The 10 highest-grossing concert tours of all time, ranked: from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé to the Rolling Stones, Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles – but whose lifetime of live shows banked them US$2 billion?
Rock gods and pop icons alike are taking to the road on elaborate, years-long world tours that rake in the cash, with takings starting in the millions and now climbing into the billions of US dollars
The music industry has undergone quite the transformation in the two decades since the internet revolutionised the way we consume its product. In a streaming world, artists are less able than ever to rely simply on album sales to make them wealthy, no matter how popular their beats may be.
Instead, the industry’s big bucks are increasingly found in concerts and tours, which are becoming ever more lucrative. While touring is certainly no new concept, it’s worth noting that the 10 highest-grossing tours of all time have taken place in the last 20 years, with six of the top 10 in the last five years.
Here are the artists that are singing all the way to the bank.
10 and 9. The Rolling Stones
No Filter Tour, 2017-21
Gross revenue: US$547 million
A Bigger Bang Tour, 2005-07
Gross revenue: US$558 million
Proving they are among the most powerful touring bands in the world, The Rolling Stones are the only act to post two tours in the top 10, coming in at ninth and 10th. The English rock band’s A Bigger Bang Tour is also the least recent on the list.
8. Beyoncé
Renaissance World Tour, 2023
Gross revenue: US$580 million
7. Guns N’ Roses
Not In This Lifetime … Tour, 2016-19
Gross revenue: US$584 million
