Biggest Grossing Tours Of All Time

[STING2]

Here are the top 10 tours worldwide regardless of the years the tour may fall in.



1. Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang Tour" 2005-2006 $440,982,715.5

2. U2 "Vertigo Tour" 2005-2006 $389,047,636

3. Rolling Stones "Bridges To Babylon/No Security Tour" 1997/1998/1999 $339 million GROSS.

4. Rolling Stones "Voodoo Lounge Tour " 1994-1995 $319 million GROSS.

5. Rolling Stones "Licks Tour" 2002-2003 $300 million GROSS.


At #6 is likely Bruce Springsteens "Rising Tour" which did $158.4 million in the USA, and probably another $75 million outside of North America for a total of around $230 million worldwide. This could be a little higher or lower, and would require a look up of the European Boxscores from 2003 to get a confirmed total.

At #7 is likely the Eagles "Hell Freezes Over Tour" which started in 1994 and went through the end of 1996. The tour Grossed $140 million dollars just from its North American dates in 1994 and 1995. It then did another $20 million in North America in 1996. Shows outside North America were smaller in number, but with a total North American Gross of $160 million from nearly 3 years of touring, its likely that the global total is around $200 million.

8. Madonna "Confessions Tour" $197,754,447

The next 3 tours are close in GROSS, but I only have exact figures for one, which is POPMART, so I'll put it first.

9. U2 "POPMART" 1997-1998 $171,677,024 GROSS

10. Rolling Stones "Steel Wheels Tour" 1989-1990 close to $170 million. There are no precise figures for this tours dates OUTSIDE North America since this tour is prior to 1995 when Amusement Business started to track such data. Because of that, this figure will always be an estimate of some sort.

11. Pink Floyd "Division Bell Tour" 1994 close to $170 million. This tour is in the same boat as the Steel Wheels tour because its international figures took place prior to 1995 and were not recorded by Amusement Business.


The farwell tours by Tina Tour and Cher were both large extensive multi-year tours that might be competitive enough for the top 10. I don't have the international figures, but in North America, Tina Turner did $80.2 million. She likely did as much if not more outside North America. Cher's 2002-2003 North American total was a massive $141.8 million. Also, Paul McCartney's recent tour from 2002 could be a contender but I'm not sure how many shows he played outside of North America if any.





Here is the top 12 North American Tours from Pollstar which only uses the highest single calander year gross total, which cuts some tours totals off.

1. The Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang Tour" $162 million 2005
2. U2 "Vertigo Tour" $138.9 million 2005
3. The Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang Tour" $138.5 million 2006
4. The Rolling Stones "Voodoo Loung Tour" $121.2 million 1994
5. Bruce Springsteen "The Rising Tour" $115.9 million 2003
6. U2 "Elevation Tour" $109.7 million 2001
7. Pink Floyd "Division Bell tour" $103.5 million 1994
8. Paul McCartney $103.3 million 2002
9. The Rolling Stones "Steel Wheels Tour" $98 million 1989
10. Barbara Streisand $92.5 million 2006
11. Tim McGraw / Faith Hill $88.8 million 2006
12. The Rolling Stones "Bridges To Babylon Tour" $89.3 million 1997
13. Madonna "Confessions Tour" $88,842,663
14. The Rolling Stones "Licks Tour" $87.9 million 2002



Here are the 15 largest Grossing tours ever North America. This list is based on the entire tour, and does not cut off the figures because parts of tours fall in different years. I combined the Billy Joel/Elton John tours of 2001, 2002, and 2003 into one tour because I was uncertain if they were seperate individual tours or simply one long one.



1. The Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang Tour" 2005-2006 $300,529,651.5

2. The Rolling Stones "Bridges To Babylon/No Security Tour" $185 million 1997-1999

3. Billy Joel/Elton John $173.6 million 2001/2002/2003

4. Eagles "Hell Freezes Over Tour" $162.7 million 1994-1996

5. Bruce Springsteen "The Rising Tour" $158.4 million 2002-2003

6. U2 "Vertigo Tour" $158,111,235 2005-2006

7. Cher " Farewell Tour" $141.8 million 2002-2003

8. The Rolling Stones "Licks Tour" $126.4 million 2002-2003

9. The Rolling Stones "Voodoo Lounge Tour" $121.2 million 1994

10. N'Sync "Celebrity Tour" $120 million 2001-2002

11. U2 "Elevation" $109.7 million 2001

12. Bruce Springsteen $107.3 million 1999-2000

13. Eagles $104.7 million 2002-2003

14. Pink Floyd "Division Bell Tour" $103.5 million 1994

15. Paul McCartney $103.3 million 2002



While U2's Vertigo Tour ranks at only #6 in this list, it should be remembered that nearly every show was soldout in minutes or hours and dozens of shows could have been added to the tour in North America because the demand was there. That would have substantially increased the GROSS total. Most of the tours ahead of it met demand and in fact did not sellout every show.




Remember that when dealing with the highest Grossing Tour, recent tours will usually place higher, simply because of increasing ticket prices. The highest grossing tour in history is not necessarily the highest attended tour in history. The highest attended global tour in history where exact figures are available for both its North American and international shows is the Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge tour, with a total attendance for 6.4 million.

[STING2]

Originally posted by gman Let us not forget that biggest grossing doesnt nescescarily mean most attened! Stones gigs are well excessive ticket prices!!

Thats true, but ticket prices are based on demand. The more in demand the tour is, the higher the ticket prices will be, especially if the supply of tickets is low. That is why the biggest tours are ranked by gross. Its accurate to compare tours of the last 5 or maybe even 10 years this way, but tours from times more distant one should simply use attendance and other factors to compare them.

[STING2]

Originally posted by U2FanPeter How does the Michael Cohl promoted Streisand 2006 US tour fit in with the other North American grosses?

It did $92.5 million and would place at #10 on the list that just counts the highest grosses in a single calander year from January to December.

[U2FanPeter]

US during one calender year

1. The Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang Tour" $162 million 2005
2. U2 "Vertigo Tour" $138.9 million 2005
3. The Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang Tour" $138.5 million 2006
4. The Rolling Stones "Voodoo Loung Tour" $121.2 million 1994
5. Bruce Springsteen "The Rising Tour" $115.9 million 2003
6. U2 "Elevation Tour" $109.7 million 2001
7. Pink Floyd "Division Bell tour" $103.5 million 1994
8. Paul McCartney $103.3 million 2002
9. The Rolling Stones "Steel Wheels Tour" $98 million 1989
10. Barbara Streisand $92.5 million 2006
11. Tim McGraw / Faith Hill $88.8 million 2006
12. The Rolling Stones "Bridges To Babylon Tour" $89.3 million 1997
13. Madonna "Confessions Tour" $88,842,663
14. The Rolling Stones "Licks Tour" $87.9 million 2002


Scary to think that The Police are likely already on this list, and may even crack the top 5 by Xmas.

Also of note, The Jacksons could be on this list if inflation was added into the mix. But this thread is mind-boggling enough already.

u2fp

[STING2]

Originally posted by U2FanPeter US during one calender year 1. The Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang Tour" $162 million 2005 2. U2 "Vertigo Tour" $138.9 million 2005 3. The Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang Tour" $138.5 million 2006 4. The Rolling Stones "Voodoo Loung Tour" $121.2 million 1994 5. Bruce Springsteen "The Rising Tour" $115.9 million 2003 6. U2 "Elevation Tour" $109.7 million 2001 7. Pink Floyd "Division Bell tour" $103.5 million 1994 8. Paul McCartney $103.3 million 2002 9. The Rolling Stones "Steel Wheels Tour" $98 million 1989 10. Barbara Streisand $92.5 million 2006 11. Tim McGraw / Faith Hill $88.8 million 2006 12. The Rolling Stones "Bridges To Babylon Tour" $89.3 million 1997 13. Madonna "Confessions Tour" $88,842,663 14. The Rolling Stones "Licks Tour" $87.9 million 2002 Scary to think that The Police are likely already on this list, and may even crack the top 5 by Xmas. Also of note, The Jacksons could be on this list if inflation was added into the mix. But this thread is mind-boggling enough already. u2fp

The Police could top the list by Christmas if sales keep up. But some of the Canadian shows that got released are not selling as strong as I thought they would. I thought the third date in Toronto would have been completely soldout by now. I thought the Edmonton Stadium show would have sold well enough for a second show there, but right now, I'm not sure if they are even selling the second deck of the stadium.

Still, there was only one show to go on Sale for Dallas and that went so fast that they put another show on and that is essentially soldout as well. Very strong sales in Dallas.

Overall so far, they are on track to beat U2 in every market on the Vertigo tour in North America in terms of gross, with the possible exception of a few markets.

For the Summer North American Leg, if they are able to add 6 more stadium shows, 2 Chicago, 1 DC/Baltimore, 1 Los Angeles, 1 Oakland, 1 East Rutherford, plus another arena show in Phoenix and Minneapolis, the first leg of the tour, 40 shows, will likely have grossed $116.5 million putting them at #5 on the list after just 2.5 months on the road.

Then, they just need to play 24 arena shows on the return leg in November/December and that should be enough to top the Stones total from 2005. This is based on an average gross of 2 million for the arena shows and 3 to 5 million for the Stadium shows.

[genesis199125]

Does Michael Jackson's tours fit into any of this? From what I have read on Wikipedia(not always the best source, though), he certainly set some records in his day, even without touring the U.S.

[vaz02]

He holds the record at wembely stadium for most consecutive shows i believe, which probs has him at the highest grossing act at that venue.

[Vox02]

Originally posted by vaz02 He holds the record at wembely stadium for most consecutive shows i believe, which probs has him at the highest grossing act at that venue.

Yes. Seven soldout concerts at Wembley Stadium back in 1988. Michael sold 504.000 tickets, plus 125.000 in Liverpool

Vox

[mosquito]

The 1997 michael jackson european tour was huge. i know that amusement business reported of those shows( attendance,etc) but i can´t find that issues .Anybody can help??

[U2FanPeter]

Originally posted by Vox02 Yes. Seven soldout concerts at Wembley Stadium back in 1988. Michael sold 504.000 tickets, plus 125.000 in Liverpool Vox

Attendance wise it's similar to the recent 17 night stand the Spice Girls did at O2 Arena in London. Ticket Gross, I wouldn't be surprised if SG were 4-5 times higher than MJ, inflation included.

[Vox02]

Originally posted by U2FanPeter Attendance wise it's similar to the recent 17 night stand the Spice Girls did at O2 Arena in London. Ticket Gross, I wouldn't be surprised if SG were 4-5 times higher than MJ, inflation included.

If O2 Arena has a capacity of 20.000 aprox for concerts, SG attendance probably was around to 340.000.

Vox

[U2FanPeter]

Originally posted by Vox02 If O2 Arena has a capacity of 20.000 aprox for concerts, SG attendance probably was around to 340.000. Vox

Plus the o2 shows would draw from Europe and worldwide, since the SG tour only had about 5 shows outside US/UK.

As for ticket gross from a single venue, on a world tour, I don't know anything that would come close to SG. Closest would runs in Vegas by Elton/Celine or upcoming runs runs by Bette/Cher. Elton was the only act that took the Vegas show to other cities.

[genesis199125]

are there any figures in terms of attendance for top tours in North America?

[genesis199125]

also, for highest grossing single concert in the United States is held by Barbra Streisand, whose December 31, 1999 concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas grossed approximately 14.6 million. Of course, her tickets were extremely pricey, with some going for thousands.

[andyuk]

U2 would easily out sell the Stones here in Europe. When U2 put out tickets they are sold within minutes where as the Stones have to do lots and lots of advertising for several weeks and some of there shows on their latest tour there were still tickets availabe on the day of the show.