The following is a list of concert tours that have generated the most gross income. The data and rankings come largely from reports made by trade publications Billboard and Pollstar. Billboard, which launched the boxscore ranking in 1975 through Amusement Business, has featured the ranking on its own magazine since October 3, 1981. Pollstar began reporting data on November 29, 1981, but it has relatively little information about pre-2000 tours. In the 21st century, tour revenue skyrocketed, as record sales collapsed and musicians began relying on live shows for their income.
The first tours to surpass $100 million were Michael Jackson's Bad World Tour and Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour, both running from 1987 until 1989. Tina Turner became the first female act to achieve the feat, with her Wildest Dreams Tour (1996âÂÂ1997). Pollstar estimated that Taylor Swift's Eras Tour was the first to collect $1 billion in 2023, though Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour became the first to officially report the number in August 2024. The Eras Tour concluded in December 2024 with $2.07 billion, becoming the first tour to reach $2 billion.
The Rolling Stones set the all-time record for touring revenue three times (1990, 1995 and 2006), more than any other act. Their Voodoo Lounge Tour remained the highest-grossing tour of all time for 11 years (1995âÂÂ2006), longer than any other record-holder. They are the only musicians to achieve the highest-grossing tour of the decade twice, in the 1990s and the 2000s. The Rolling Stones and U2 have mounted the highest-grossing tour of the year eight times each, more than any other act. Some of the highest-grossing tours had extensive schedules. Inside the Top 20, Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road is the longest (330 shows in five years), while Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour is the shortest (56 shows in a single year).
This list represents the top-grossing tour of each year according to data provided by either Pollstar or Billboard Boxscore (formerly Amusement Business). The two publications may differ on their annual figures due to different total of dates reported or different year-end tracking period. For example, Pollstar listed Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour as the top tour of 2008 with $281.6 million, but Billboard ranked it third on their year-end chart whose tracking period ended on November 11, 2008, thus excluding 20 shows by Madonna. In 2019, Billboard listed Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour as the top tour of the year ($223.7 million), instead of Pink's Beautiful Trauma World Tour ($215.2 million) as reported by Pollstar. However, Billboards figure included Sheeran's gross from November 2018 shows; therefore, Pollstars figure is closer to accurate for the 2019 calendar year.