For almost 40 years, the largest World Tour have been charted by Billboard Boxscore, with top performers including Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, SZA, and Post Malone. With the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which concluded after more than 300 performances, Elton John just shattered the record for the biggest-earning tour of all time. The British rock act’s stranglehold was broken by Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, which also cracked the top. Guns N’ Roses, Ed Sheeran, The Rolling Stones, and more are included in the new most famous World Tours. These musicians‘ arrival would update the famous and broaden the present roster’s variety.
Coldplay – A Head Full of Dreams Tour (2016-17)
Coldplay’s finest tour to date, the Mylo Xyloto Tour in 2011–12, was almost quadrupled by the 2016–17 A Head Full of Dreams Tour. The pop-rock ensemble became travelling legends after a five-year hiatus, 38 more performances, and an upgrade to stadiums throughout the globe. The band’s most recent World tour broke the previous record and climbed even higher on the all-time list. 2016 and 2017 saw Coldplay sell out stadiums all around the world, bringing in an average of $4,588,015 for each performance. Although it’s not their highest-grossing tour to date, the pop-rock trio has set a record with this one.
The Rolling Stones – No Filter Tour (2017-19, 2021)
Out of the most famous tours with fewer than 100 gigs, the Rolling Stones’ No Filter World Tour was one of them. Four summer runs across Europe and North America made up the tour, which brought in an average of more than $11 million for each event. The Stones’ 58-concert tour, which brought in an astounding $546,500,000 with an average revenue of $9,422,414 per show, was among the top ten highest-grossing tours in history. With 2.9 million attendees, the tour brought in an astounding $547 million in revenue.
The Rolling Stones – A Bigger Bang Tour (2005-07)
Beginning in August 2005, two tours by the formidable travelling band The Rolling Stones are included in the all-time top 10. With $558 million in revenue, their 2005–2007 A Bigger Bang Tour—which included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Charlie Watts—was the highest-grossing World tour. Featuring 111 gigs and all of The Rolling Stones’ greatest hits as well as songs from their A Bigger Bang album, the tour drew 3.5 million spectators. Every single one of The Rolling Stones’ greatest singles was on the tour schedule.
Beyoncé – Renaissance World Tour (2023)
Beyoncé performed 56 gigs in less than five months as part of her “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” across New Jersey, offering a blend of pop, dance, and R&B to an almost entirely British rock audience. With a record-breaking average revenue of $10,578,359 per show, the World tour concluded on October 1, 2023, having earned $592,388,129 from its 56 concerts, making it the sixth-earning tour ever. With a blend of pop, dance, and R&B, Beyoncé is the only American solo act, the lone woman, and the only Black musician among nearly all of the British rock acts on the list.
Guns N’ Roses – Not in This Lifetime… Tour (2016-19)
The ‘Not In This Lifetime’ Tour by Guns N’ Roses, which brought back Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan from their iconic 1980s lineup, sold out with an average total of $584 million. During its 158-show run from 2016 to 2019, the tour sold out 5.4 million tickets and drew 5.4 million spectators. Showcasing their capacity to regain their fame and draw a sizable crowd, the World tour featured songs from their most adored albums and was a huge success.
Harry Styles – Love on Tour (2021-23)
Former member of One Direction Harry Styles has started his global tour, called “Love On Tour,” in support of his albums Harry’s House and Fine Line. Styles made nearly $600 million on the World tour, which started with post-pandemic performances for Fine Line in 2019 and continued with concerts for his Grammy-winning record Harry’s House in 2022–2023. The tour took place across five continents.
On July 22, 2023, the tour came to a close in Italy, grossing $3,647,070 in total. The tour, which began as an arena tour before moving to stadiums owing to tremendous demand, is among the greatest earning tours in history. Styles played 169 gigs between 2021 and 2023, bringing in an average of $3,652,663 for each show. On July 22, 2023, the World tour concluded.
Coldplay – Music of the Spheres World Tour (2022-23)
Coldplay, which includes Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, and Jonny Buckland, has started their largest tour to date, becoming the second act after The Rolling Stones to have multiple $500 million tour sales. In Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South America, the band has played to packed houses in stadiums. There is additional space to add people to the list; the trip is slated to go until February 2024. Out of 165 gigs, 107 had statistics available for Coldplay, with an average revenue of $5,774,044. The tour may become the first to earn over $1 billion with shows remaining until September 2024, although Taylor Swift could surpass them in revenue.
U2 – U2 360° Tour (2009-11)
From 2011 to 2019, U2 held the record for the longest touring run, making history both artistically with in-the-round technology advancements and commercially as the first $700 million tour ever. For over ten years, the U2 360° Tour was the greatest earning tour of all time. It took place between 2009 and 2011. With the help of Bono and friends, the tour completed 110 sold-out performances with an average revenue of $6,694,742 per concert. The tour served as a promotion for No Line on the Horizon, U2’s 12th studio album. Bono and associates topped the 2009 year-end Top Tours list; they fell to No. 2 in 2010 but rose back to the top in 2011.
Ed Sheeran – The ÷ (Divide) Tour (2017-19)
On June 6, 2023, Ed Sheeran, better known as The Mathematics Tour, appeared on NBC’s “Today” show live from Rockefeller Centre in New York, U.S. More tickets were sold for the Division Tour than for any previous run in Boxscore history, with almost nine million sold over six continents. Sheeran’s most recent album, (Subtract), is featured on his setlist. In August 2019, the tour smashed U2’s record by selling around nine million tickets on six continents.
After starting in arenas, Sheeran’s ÷ Tour swiftly spread to stadiums across North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, South America, and Africa. Sheeran played 255 shows over three years, averaging $3,043,922 per event. There are only a few hours in the all-time top 10.
Elton John – Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour (2018-20, 2022-23)
The famous British musician Elton John wrapped up his Glastonbury Festival with a farewell world tour across the world, his last gig in the United Kingdom. The tour became the highest-grossing tour of all time when it concluded in January 2023 with eight performances in Australia and New Zealand. John’s five-year farewell tour has outperformed Sheeran, U2, and others by over $150 million with 49 final stadium gigs in Europe.
John’s ascent from a top-20 competitor to the all-time champion was expedited by the world tour, which started in arenas before the epidemic and spread to stadiums across the world. At a garden party at Windsor in June, Billboard presented John with an award.
Taylor Swift – The Eras Tour (2023)
Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” demonstrates her appeal on a worldwide scale as well as her range of musical styles. On June 9, 2023, the tour—which first off with her Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018—will stop at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. Her four studio albums, Lover (2019), Folklore (2020), Evermore (2020), and Midnights (2022), are honoured with this world tour. With an average ticket price of $253.56 and an average gross of $13,627,946, the tour had a $300,804,808 profit.
Conclusion
The biggest world tours in the world by musical artists are ranked by Boxscore, and notable acts like Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, SZA, and Post Malone are setting new records. Records have also been broken by Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour and Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. Records were also broken by The Rolling Stones’ No Filter Tour and Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams Tour.
Records have also been broken by Beyoncé’s pop, dance, and R&B-themed Renaissance World Tour. The “Not in This Lifetime…” Tour by Guns N’ Roses has also been a hit. Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour has sold over $500 million in tour tickets, while Harry Styles’ “Love On Tour” brought in about $600 million.
