Talk:List of highest-grossing concert tours/Archive 2

Archive 1Archive 2

Bowie's Glass Spider Tour

I've added this tour to the list, although it may warrant some discussion. In 1987 it grossed an estimated US $86, which adjusted for inflation is ~$175m. The guidelines for inclusion say "gross >$100m" but don't say whether that's inflation adjusted or not. I assume inflation is supposed to be taken into account or else we'd eventually set the bar so high that we'd never include older shows. Perhaps the page should be split into decades since it's more reasonable to compare, say, a few tours from 2011 against each other than a show from 2013 against one from 1987? Just a thought. 87Fan (talk) 21:53, 5 July 2013 (UTC)

I was thinking about this a little more. I would suggest we re-organize the page to list tours by Era (perhaps -2000, 2001-2010 and 2011+) as people are less likely to compare a tour from this year to one twenty years ago. If we don't break things into sections, I think we should sort by default on the inflation-adjusted numbers. Thoughts? 87Fan (talk) 22:40, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
It's okay with me, but you've got to dig out some older tours for inclusion in the first grouping. For example, Springsteen's 1984–85 Born in the U.S.A. Tour grossed $80–90 to 100 million (see this Rolling Stone source and this AP story) so whatever the figure, it should definitely be included. The Jacksons' 1984 Victory Tour grossed $75 million (see this AP story). The Rolling Stones American Tour 1981 grossed $52 million (see this AP story). Then there's their 1989–90 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour, which was expected to be $90 million (see this story, needs an update). And then go back further in time - what about Led Zeppelin back in the day, or going further back, The Beatles' 1965 US tour? And so on ... Wasted Time R (talk) 11:01, 6 July 2013 (UTC)
Good stuff. I didn't actually have much info on older tours on hand but there's certainly no reason we shouldn't include them. I put all pre-2000 tours together because we simply didn't have enough of them to make for an interesting list by decade. Once we add more tours, we can break out the 70's, 80's and 90's where appropriate. 87Fan (talk) 14:59, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

IndianBio, the point was raised here that the $100 million cutoff should be based on the inflation-adjusted amount, not the actual gross amount. I agree with this, because otherwise, no tours before the late 1980s would ever appear, which is just WP:RECENTISM. The Victory Tour and the Born in the U.S.A. Tour both set records at the time as the highest-grossing tours ever, and keeping them off this list makes no sense. I think your reversions based on the actual gross are ill-advised. Wasted Time R (talk) 17:23, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

Yes, claiming the bar is $100 is just putting older tours at a relative disadvantage. Since ~100m today is ~200m in 1987, by not taking inflation into account we're just biasing for recent tours. Indeed, in a few years when $100m is worth less than today, this list will be unreasonably unwieldy because so many tours will qualify. Anyone else pro or con using inflation-adjusted numbers? 87Fan (talk) 17:44, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
Gross adjusted inflation is just opening a big can of worms. This is not a question of Recentism. check something like the highest grossing movies. The weightage is not on the gross adjusted value, the weight-age is on the actual gross. Same should be the case here. You can argue that the actual threshold can be tweaked for older tours and I am definitely up for it, but I cannot support a gross adjustment inclusion of tours. At present $100 million is the actual gross threshold. —Indian:BIO · [ ChitChat ] 17:52, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
In fact, List of highest-grossing films includes a section on highest by actual gross, another section on highest by inflation-adjusted gross, and another on highest gross per year. Without the second and third sections, the reader would be left with a very wrong impression about what were the most popular films of all time. That's what we're trying to prevent happening from here. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the Bowie tour in question grossed more than 13 tours currently on this list. What is your rationale for reverting one but keeping the other 13 on? Wasted Time R (talk) 18:16, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
You know what, seeing your points regarding the List of highest-grossing films, I'm now really intrigued if we can incorporate this tour list like the one forthe films. Separating adjustment by inflation, actual gross and yearly highest grossing tours would really add new lights to an already monotonous lists. I can't help but admit that 87fan really did an amazing job. So what do you guys think of modifying this list inline with the film one? —Indian:BIO · [ ChitChat ] 06:45, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
The downside of separate lists for actual and inflation-adjusted grosses is a lot of duplicate maintenance of entries. As you know, this article has always suffered from fans inventing bigger numbers for their favorite artist and subtracting from (or removing entirely) entries for supposed rival artists. Now you would have to deal with twice as much of that. I do like the idea of showing the top tours of each year, since this will show some artists who are currently missing from the list, such as the Grateful Dead (see this story about 1991 tours, for example). They didn't have separately named tours and thus no tour articles here in WP, but they were a real powerhouse on the road. One proviso is that until recently, I think Pollstar was just ranking North American grosses for each year, not worldwide grosses. But still, some data is better than no data. Wasted Time R (talk) 11:34, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
I'm for doing what you suggest - something like separate lists for highest grossing, adjusted inflation, etc. if we're ok with having to manage duplicate information. If we simplify the references (by using ref names perhaps), we can reduce the management redundancy as well. 87Fan (talk) 14:03, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

I'm sensing consensus: we should expand the lists of concert tours to be something akin to what we see with the list of movies: Top 10 list by gross, top 10 list by adjusted gross, top concert per year, top concerts per decade by gross and top concerts per decade by adjusted gross (for older decades where inflation is relevant). Anything missing? Anyone disagree? 87Fan (talk) 15:26, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

I would expand the top ten to maybe top twenty, just so you know, diverse tours can be accommodated. Others I am fine. 87Fan, will you create a draft in your sandbox if you can? As for Wasted Time's concern regarding fan boys disrupting the page, if the disruption is too much the page can be indefinitely protected like the highest grossing film one. —Indian:BIO · [ ChitChat ] 15:31, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
I'm going to be gone for a long, long weekend so while I can do this, it would not be for a week or so. If anyone else wants to take a stab at it while I'm gone, feel free. 87Fan (talk) 19:41, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
Ok I've expanded the top 5 to top 10 and split it into two (gross & adjusted gross). I don't think we need to create totally separate lists for each decade gross vs adjusted because it's so easy to sort the list within a decade if you really want to. I don't think we can easily have a 'top tour of the year' list because some big big tours spanned multiple years and it's not clear how we'd deal with that. So, barring any other feedback, I think we have our basic structure in place now. Feel free to add >$100m (adjusted gross) tours to the appropriate decade's list! 87Fan (talk) 18:05, 15 July 2013 (UTC)
Guys what do you think about a little commentary and expanding the lead section and maybe steam roll this thorough the FLC process? —Indian:BIO · [ ChitChat ] 18:54, 15 July 2013 (UTC)
Unlike the List of highest-grossing films case, where the inflation-adjusted all-time list is very different from the non-adjusted all-time list, here they are almost the same (only one entrant different, and fairly minor reorderings). It's tempting to drop the "Top 10 grossing tours of all time (by adjusted gross)" section and just let readers sort the previous section on the Inflation column if they want. The breakdown by decade is the real change that benefits older tours, and I agree there's no need for a separate inflation-adjusted list per decade. As for each year, there is good Pollstar data going back for North American tours, that lists grosses for that year only, so it's tempting to construct a separate List of highest-grossing North American tour per year article that would just show that. Wasted Time R (talk) 11:30, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
I think we should keep the adjusted gross list, as it's possible that as new data is found the list may change more substantially. Otherwise I would agree it would be reasonable to remove. For now I have a feeling that over time the two lists will become more and more different. I love the idea of a year-by-year list. I just didn't think we'd have reliable data. Another way to slice the data is $$ per month. For instance, the U2 360 tour made $736m but the tour lasted 25 months, for $29.44m a month. By comparison, Madonna's MDNA tour made "only" $305, but did it over only 7 months: $43.5m a month. 87Fan (talk) 16:03, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

I did some quick calculations in Excel to see how the adjusted gross / month stats worked out. That's adjusted gross / # of months the tour lasted. Here are the results, in order from highest adjusted gross/month to lowest:

  1. Pink Floyd Division Bell Tour. 7 months @ 55.3m/month
  2. Madonna MDNA Tour. 6.75 months @ 45.3m/month
  3. Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge Tour. 13 months @ 37.2m/month
  4. Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour. 12.3 months @ 35.4m/month
  5. U2 360 Tour. 25 months @ 30.1m/month
  6. Rolling Stones Licks Tour. 14.2 months @ 27.4m/month
  7. The Police Reunion Tour. 14.4 months @ 26.6m/month
  8. Rolling Stones Bigger Bang Tour. 24.1 months @ 25.6m/month
  9. AC/DC Black Ice World Tour. 20 months @ 23.2m/month
  10. U2 Vertigo Tour. 20.4 months @ 21.7m/month
  11. Roger Waters The Wall Tour. 36.2 months @ 10.4/month

That's the 11 tours that are in the top 10 by gross & adjusted gross. The question is, is this interesting? Probably not but I thought I'd share. Incidentally, the highest grossing tour on an adjusted gross scale is the Take That tour - they grossed $91.2m / month over a 2 month tour. If they had toured as long as U2's 360 tour (never mind whether they could have sustained the attendance/gross), they would have grossed $2.28 billion. And, just to tie this whole thing back to Bowie's Glass Spider Tour, he made $29m/month on his tour, a respectable 7th across all tours on our list today. 87Fan (talk) 17:47, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Here's the top 10 by adjusted gross / month, including all tours (not just the ones that are in the top 10 of all time at the top of the page).

  1. Take That Progress Live. 2 months @ 91m/month
  2. Pink Floyd Division Bell Tour. 7 months @ 55.3m/month
  3. Madonna MDNA Tour. 6.75 months @ 45.3m/month
  4. Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge Tour. 13 months @ 37.2m/month
  5. Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour. 12.3 months @ 35.4m/month
  6. U2 360 Tour. 25 months @ 30.1m/month
  7. David Bowie Glass Spider Tour. 6 months @ 29m/month
  8. Rolling Stones Licks Tour. 14.2 months @ 27.4m/month
  9. The Police Reunion Tour. 14.4 months @ 26.6m/month
  10. Rolling Stones Bigger Bang Tour. 24.1 months @ 25.6m/month

And now I'm done, really :) 87Fan (talk) 19:13, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

I'm not sure what this metric tells us in general. Take That Progress Live is sort of a special case in that it was limited duration and multiple shows in each city in the heart of their fan base, but I agree it is a distinction of some kind. I'm more concerned that this article tends to reward big, high-publicity, high-priced mega-tours staged every few years, and ignore other kinds of prolific tours. For example, Pollstar ranked the top-grossing touring artists in North America for the decade of the 2000s, and the first- and third-place finishers do not appear on any of our lists: Dave Matthews Band and Kenny Chesney. There should be some way to reflect that. Wasted Time R (talk) 10:56, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
I think we can remove the adjusted gross section. Now that I see it, there;s no difference much whatsoever and it feels a repetition of information and redundant. The Sort tab easily identifies the infformation for inflation adjusted gross. —Indian:BIO · [ ChitChat ] 07:09, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
It's true that right now there's not much difference between the two, but as time marches on this may become less so. For now I'm fine with removing the adjusted gross list (because the difference currently is minimal) but I think we should be open to re-instituting it later if things change. 87Fan (talk) 16:34, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

The Monster Ball:

The Monster Ball: Is NOT Lady Gaga's debut tour The Fame Ball Tour is.

Monster Ball is the debut headlining tour, and second concert tour. That's what it mentions. Fame Ball was not a headlining tour.. in some places it was a joint effort and in some she was the opening act. —Indian:BIO · [ ChitChat ] 09:18, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

Nope,Only 9 out of the 70 dates were not headlining,and it is her FIRST HEADLINING TOUR,It is written in the second sentence of the Backround section The Fame Ball Tour. The tour was officially announced on January 12, 2009 through Gaga's official MySpace page. It was her first headlining tour; she has previously served as opening act for New Kids on the Block's New Kids on the Block: Live tour, as well as The Pussycat Dolls' World Domination Tour. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.44.66.56 (talk) 21:26, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

We can just calculate average gross, right?

I see that some tours don't have average gross listed. But since it's just (gross) / (# of shows), we can just calculate this, right? Any reason we can't just fill in the ones that are missing? 87Fan (talk) 22:13, 16 July 2013 (UTC)

I think we can, its just a mathematical calculation, does not need to rely on reliable source. —Indian:BIO · [ ChitChat ] 04:07, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Page update

Why was this page updated and made so MESSY? Why not just have a simple list of highest grossing tours like before instead of this mess divided into years and what not? It's hard and annoying to read. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.114.14.139 (talk) 23:33, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball Tour

I could have sworn I saw Springsteen's Wrecking Ball Tour on the list at some point, but it's no longer on there.

In any event, the tour's current gross is $368+ million, which puts it 3rd in the 2011-present section (and likely 2nd after the next four shows), as well as #7 on the all-time list. Many of the sources are on the Wrecking Ball World Tour wiki, although it doesn't list sources for the more recent shows. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.29.158.167 (talk) 02:20, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

If there's a reliable source for this, then it's a great addition. I just don't know if a wiki (any wiki) is reliable. Can the #s can be found in some more official publication (a news article perhaps)? 87Fan (talk) 03:52, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

I can't find the most recent totals, but the LA Times has the 2012 gross as $210.2 million (http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/28/entertainment/la-et-ms-madonna-springsteen-roger-waters-top-grossing-tour-pollstar-20121228) and WCBS has the 2013 mid-year total as 103.9 million (http://wcbsfm.cbslocal.com/2013/07/17/bon-jovi-tops-midyear-concert-revenue-list-for-2013/). Totaled, that's $314.1 through June, which is good for #3 since 2011 and #8 all-time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.29.158.167 (talk) 07:30, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

Diamonds World Tour

Rihanna's Diamonds World Tour sold over $138,240,241. I think it should be added to the section of 2010s top grossing concert tours. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamonds_World_Tour

Michael Jackson Inclusions

Genuinely surprised as to why these two tours aren't included:

HIStory World Tour had 4.5 million attendees and grossed $165 million (Add at #5 on the 1990s list)

Source: https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/michael-jackson-tour/past-tours.aspx


Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour has made over $340 million as of Sept. 2013 (Add at #5 on the 2010s list)

Source (based on September 2013 numbers, the tour is still ongoing so it's likely we'll get an updated figure soon):

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?avis=AB&date=20130902&category=ARTICLE&lopenr=309029937&Ref=AR&profile=1063 Mc8755 (talk) 14:21, 8 March 2014 (UTC)

Is the Cirque du Soleil site considered a reputable source? In any case, if you have good sources, feel free to add them to the list. 87Fan (talk) 16:56, 8 March 2014 (UTC)


they both seem good sources, whatsmore the latter tour is still making money and should be on the all=time list at the start of this article,,,,,,,,--65.8.187.3 (talk) 10:12, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

DEPECHE MODE needs adding.

Under the 2010s section, The Delta Machine Tour 2013 - 2014 has grossed $148 Million. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.135.1.36 (talk) 23:46, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

If someone can find a reliable source to cite, feel free to add it to the list. 87Fan (talk) 04:07, 30 March 2014 (UTC)


Lots of info on the Delta Machine Tour wiki page and on the Billboard website that lists info for box office score for all the shows. http://www.billboard.com/biz/current-boxscore — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.174.146.205 (talk) 20:47, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

Janet Jackson's tours

2 of Janet Jackson's world tours should be in the Top 10 of the 1990's. The "janet." World Tour 1993-1995 grossed $80 Million dollars worldwide, and The Velvet Rope World Tour 1998-1999 grossed $78 Million worldwide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_World_Tour http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Velvet_Rope_World_Tour#Additional_notes 98.250.160.94 (talk) 03:05, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

Useful sources

for WP:LEAD expansion. Bluesatellite (talk) 03:58, 29 April 2014 (UTC)

Tina Turner

I think we could quote Tina Turner, Billboard said, her 2000 tour gross over $108, please read here at page 99:

Billboard magazine page99 volume 112 issue53 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Megagia (talkcontribs) 07:06, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

Megagia, it falls short of the top 20 for the 2000s decade, where Madonna's Re-Invention World Tour finishes at rank 20 with $125 million, more than Turner's gross. —Indian:BIO · [ ChitChat ] 05:57, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

I think we could quote Tina Turner,, her Wildest Dreams 1996 Tour grossed 109 million. So — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.174.60.72 (talk) 00:28, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

Total Male, Female and Group (If its not too much work) Career Tour Gross

Hey, I was just wondering if a top 20-30 list of the highest grossing male, female and probably group career total touring gross can be made. If it isn't too much work for the administration. I'd like to see who the top tour grossers in each category are as the information is nowhere to be found online. All I'm seeing are the people who have over a billion career total gross. Thanks in advance for your response (190.80.8.33 (talk) 13:22, 18 November 2016 (UTC))

I think that sounds like a new list. You're welcome to make a new page and populate it. But this page is for the highest-grossing concert tours by decade. 87Fan (talk) 20:00, 18 November 2016 (UTC)

Bruce Springsteen The River Tour 2016

The gross from this tour during year 2016 is not included in the list -- it should be added. From the "The River Tour 2016" Wikipedia page:

Attendance 2,033,956 / 2,084,513 (97.5%) $255,275,501 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.11.112.43 (talk) 00:47, 21 December 2016 (UTC)

If you can find a source, it should be added. 87Fan (talk) 03:03, 21 December 2016 (UTC)

Dire Straits On Every Street Tour

According to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Every_Street_Tour

7.1 million tickets sold which would put it 2nd just behind U2. Why not include it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A01:E35:2F35:FCC0:80CD:5C8D:3825:6416 (talk) 20:12, 27 April 2017 (UTC)

The list is sorted by Gross, not # of tickets - I just looked at the tour page and I don't see any source for what the tour grossed. If you could find that information from a credible source and it met the bar for inclusion, it should definitely be on the list. 87Fan (talk) 22:11, 27 April 2017 (UTC)

Coldplay

The A Head Full Of Dreams Tour has grossed nearly 500 million according to Billboard Bugg Bulborb (talk) 02:39, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

That's right, please change the list. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.186.201.77 (talk) 16:15, 11 November 2017 (UTC)

Coldplay

Coldplay has raised over 500 million on their tour

WHY ISNT THIS INFORMATION HERE? Bugg Bulborb (talk) 15:31, 16 November 2017 (UTC)

You are welcome to update the page. Just be sure to cite credible sources for any information or it will be reverted. 87Fan (talk) 16:02, 16 November 2017 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on List of highest-grossing concert tours. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 17:53, 30 December 2017 (UTC)

Michael Jackson Immortal World Tour

Michael Jackson's Immortal World Tour isn't a concert tour;therefore, it shouldn't be included in this article. It's considered a theatrical production. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.144.3.2 (talk) 02:04, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

Sounds like a serious can of worms (what's the difference between a concert with theatrical elements and a theatrical production with live music?). Anyway, we'd need a source for something like this. 87Fan (talk) 21:12, 31 December 2014 (UTC)
The difference is, Michael Jackson isn't alive to perform at these concerts; therefore, they should not be counted. If, however, we do count MJ's theatrical production, we must also count Cirque du Soleil other theatrical production of other artists of the past -- such as their show for The Beatles, which has grossed over $60 million per year since its inception. [1] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.144.0.19 (talk) 02:55, 1 January 2015 (UTC)
I totally missed what the tour really was. I thought it was an older tour of his, but I see it's his posthumous tour. I totally agree with you. I don't think it qualifies to be on this list either. If someone doesn't speak up in disagreement soon, we should strike it from the list. 87Fan (talk) 20:54, 1 January 2015 (UTC)
I agree, this is most definitely not a concert tour per se, should be removed. —Indian:BIO [ ChitChat ] 09:46, 3 January 2015 (UTC)
I removed it from the list. I'm not sure who was bumped off the list to make room for it in the first place, but now we have room for one more in the 2010's list. 87Fan (talk) 16:49, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
@87Fan and IndianBio: It's still not removed yet from the all-time section, guys. Actually it was me who put Cirque du Soleil into this list, since Billboard considered it as a concert tour. I personally doubt its inclusion as well. So, what do you all think guys? Should we follow Billboard or make our own consensus of the term "concert tour"? Bluesatellite (talk) 02:17, 21 February 2015 (UTC)

No. It's unfair since he's not actually performing at the show.

@87Fan and Bluesatellite: We should remove it, MJ is not performing in these shows and they are just residencies not concert tours. —Indian:BIO [ ChitChat ] 06:54, 30 March 2015 (UTC)
Done. 87Fan (talk) 15:55, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

Since billboard and pollstar both include it, and that is the source of the list, perhaps someone could put a footnote that although sources list it, it is not included on this page? Patelgybed688 (talk) 20:13, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

Request to add following to "Notes" as a footnote to top lists (but not add to the actual list on this article due to consensus above) "Although not included in this article, Billboard and Pollstar classify Cirque du Soleil's "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour" in their Top 10 highest grossing tours of all time at $371,000,000." https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6251218/michael-jackson-immortal-tour-eighth-best https://www.axs.com/top-10-highest-cash-grossing-concert-tours-34634 Patelgybed688 (talk) 01:17, 19 December 2017 (UTC)
No, I don't support this. This list is very clearly about live concert tours, not memorial shows or anything else. There is no reason for the Immortal Tour, no matter how much money it made, or what sources support it, to appear on this page. As I've said before, you're welcome to create a new list, a new page where it would be appropriate to put something like that on the list. But this is not the place. 87Fan (talk) 17:19, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

billboard

reference says [2] if you take MJ Immortal tour out (#7 ), you have to take the others out to, this is a valid reference--65.8.187.140 (talk) 22:22, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

actually the source is valid--Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 13:46, 3 May 2015 (UTC)
Per the discussion above, the Immortal Tour isn't a concert tour - it's a tribute tour. It does not belong in this list. 87Fan (talk) 16:35, 3 May 2015 (UTC)
I understand the discussion above however the entire list is based on Billboard’s Boxscore chart and Pollstar data and BOTH categorize it as a concert tour (as does Rolling Stone, PollstarMSN.com, etc). It was a full concert tour with his band, including cirque performers. How is this different than Madonna’s dancing troups? Because the source data for this entire list (Billboard Boxscore and Pollstar) both categorize the Immortal tour as a Concert Tour, it does belong on this list until we find a different source that categorizes differently. I know this drops Beyonce off but that is how Billboard and Pollstar have it too.Patelgybed688 (talk) 23:04, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
Request to add following to "Notes" as a footnote to top lists (but not add to the actual list on this article due to consensus above) "Although not included in this article, Billboard and Pollstar classify Cirque du Soleil's "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour" in their Top 10 highest grossing tours of all time at $371,000,000." https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6251218/michael-jackson-immortal-tour-eighth-best https://www.axs.com/top-10-highest-cash-grossing-concert-tours-34634 Patelgybed688 (talk) 01:17, 19 December 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 15 December 2018

In the highest grossing tours of the 2010s section, change the Guns N' Roses tour from 2016-present to 2016-2018 as the tour ended December 8. 82.22.39.104 (talk) 14:27, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

  DoneIB [ Poke ] 16:54, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

The Who

The Who's tours of 1982 and 1989 would probably round out that top ten for the eighties. 206.16.201.81 (talk) 16:52, 28 May 2019 (UTC)

Ed Sheeran Discrepency

Ed Sheeran is 2nd in the overall listing, but then 3rd in the 2010's listing... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.25.183.52 (talk) 13:45, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

Update required

Update required to No Filter Tour. The final gross is $485,049,980. I haven't calculated the other stats ... Betweenfootandshoe (talk) 05:06, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

+ section for highest grossing tours by year?

I think a new section for the highest grossing tours by year is also needed. Any comments? (talk) 05:25, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

Ed sheeran and u2

I think U2 shoud still be on top as they still habe grossed the most in 2019 money which is what we should be looking at not how much the money was worth at the time as its worth more now. Can someone change it please Lancslad23 (talk) 16:02, 23 October 2019 (UTC)

Inconsistencies

The lists should be verified for consistency. The second biggest tour of the 2000s was the Stones' "A Bigger Band Tour", with $558.25 million. It should be #4 on the all-time list, but it is nowhere to be found. The "Sticky & Sweet Tour" by Madonna is listed in the 2000s list as having grossed $408 million (a rounded-up number), but the overall list shows $407.7 million. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2804:431:C7C0:AEED:209F:2883:DA55:A0AE (talk) 00:19, 15 October 2019 (UTC)

And, Sheeran's divide different attendance numbers in the overall listing and in the 2010s listing. I cannot find a source for the lower number. 193.90.163.192 (talk) 20:33, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

The fourth biggest tour of all time, The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour ($558 Million), is missing from the list.

The fourth biggest tour of all time, The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour ($558 Million), is missing from the list. That's it. Very odd omission. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.225.116.175 (talk) 12:26, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Billy Joel in Concert

Billy Joel's tour is missing. It has a gross of around $450 milion, yet the shown gross is only $301 milion — Preceding unsigned comment added by Patrako Wiatrako (talkcontribs) 11:23, 26 May 2020 (UTC)

VASCO ROSSI needs adding.

Vasco Rossi, the italian super-rockstar has the record for highest number of ticket sold in a sigle concert. "Modena Park" concert grossed $18.5M in a single date.

https://www.pollstar.com/News/vasco-rossis-largest-concert-in-history-wins-at-ticketing-business-awards-135175

Quote: Promoter Big Bang and ticket agency VivaTicket, both owned by Italy’s ticketing and access solutions provider Best Union Group, moved 225,173 tickets in total, of which 5,000 were given out for free. Silvano Taiani, CEO of Best Union, told Pollstar the concert grossed €15 million ($18.5 million).

Italian superstar Vasco Rossi is a big opponent of secondary ticketing, and he worked with Best Union to ensure his fans got their hands on tickets.

Taiani explained the different measures taken: “Ticket sales were nominative, the name of the owner of the economic transaction was printed on each ticket, with a limit of two transactions per person, each consisting of a maximum of six tickets. Random checks and targeted checks were carried out throughout the sale, both online and at the points of sale, and tickets not compliant with the ticketing policy were canceled. Operations that did not comply with the guidelines were immediately reported to [Italy’s copyright collecting agency] SIAE and to consumer associations, and legal action was taken for fraudulent purchases.” — Preceding unsigned comment added by 13.110.54.39 (talk) 14:13, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

This list isn't about single shows, it's about tours. If he did a whole tour, and it meets the threshold for inclusion, and you have a reliable source for that information, then feel free to add it. But tickets sold for a single show? That's a different list. 87Fan (talk) 15:21, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

A section for the highest-grossing tours by year?

I'm thinking that we should include a section for yearly highest-grossing tours. I want to hear more comments on this though :) (talk) 04:30, 1 December 2020 (UTC)

Very very nice addition. Good job! Bluesatellite (talk) 10:27, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Coldplay's Viva la Vida Tour

It grossed $209.4 million from 2,831,377 tickets sold in 166 reported dates. Shouldn't it be included in the 2000s list? I know the tour was wrapped up in early 2010, but most of the profit was made between 2008 and 2009.

2008 – "2008 Year End – Top 10 Worldwide Concert Tours" (PDF). Pollstar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
2009 – "2009 Year End – Top 50 Worldwide Concert Tours" (PDF). Pollstar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
2010 – "2010 Year End – Top 50 Worldwide Concert Tours" (PDF). Pollstar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2022.

GustavoCza (talkcontribs) 12:41, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

I added it with all the statistics and references taken from its own page. Paul Webb (PaulWebbtheTechExpert) (talk) 15:06, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

Thoughts on residency tours? (like Billy Joel in Concert)

The 'Billy Joel in Concert' isn't really a tour - it may have started that way, but now he just plays a few times a year under the same tour name - going on its 8th year. Yes, the "tour" started in 2014 and is still adding dates through 2022, rotating through a few of the same places over and over again. This doesn't feel like a concert tour the way it's intended. It's also incredibly hard to figure out the adjusted gross for this show, as you cannot count money earned in the last few years the same as those from 2014. We have seen a few "legitimate" tours go for 3 to 4 years, but those also weren't residency tours where an artist doesn't really tour, and in this case it just seems like it's a non-stop, never-ending series of occasional live shows.

In fairness to interested Wikipedians, who want to add shows like this, we may want to consider articulating some better criteria about what constitutes a tour and what does not (see past discussion about things like Michael Jackson's posthumous 'tour', for example).

I personally would vote for removing the Billy Joel in Concert tour from our list, as I don't believe it qualifies.

Thoughts? 87Fan (talk) 16:33, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

@87Fan lop 50.86.52.102 (talk) 23:34, 20 November 2022 (UTC)

2010s: 21 to 25

Just in case since removed from the article.

Rank Actual gross Inflation
(adjusted 2024 gross)
Artist Tour name Year(s) Shows Attendance Average
gross (millions)
Average
attendance
Ref.
21 $184,049,920 $240,737,295 Lady Gaga Born This Way Ball 2012–13 98 1,779,277 1.9 18,156 [1][2]
22 $173,600,000 $223,430,082 Michael Bublé To Be Loved Tour 2013–15 173 1,821,767 1.0 10,530 [2][3][4]
23 $166,100,000 $213,777,284 Fleetwood Mac On With the Show Tour 2014–15 89 975,671 1.7 14,955 [3][4]
24 $156,400,000 $201,293,000 Bruno Mars The Moonshine Jungle Tour 2013–14 154 1,400,341 1.4 9,093 [2][3]
25 $150,184,971 $193,294,011 Taylor Swift The Red Tour 2013–14 86 1,702,933 1.75 19,801 [2][3]
  1. ^ Billboard boxscore (2012 dates):
  2. ^ a b c d http://www.pollstarpro.com/files/charts2013/2013YearEndTop100WorldwideTours.pdf
  3. ^ a b c d http://www.pollstarpro.com/files/charts2014/2014YearEndTop100WorldwideTours.pdf
  4. ^ a b http://www.pollstarpro.com/files/Charts2015/2015MidYearTop100WorldwideTours.pdf

BIGBANG MADE WORLD TOUR 2015

Please add BIGBANG MADE WORLD TOUR 2015 in The list , They sold 124 Million $

Sources : https://www.allkpop.com/article/2015/12/how-much-profit-did-big-bang-make-in-2015
https://www.dispatch.co.kr/435943 

Thier tour was attended by 1.5 million people worldwide.

--Comment by : Emily88sq

Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour

From 179 shows so far, Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour is currently at $356.8 million as per Billboard boxscore: https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9364269/backstreet-boys-march-boxscore-report

Not sure if it's worth including now with a tag/color scheme to indicate it's ongoing.

Backstreet Boys DNA World Tour

It appears that the Backstreet Boys' DNA World Tour is currently grossing around 100 million dollars in the 2020s decade, per https://touringdata.wordpress.com/2019/08/08/backstreet-boys-dna-tour/ which is the website used for some of the other tours. If you use this, you will notice that there is $193,387,406 total with 2,361,102 attending, but that includes 2019. If we only use 2020-2023, we get $102,015,623 with 1,365,494 people attending, which is enough to place 15th on the 2020s decade on this list. If somebody would like to add this, I can get you the numbers for only the 2020s decade if needed, or I can go and add it. Cherrell410 (talk) 15:44, 7 May 2023 (UTC)

If nobody replies, I am going to just add it Cherrell410 (talk) 18:38, 9 May 2023 (UTC)
Per the list rules, tours end in the decade the tour completes, so the entire tour should be listed in the 2020's section. 87Fan (talk) 01:45, 10 May 2023 (UTC)
Then Farewell Yellow Brick Road should be included in the 2020 table. Cherrell410 (talk) 02:09, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

Beyoncé Renaissance

The renaissance tour has grossed over 154 million dollars. Beyoncé surpassed the Weekn'd as the 8th highest grossing tour of the decade thus far. She also has 154 million from 10.7 million tickets sold as per billboard. Her stats should be updated. Billboard released the article. I cannot leave it in the comment as it is blocked. Pvalley955 (talk) 22:06, 29 June 2023 (UTC)

https://touringdata.wordpress.com/2023/06/29/beyonce-renaissance-tour/ 190.80.34.38 (talk) 10:22, 28 July 2023 (UTC)
The Renaissance Tour actually gross over 461 million dollars from 46 reported dates.
Source: (https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/23763802/beyonce-overtakes-madonna-highest-grossing-female-tour-renaissance/) The correct position of the tour is 9 in the highest-grossing tours list. Jeff2081 (talk) 23:23, 9 September 2023 (UTC)
Wordpress.com and The Sun could not be used for sourcing in Wikipedia, per WP:RSP. Moreover, the tour is still ongoing and the figure is not even final yet. Please just wait for the official boxoffice figures from either Billbord or Pollstar. Bluesatellite (talk) 03:51, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

Renaissance Tour addition

I will make the addition of the Renaissance Tour to the 2020s decade column. Regards. 190.108.215.198 (talk) 11:31, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

Timeline

Hi Bluesatellite Just an idea. Do you think would be a good idea have a mini-subsection of timeline about highest-grossing female tour? A record covered by multiple sources, including Guinness World Record. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 22:02, 25 August 2023 (UTC)

I personally think it's better to keep it this way because there would be unbalanced weight. What about group and male soloist? Maybe it's more suitable for List of highest-grossing concert tours by women. Bluesatellite (talk) 22:12, 25 August 2023 (UTC)
Not the big deal but yes, perhaps a spin-off list should works. I meant the "female" topic took a further step/coverage in some areas against "male", "solo" or group. See List of best-selling albums by women, their counter-parts don't exist for example. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 23:41, 25 August 2023 (UTC)

Attendance

"Concert tours generate income mostly from the sales of tickets" and yet there's no information about how many tickets each tour sold. The attendance columns should be brought back! GustavoCza (talkcontribs) 02:40, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

As this page is titled List of highest-grossing concert tours, it should focus on how much the tours "gross", just like List of highest-grossing films doesn't mention how many tickets sold. Perhaps List of most-attended concert tours should be created. Bluesatellite (talk) 04:07, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
Hey guys, I'm currently working about that in this UP Draft. Opinions/help are welcome. Thanks, --Apoxyomenus (talk) 23:17, 30 August 2023 (UTC)
Already created. 3.5M is the point benchmark because is less common than 3M and below. Please advise. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 17:36, 31 August 2023 (UTC)

Eras Tour - Taylor Swift

Just make $2,2 billion break john elton record, you can take down john elton news or you lying to all people who search this topic 27.125.246.153 (talk) 07:55, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

Unwarranted Edits on Columns

We need to start locking these pages as stans are constantly editing information unnecessarily. Who would change Beyoncé's gross per show to reflect 8.9 million when the overall gross is 461.2 million? It is statistically inaccurate. If editors can't leave their stan feelings (and yes I am referring to the Taylor Swift fans) out of edits then the page will be locked and monitored by a FEW persons. 190.108.215.37 (talk) 13:04, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

yes that why be up to date...when you late to update some topic that give reader wrong facts..be faster 27.125.246.46 (talk) 15:39, 1 September 2023 (UTC)
No. of shows
56
Attendance
2.2 million
Box office
$461.2 million
Website Source:
tour.beyonce.com
Please, avoid recording speculate numbers for performance when actual recorded numbers are available. Thanks. 99.62.158.169 (talk) 20:08, 4 September 2023 (UTC)

Tracking

  • Rock star Peter Frampton, still riding the crest of his Frampton Comes Alive! LP, which sold ten million copies, was signed. A 1976 tour in support of the album grossed $70 million | Risky Business, Rock in Film (2011) by R. Serge Denisoff, William D. Romanowski.

--Apoxyomenus (talk) 19:54, 6 September 2023 (UTC)

Taylor Swift numbers

The source used for TS is only an estimate, which is said in the article as the actual figures are yet to be released. Why is she on there as of now? KonstapelKatt (talk) 13:05, 12 September 2023 (UTC)

Half of the tours listed here are based on estimations. There's nothing wrong with that, since not all numbers are published on boxscore. Taylor Swift's estimation is very reliable, since it came from Pollstar, which an expert on statistics of live music industry. It's not just baseless claim by some random newspaper. Bluesatellite (talk) 14:29, 12 September 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 15 September 2023

Please add The Weeknd's After Hours 'Till Dawn Tour as one of the highest-grossing tours of the 2020s at $350,000,000. His ranking would be #5 on the list. See below for all table info.


Table Info:

Rank - 5

Actual gross - $350,000,000

Adjusted gross - $350,000,000

Artist - The Weeknd

Tour Title - After Hours 'Til Dawn Stadium Tour (ongoing)

Years - 2022-2023

Shows - 75

Average gross - $4,666,666

Ref - https://variety.com/2023/music/news/the-weeknd-breaks-london-stadium-attendance-record-after-hours-til-dawn-1235664874/


Additional Source (Wikipedia article of the tour): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Hours_til_Dawn_Tour Vishaal Satheeshwaran (talk) 02:19, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

It's the same case as Taylor Swift's $1 billion tour gross. That Variety source for the Weeknd came from July 2023 and the tour is still ongoing into December 2023. Let's wait when the "realized gross" is published. If The Weeknd is dead tommorow, all that money from the upcoming concerts will have to be returned. Bluesatellite (talk) 03:43, 15 September 2023 (UTC)
My mistake, the $350,000,000 million gross was actually a milestone for the shows he had sold out at the point the article was published (the North America + Europe legs of the tour).
As of today, he has also performed for all the sold out dates of this $350M gross milestone announced back in July.
Please see quotes taken from the Variety article below confirming the $350M gross is for shows up until the end of Europe leg:
"The global tour has now grossed over $350 million dollars to date."
“It’s incredible to see the Weeknd hit this milestone less than halfway through his massive sold-out European run,” Omar Al-joulani, Live Nation’s president of touring, tells Variety. “This historic moment in London shows the global fanbase he has cultivated over the years.”
Variety article: https://variety.com/2023/music/news/the-weeknd-breaks-london-stadium-attendance-record-after-hours-til-dawn-1235664874/
Source for completion of European leg of tour: https://www.theweeknd.com/tour/
This confirmation that the $350M gross is a milestone for shows he’s already performed would put him at #5 spot, as I mentioned earlier, with a couple edits to other stats:
Shows - 51
Average gross - $6,862,745.10 Vishaal Satheeshwaran (talk) 14:34, 15 September 2023 (UTC)
I vote no. First off, Wikipedia itself is not a reliable source. You cannot include the tour's Wikipedia entry as as "Additional Source". Also, ongoing tours are a gray area. I for one understand why, say a tour that goes on for 8 years should be on the list, once it crosses the threshhold for inclusion half way through, but a tour that's only 12-15 months long but crosses from 2022 to 2023? That can wait until it's over, IMHO. 87Fan (talk) 14:54, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

Continental lists

I think it would be interesting to add the highest-grossing tours of all time in each continent.

Holders
Sources

GustavoCza (talkcontribs) 16:08, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

Please consider doing this in a new page and feel free to link to it from here. 87Fan (talk) 18:20, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 20 September 2023

Beyonce- Renaissance Tour has now grossed £461 million. please update tables.

https://touringdata.wordpress.com/2023/06/29/beyonce-renaissance-tour/ Joncleaver1 (talk) 19:46, 20 September 2023 (UTC)

No, it's not a reliable source per WP:RSP. Bluesatellite (talk) 00:02, 21 September 2023 (UTC)

Springsteen 1984-1985 Gross is 85 million USD not 90

The Born in the USA has always been reported as 85 million USD gross in 156 gigs. And thats confirmed by Billboard and the Springsteen management. His next tour Tunnel of love express tour was much more succesfull as gross per date. 67 dates grossed 50 million USD. But if anyone could correct the Wrong number for the Born in the USA tour and put the correct 85 million USD that would be great. It was reported as 85 million USD a few months after the tour had stopped and everything was accounted for. 193.235.222.248 (talk) 13:43, 28 September 2023 (UTC)

Springsteen Born in the USA tour only 85 million USD ( Vandalism on page)

The Born in The USA tour has been reported by Billboard and every reliable source to 85 Million USD and thats what it said up untill a few weeks ago. Someone has vandalised this page and put the wrong gross on the Born in the USA tour 195.67.11.166 (talk) 13:47, 28 September 2023 (UTC)

IP: Washington Post 1988, $85 million. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 14:20, 28 September 2023 (UTC)

Vandalism Born in the USA tour Bruce Springsteen

The Bruce Springsteen Born in the USA tour has always been reported at 85 million USD. From Billboard, Springsteens management and every other reliable source. The figure put a few weeks ago is wrong. Pete876 (talk) 14:40, 28 September 2023 (UTC)

Renaissance Tour Final Gross

There has been some debate about the final gross of the Renaissance tour and thus its ranking.

It has officially grossed $592.39M. The $579M gross is an error on Billboard’s part. They reported a gross of $141M in Europe, however, they previously reported that the tour actually made $154M in Europe. Further, when the numbers are complied by each individual show, the total comes out to $592.39M

Source: https://www.billboard.com/pro/beyonce-renaissance-world-tour-earnings-european-leg/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social 2601:C2:1500:B17:3876:D173:74A2:BD54 (talk) 16:31, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

According to Billboard, the final gross for Renaissance World Tour is $579.8 million. The $592.39M figure is taken from touringdata.wordpress.com which is proven FALSE, and they have changed their number after Billboard. People should stop citing that blog. Bluesatellite (talk) 16:00, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

Taylor’s tour numbers

Keep them or no? Because she isn’t releasing her official numbers and all the ones on this wiki are based on estimates Tourstats (talk) 18:22, 8 December 2023 (UTC)

Her numbers are based on pollstar estimates. Her team says they aren’t going to release official numbers even when this tour ends:https://variety.com/2023/music/news/taylor-swift-eras-tour-record-1-billion-2023-ticket-sales-1235829395/ Tourstats (talk) 18:25, 8 December 2023 (UTC)
If the estimates are included they should have a note on them. GustavoCza (talkcontribs) 03:26, 12 December 2023 (UTC)

Number of shows

@Lassoboy: Please discuss your change instead of continuously doing edit war. First of all, most of your edits are unsourced. "Take a look at the tour pages" is not a reason as Wikipedia cannot be a source for itself. Second, the "Shows" figures listed here are not the total shows of the tour, only the shows counted directly to the reported gross revenue. For example, Genesis' Invisible Touch Tour numbers cite this Billboard source which stated: Following Saturday night's gig, the Brit band will have played 111 shows in 59 cities in 16 countries, for a total audience of 3.09 million and a reported gross in excess of $60 million. But you changed it blindly to 113 shows. Please stop! Bluesatellite (talk) 08:02, 22 December 2023 (UTC)