 82 | 4,500,000 | 2.0 | 54,878 | [16] |
| 16 | $143,000,000 | $246,064,274 | U2 | Elevation Tour | 2001 | 113 | 2,155,845 | 1.3 | 22,649 | [17] |
| 17 | $141,000,000 | $207,189,215 | Tim McGraw and Faith Hill | Soul2Soul II Tour | 2006–2007 | 117 | 1,673,667 | 1.2 | 14,304 | [18] |
| 18 | $126,800,000 | $186,323,351 | Justin Timberlake | FutureSex/LoveShow | 2007 | 119 | 1,547,145 | 1.06 | 13,001 | [19] |
| 19 | $126,100,000 | $213,611,767 | Paul McCartney | Driving Tour[b] | 2002 | 58 | 2.1 | [20] | ||
| 20 | $124,790,787 | $201,300,995 | Madonna | Re-Invention World Tour | 2004 | 56 | 896,787 | 2.2 | 16,014 | [21] |
Notes
- ^ Tour in progress until 2010 and gross is subject to change.
- ^ Encompasses Driving USA Tour, Back in the U.S. tour, Driving Mexico Tour, and Driving Japan Tour.
References
- de la Parra, Pimm Jal (2003). U2 Live: A Concert Documentary. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9198-7.
- ^ "Rolling Stones Tour Grosses More Than Half A Billion". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
- ^ "Madonna Wraps Record-Breaking Sticky & Sweet Tour in Israel". Rolling Stone. September 3, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
- ^ Cossar, Neil (March 28, 2009). "This Day in Music - March 28th". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
- ^ "Reggatta De Banc - Blockbuster Police Tour 'Played Out Perfectly'..." Billboard. August 20, 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ http://www.nme.com/news/rolling-stones/25204
- ^ http://www.iorr.org/iorr25/poptab.htm
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2009-10-04-u2-stadium-tour_N.htm
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2_360%C2%B0_Tour#cite_note-Box_10-31-81
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003650410#/news/stones-lick-up-300-million-in-milestone-2041450.story
- ^ http://www.pollstarpro.com/SpecialFeatures2009/2009Top25WordwideTours.pdf
- ^ a b "Bon Jovi Scores 2008's Top Grossing Tour". Billboard.
- ^ http://www.staticmultimedia.com/content/music/news/news_1108662235
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003154128#/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003154128
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5366510.stm
- ^ de la Parra (2003). p. 221.
- ^ http://kennyortega.com/blog/past-projects/concerts/music-concerts-directing/michael-jacksons-history-tour/
- ^ de la Parra (2003). p. 268.
- ^ http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,3034,GAC_26063_5691184,00.html
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003685265#/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003685265
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000707078#/news/mccartney-notches-year-s-highest-grossing-1782120.story
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000707078#/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000707078