List of highest-grossing concert tours
This is an incomplete list of the top concert tour grosses worldwide. 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 | Artist | Tour name | Year | Shows | Attendance | Average Gross per show ($Millions) |
Average Attendance per show |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $558,255,524[1][2][3] | The Rolling Stones | A Bigger Bang Tour | 2005–2007 | 144 | 4,680,000 | 3.8 | 32,500 |
| 2 | $407,713,266[4] | Madonna | Sticky & Sweet Tour | 2008–2009 | 85 | 3,545,899 | 4.8 | 41,716 |
| 3 | $390,800,000+[5] | Celine Dion | A New Day... | 2003-2007 | 723 | 2,930,000 | 0.557 | 4,000 |
| 4 | $389,000,000[2] | U2 | Vertigo Tour | 2005–2006 | 131 | 4,619,021 | 2.96 | 35,259 |
| 5 | $358,000,000[6] | The Police | Reunion Tour | 2007–2008 | 156 | 1,800,000 | 2.3 | 11,538 |
| 6 | $320,000,000[7][8] | The Rolling Stones | Voodoo Lounge Tour | 1994-1995 | 129 | 2.48 | ||
| 7 | $300,000,000[9] | The Rolling Stones | Licks Tour | 2002–2003 | 117 | 3,400,000 | 2.56 | 29,059 |
| 8 | $299,000,0001 [10] | U2 | 360° Tour | 2009-2010 | 44 | 3,000,000 | 6.8 | 68,181 |
| 9 | $279,200,000[11] | Celine Dion | Taking Chances Tour | 2008–2009 | 132 | 2,300,000 | 2.1 | 9,586 |
| 10 | $235,000,000[12] | Bruce Springsteen | Magic Tour | 2007–2008 | 100 | 2,198,353 | 2.4 | 21,983 |
| 11 | $221,500,000[13] | Bruce Springsteen | The Rising Tour | 2002–2003 | 120 | 1.8 | ||
| 12 | $210,600,000[12] | Bon Jovi | Lost Highway Tour | 2007–2008 | 99 | 2,157,675 | 2.1 | 21,794 |
| 13 | $194,754,447[14] | Madonna | Confessions Tour | 2006 | 60 | 1,210,294 | 3.2 | 20,171 |
| 14 | $192,500,000[15] | Cher | Living Proof: The Farewell Tour | 2002-2005 | 325 | 2´000,000+ | .592 | |
| 15 | $163,500,000[16] | Michael Jackson | HIStory World Tour | 1996–1997 | 82 | 4,500,000 | 2.0 | 54,878 |
| 16 | $143,000,000[17] | U2 | Elevation Tour | 2001 | 113 | 2,559,423 | 1.3 | 22,649 |
| 17 | $141,000,000[18] | Tim McGraw & Faith Hill | Soul2Soul II Tour | 2006-2007 | 117 | 1,673,667 | 1.2 | 14,304 |
| 18 | $133,000,000[19] | Celine Dion | Let's Talk About Love Tour | 1998-1999 | 97 | 2,300,000 | 1.37 | 23,711 |
| 19 | $126,800,000[20] | Justin Timberlake | FutureSex/LoveShow | 2007 | 119 | 1,547,145 | 1.06 | 13,001 |
| 20 | $126,100,000[21] | Paul McCartney | Driving Tour2 | 2002 | 58 | 2.1 | ||
- 1 Counting all performances in 2009 and only counting attendence and gross from tickets already sold as of October 9th 2009. Tour is ongoing, another 50+ dates are expected to be added in 2010.
- 2 Encompasses Driving USA Tour, Back In The U.S. Tour, Driving Mexico Tour, and Driving Japan Tour.
Gross adjusted for inflation
This article uses inflation adjusted dollars inflated to 2008 to make the comparisons more accurate for tours that took place many years ago. The inflation calculator used is here.[22]
| Rank | Inflation Adjusted Gross |
Actual Gross | Artist | Tour name | Year | Shows | Attendance | Average Gross per show ($Millions) |
Average Attendance per show |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $579,469,233 | $558,255,524[23][2] | The Rolling Stones | A Bigger Bang Tour | 2005–2007 | 144 | 3,545,899 | 3.8 | 32,500 |
| 2 | $447,915,290 | $320,000,000[24] | The Rolling Stones | Voodoo Lounge Tour | 1994-1995 | 129 | 2.48 | ||
| 3 | $415,087,896 | $389,000,000[2] | U2 | Vertigo Tour | 2005–2006 | 131 | 4,619,021 | 2.96 | 35,259 |
| 4 | $407,713,266 | $407,713,266[25] | Madonna | Sticky & Sweet Tour | 2008–2009 | 85 | 3,545,899 | 4.8 | 41,716 |
| 5 | $358,000,000 | $358,000,000[26] | The Police | Reunion Tour | 2007–2008 | 156 | 1,800,000 | 2.3 | 11,538 |
| 6 | $350,474,519 | $300,000,000[27] | The Rolling Stones | Licks Tour | 2002–2003 | 117 | 3,400,000 | 2.56 | 29,059 |
| 7 | $299,000,000 | $299,000,0001 [28] | U2 | 360° Tour | 2009-2010 | 44 | 3,000,000 | 6.8 | 68,181 |
| 8 | $279,200,000 | $279,200,000[29] | Celine Dion | Taking Chances Tour | 2008–2009 | 132 | 2,300,000 | 2.1 | 9,586 |
| 9 | $258,221,000 | $221,500,000[30] | Bruce Springsteen | The Rising Tour | 2002–2003 | 120 | 1.8 | ||
| 10 | $235,000,000 | $235,000,000[12] | Bruce Springsteen | Magic Tour | 2007–2008 | 100 | 2,198,353 | 2.4 | 21,983 |
| 11 | $217,808,757 | $163,500,000[31] | Michael Jackson | HIStory World Tour | 1996–1997 | 82 | 4,500,000 | 2.0 | 54,878 |
| 12 | $210,600,000 | $210,600,000[12] | Bon Jovi | Lost Highway Tour | 2007–2008 | 99 | 2,157,675 | 2.1 | 21,794 |
| 13 | $210,545,065 | $192,500,000[32] | Cher | Living Proof: The Farewell Tour | 2002-2005 | 325 | 2´000,000+ | 0.592 | |
| 14 | $207,815,459 | $194,754,447[33] | Madonna | Confessions Tour | 2006 | 60 | 1,210,294 | 3.2 | 20,171 |
| 15 | $174,319,259 | $143,000,000[34] | U2 | Elevation Tour | 2001 | 113 | 2,559,423 | 1.3 | 22,649 |
| 16 | $168,000,000 | $85,000,000[35] | Bruce Springsteen | Born in the U.S.A. Tour | 1984–1985 | 156 | 0.5 | ||
| 17 | $150,100,000 | $126,100,000[36] | Paul McCartney | Driving Tour2 | 2002 | 58 | 2.1 | ||
| 18 | $146,000,000 | $141,000,000[37] | Tim McGraw & Faith Hill | Soul2Soul II Tour | 2006-2007 | 117 | 1,673,667 | 1.2 | 14,304 |
| 19 | $141,129,367 | $124,790,787[38] | Madonna | Re-Invention World Tour | 2004 | 56 | 896,787 | 2.2 | 16,014 |
| 20 | $131,618,400 | $126,800,000[39] | Justin Timberlake | FutureSex/LoveShow | 2007 | 119 | 1,547,145 | 1.06 | 13,001 |
- 1 Counting all performances in 2009 and only counting attendence and gross from tickets already sold as of October 9th 2009. Tour is ongoing, another 50+ dates are expected to be added in 2010.
- 2 Encompasses Driving USA Tour, Back In The U.S. Tour, Driving Mexico Tour, and Driving Japan Tour.
References
- ^ "Rolling Stones tour breaks attendance records". huliq.com.
- ^ a b c d "U2's concert deal illustrates new face of music industry". The Independent.
- ^ http://www.huliq.com/37065/rolling-stones-tour-breaks-attendance-records
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS216200+02-Sep-2009+PRN20090902
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS73259+15-Dec-2007+BW20071215
- ^ http://www.thepolice.com/news/news.php?uid=5833
- ^ http://www.nme.com/news/rolling-stones/25204
- ^ http://www.iorr.org/iorr25/poptab.htm
- ^ 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.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2009-10-04-u2-stadium-tour_N.htm
- ^ http://www.pollstarpro.com/SpecialFeatures2009/2009Top25WordwideTours.pdf
- ^ a b c d "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
- ^ http://kennyortega.com/blog/past-projects/concerts/music-concerts-directing/michael-jacksons-history-tour/
- ^ http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4362742-1.html
- ^ http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,3034,GAC_26063_5691184,00.html
- ^ http://www.celinedion.com/tours.htm
- ^ 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.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi
- ^ "Rolling Stones tour breaks attendance records". huliq.com.
- ^ http://www.nme.com/news/rolling-stones/25204
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS216200+02-Sep-2009+PRN20090902
- ^ http://www.thepolice.com/news/news.php?uid=5833
- ^ 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.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2009-10-04-u2-stadium-tour_N.htm
- ^ http://www.pollstarpro.com/SpecialFeatures2009/2009Top25WordwideTours.pdf
- ^ http://www.staticmultimedia.com/content/music/news/news_1108662235
- ^ http://kennyortega.com/blog/past-projects/concerts/music-concerts-directing/michael-jacksons-history-tour/
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5366510.stm
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003154128#/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003154128
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003154128#/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003154128
- ^ Fricke, David (February 27, 1986). "The Long and Winding Road". Rolling Stone.
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000707078#/news/mccartney-notches-year-s-highest-grossing-1782120.story
- ^ 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=1000707078#/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000707078
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003685265#/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003685265