These stars made bank on their concert tours

Beyoncé has been on her fair share of stadium tours, and she’s earned mind-boggling amounts of money on them. Her Formation World Tour raked in a quarter of a billion dollars. But what’s craziest about that figure is that it doesn’t even come close to the top 20 highest-grossing tours of all time. She’ll likely make that list with her Renaissance Tour, though. 

Taylor Swift is a money-making machine. Not only does she help local economies while she’s in town, but she also brings in a boatload of cash for herself. Her Reputation Tour grossed just under $350 million, and her Eras Tour is projected to blow that figure out of the water. 

The Weeknd put $7 million of his own money into his Super Bowl Halftime Performance, but he more than made up for that on his After Hours til Dawn Tour, which is at $148 million and counting. The superstar will up those earnings on his European leg of shows. 

We’ll get to the highest-earning concert tour of all time, and you won’t be at all surprised by the artist. But you might be surprised to learn that the artist responsible for the second-highest-earning concert tour of all time is none other than Ed Sheeran. The UK-born artist generated $776 million actual gross income during his ÷ Tour.

With hits like “The Dance” and “Friends in Low Places,” Garth Brooks is a bona fide superstar. When he and his wife, fellow artist Trisha Yearwood, set out on tour in 2014, the powerhouse duo raked in nearly $365 million, making it the highest-grossing country tour of all time. 

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood aren’t the only country stars capable of bringing in oodles and oodles of cash. Fellow country icon Kenny Chesney went on his Here and Now Tour in 2022 and grossed $135 million. Not a bad year for Mr. Chesney. 

Remember when we all woke up one day only to discover we’d had a U2 album uploaded to our phones against our will? That was a wild day in history. Almost as wild as the fact that U2 is responsible for three of the 20 highest-grossing concert tours of all time. They’re also number three on the list overall. That band has some serious earning power. 

You wanted to know which artist has the highest-earning concert tour of all time, and here it is, Sir Elton John. His Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour made $853 million. Yes, you read that correctly, $853 billion. Granted, he was on tour for several years. But still, that’s a lot of cash. 

Most of the artists who’ve brought in crazy amounts of money on their concert tours have been recording and touring for ages, but Harry Styles hasn’t even been a solo act for 10 years. He’s just got a rabid fanbase. So rabid that they earned him $418 million on his Love On Tour. 

B—h, she’s Madonna. And her concert sales prove that. Madonna currently has the highest-grossing concert tour of any female artist in history. While that number will likely soon be surpassed, her $411 million for her Sticky & Sweet Tour will never be a figure to scoff at. She is the Queen of Pop, after all. 

Right behind Madonna in highest female earners is Pink. Her 2018-2019 concert series Beautiful Trauma World Tour grossed $397 million. Pink has long been known for weaving her aerial acrobatic work into her shows, and that has apparently been a major money-making draw for crowds. Moral of the story: we should’ve worked harder on cartwheels as children. 

24K Magic was a wildly successful album for Bruno Mars. It was generally lauded by critics, sold well, won him six Grammy Awards, and sparked a high-earning concert tour. Mars is one of the highest earners of all time in the concert space, his 24K Magic World Tour grossing $367 million. 

If anyone knows how to put on a show, it’s Lady Gaga. And when she embarked on her concert series, The Monster Ball Tour, in 2009 as a new artist, she entered a monstrous money-making era. The tour grossed over $227 million, an astounding figure considering she had just hit the charts. 

Concert tours are only increasing in the amounts of money they can generate for an artist. Anymore it’s an artist’s lifeblood, and if they’re popular enough, one successful tour can sustain them for the rest of their life. Bad Bunny is one such artist. His World’s Hottest Tour grossed $314 million. While that doesn’t all go straight to him, it’s certainly a heavy chunk of change in his pocket. 

Coldplay has been touring steadily for decades, and they’ve earned their place as one of the highest-earning concert tours of all time. They’re currently number seven at $524 million for their A Head Full of Dreams Tour, and they’re among legendary bands with those figures, like The Rolling Stones and Guns N’ Roses. 

Speaking of The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger and Co. might never stop touring. But who can blame them? We’d keep touring if we earned $558 million and $547 million for people to watch us point wildly on stage. In all seriousness, The Rolling Stones are icons, and much more than their concert sales prove that. 

Hearing “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Welcome to the Jungle” live must’ve been a dream for millions. We’re not sure if making millions was a dream come true for Guns N’ Roses, but it happened. The band brought in $584 million for its Not in This Lifetime… Tour. 

Undoubtedly one of the most successful metal bands of all time, Metallica has one distinct honor others in its genre don’t: having one of the most commercially successful tours of all time. The band played from 2016-2019 on its WorldWired Tour and grossed $433 million. 

If you haven’t heard of Roger Waters, you’ve definitely heard of his band, Pink Floyd. The founder and bassist of the group set out on his tour called The Wall Live in 2010 and wrapped it up in 2013. After three years and dozens of venues, Waters had earned over $458 million. 

Bruce Springsteen knows how to earn a dollar … or several hundred million. They don’t call him The Boss for nothing. The Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Wrecking Ball World Tour was incredibly successful, ultimately earning just over $355 million. Not too shabby for a guy from New Jersey.