List of most-attended concert tours

Not to be confused with List of most-attended concerts.

For the highest-grossing concert tours, see List of highest-grossing concert tours.

The following is a list of the most-attended concert tours with at least 3.5 million tickets sold, as well as the tours with the most tickets sold by year and the most tickets sold in a single day. The number of attendance is often considered to measure the success of a tour. However, the most-attended tours do not necessarily generate the largest profit due to ticket pricing. Rankings of most successful tours are generally based on gross revenue instead of number of attendance.^[1] Pollstar and Billboard provide boxscores which are the primary data showing the commercial performance of tours. However, since not all concerts are reported to those publications, especially prior to the 2000s decade, the number of tickets sold may rely on estimations by other reliable sources.

Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour is the most-attended tour of all time, with a total of 8.9 million tickets sold in 260 shows

Tours may score a very large attendance in total because of their extensive number of shows which can span multiple calendar years. Currently, Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour is the most-attended tour of all time, with a total of 8.9 million tickets sold in 260 shows across three different years (2017–2019).^[2] It also holds the record for the most-attended tour in a year, attracting 4.86 million people in 2018. U2 scored the annual most-attended tours at least six times since 1997, more than any other act. Meanwhile, Tina Turner, Cher, Madonna and Taylor Swift are the only women having a tour attended by 3.5 million people or more. According to Pollstar and Billboard reports, Taylor Swift is the only woman who has ever achieved the largest tour attendance in a single year.^[a] Swift also holds the record for the fastest-selling tour of all time, with a total of 2.4 million tickets sold in a single day for the 2023 U.S. leg of the Eras Tour (2023–2024).

Most-attended tours

Over 5 million attendance

Key

†	Indicates an ongoing concert tour

•  
  Audience view of the Music of the Spheres World Tour in Brazil
•  
  Audience view of the U2 360° Tour in Spain
•  
  Audience view of the +–=÷× Tour in Finland

Tours attended by 5 million people or more

Year(s)	Tour title	Artist	Tickets sold	Shows	Ref.
2017–2019	÷ Tour	Ed Sheeran	8.8 million^[b]	260	^[2]
2022–2024	Music of the Spheres World Tour	Coldplay	7.6 million	132	^[4]
2009–2011	U2 360° Tour	U2	7.3 million	110	^[5]
1994–1995	Voodoo Lounge Tour	The Rolling Stones	6.5 million^[c]	129	^[7]
2014–2017	The Garth Brooks World Tour (2014–2017)	Garth Brooks	6.3 million	390	^[8]
2018–2023	Farewell Yellow Brick Road	Elton John	6 million^[d]	330	^[10]
1989–1990	Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour	The Rolling Stones	6 million	115	^[11]
2022–2024	+–=÷× Tour	Ed Sheeran	5.8 million	94	^[12]
1994	The Division Bell Tour	Pink Floyd	5.5 million	112	^[13]
1996–1998	The Garth Brooks World Tour (1996–1998)	Garth Brooks	5.5 million	220	^[6]
2016–2017	A Head Full of Dreams Tour	Coldplay	5.38 million	114	^[14]
2016–2019	Not in This Lifetime... Tour	Guns N' Roses	5.37 million	175	^[3]
1992–1993	Zoo TV Tour	U2	5.3 million	157	^[15]
1984–1985	Born in the U.S.A. Tour	Bruce Springsteen · E Street Band	5 million	156	^[16]
2021–2023	Love On Tour	Harry Styles	5 million	169	^[17]

3.5–4.9 million attendance

•  
  Aerial audience view of the A Bigger Bang Tour in the United States
•  
  Audience view of The Eras Tour in the United States
•  
  Audience view of the Where We Are Tour in the United States

Tours attended by 3.5 to 4.9 million people

Year(s)	Tour title	Artist	Tickets sold	Shows	Ref.
1997–1998	Bridges to Babylon Tour	The Rolling Stones	4.8 million^[e]	108	^[18]^[better source needed]
2008–2010	Black Ice World Tour	AC/DC	4.8 million	168	^[19]
2005–2007	A Bigger Bang Tour	The Rolling Stones	4.7 million	147	^[6]
1996–1997	HIStory World Tour	Michael Jackson	4.5 million	82	^[20]
2005–2006	Vertigo Tour	U2	4.6 million	131	^[21]
1987–1989	Bad	Michael Jackson	4.4 million	125	^[22]
2023	The Eras Tour	Taylor Swift	4.35 million^[a]	60	^[23]
1987–1990	A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour	Pink Floyd	4.25 million	198	^[24]
2010–2013	The Wall Live	Roger Waters	4.1 million	220	^[25]
2016–2019	WorldWired Tour	Metallica	4.1 million	159	^[26]
1987–1988	Break Every Rule World Tour	Tina Turner	4 million	218	^[27]
1997–1998	PopMart Tour	U2	3.9 million^[f]	93	^[19]^[28]
2012–2013	Wrecking Ball World Tour	Bruce Springsteen · E Street Band	3.65 million	127	^[g]
1992–1993	Dangerous World Tour	Michael Jackson	3.5 million	69	^[31]
2003–2004	Licks Tour	The Rolling Stones	3.5 million	117	^[6]
2008–2009	Sticky & Sweet Tour	Madonna	3.5 million	85	^[32]
2014	Where We Are Tour	One Direction	3.5 million^[h]	69	^[34]
2002–2005	Living Proof: The Farewell Tour	Cher	3.5 million^[i]	325	^[19]

Most-attended tours by year

 

U2 frontman Bono at the Joshua Tree Tour 2017, their sixth annual most-attended tour since 1997

Annual most-attended tours according to Pollstar or Billboard

Year	Artist	Tour title	Tickets sold	Source	Top-grossing tour of the year	Ref.
1997	U2	PopMart Tour	1.70 million	Pollstar	Yes	^[36]
1999	NSYNC	NSYNC in Concert	1.80 million	Pollstar	No	^[37]
2000		No Strings Attached Tour	1.65 million	Pollstar	No	^[37]
2001	U2	Elevation Tour	2.06 million	Billboard	Yes	^[38]
2002	Dave Matthews Band	Dave Matthews Band 2002 Tour	1.35 million	Billboard	No	^[39]
2003	The Rolling Stones	Licks Tour	3.47 million	Billboard	Yes	^[40]
2004	Prince	Musicology Live 2004ever	1.47 million	Billboard	No	^[41]
2005	U2	Vertigo Tour	3.00 million	Billboard	Yes	^[42]
2006	The Rolling Stones	A Bigger Bang Tour	3.50 million	Billboard	Yes	^[43]
2007	The Police	The Police Reunion Tour	1.85 million	Billboard	Yes	^[44]
2008	Bon Jovi	Lost Highway Tour	2.15 million	Billboard	No	^[45]
2009	U2	U2 360° Tour	3.07 million	Billboard	Yes	^[46]
2010	Bon Jovi	The Circle Tour	1.90 million	Pollstar	Yes	^[47]
2011	U2	U2 360° Tour	2.88 million	Billboard	Yes	^[48]
2012	Bruce Springsteen	Wrecking Ball World Tour	2.28 million	Pollstar	No	^[29]
2013	Bon Jovi	Because We Can	2.65 million	Pollstar	Yes	^[30]
2014	One Direction	Where We Are Tour	3.43 million	Pollstar	Yes	^[49]
2015		On the Road Again Tour	2.36 million	Pollstar	No	^[50]
2016	Coldplay	A Head Full of Dreams Tour	2.67 million	Pollstar	No	^[51]
2017	U2	The Joshua Tree Tour 2017	2.71 million	Pollstar	Yes	^[52]
2018	Ed Sheeran	÷ Tour	4.86 million	Pollstar	Yes	^[53]
2019			2.45 million	Pollstar	No	^[54]
2020	Trans-Siberian Orchestra	Christmas Eve and Other Stories Tour	0.88 million	Pollstar	No	^[55]
2021	Harry Styles	Love On Tour	6.0 million	Pollstar	No	^[56]
2022	Coldplay	Music of the Spheres World Tour	3.80 million	Pollstar	Yes	^[57]
2023	Taylor Swift	The Eras Tour	4.35 million^[a]	Pollstar	Yes	^[23]

Fastest-selling tours

 

Taylor Swift at the Eras Tour, the fastest-selling tour ever with 2.4 million tickets sold in a single day

Key

*	Indicates previous record holder for the fastest-selling tour

Tours with the most tickets sold in a single day

Year	Artist	Tour title	Tickets sold	Notes	Ref.
2023	Taylor Swift	The Eras Tour	2.4 million	First North American leg	^[58]
2005	Robbie Williams	Close Encounters Tour*	1.6 million		^[59]
2022	Coldplay	Music of the Spheres World Tour	1.4 million	Second European leg	^[60]
2010	Take That	Progress Live	1.3 million		^[61]
2017	U2	The Joshua Tree Tour 2017	1.1 million		^[62]
2016	Guns N' Roses	Not in This Lifetime... Tour	1.1 million		^[63]
2000	NSYNC	No Strings Attached Tour*	1.0 million		^[64]
2016	Bruno Mars	24K Magic World Tour	1.0 million		^[65]
2021	Coldplay	Music of the Spheres World Tour	1.0 million	First European leg	^[66]
2023	RBD	Soy Rebelde Tour	0.8 million		^[67]
2017	Ed Sheeran	÷ Tour	0.7 million	Oceanian leg	^[68]
2023	Madonna	The Celebration Tour	0.6 million		^[69]
2009	AC/DC	Black Ice World Tour	0.5 million		^[70]

See also

• List of highest-grossing concert tours
• List of highest-grossing concert tours by women
• List of highest-grossing concert tours by Latin artists
• List of highest-grossing live music artists
• List of most-attended concert residencies

Notes

1. Based on estimations, as Swift has not reported her numbers to Billboard or Pollstar.
2. Other estimate attendances are 8.9 million.^[3]
3. Other estimate attendances are 6.4 million.^[6]
4. Other estimate attendances are 6.2 million.^[9]
5. Other estimate attendances are 5 million.^[6]
6. Other estimate attendances are 4 million.^[6]
7. Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball World Tour was attended by 2.29 million people in 2012 and 1.36 million people in 2013.^[29][30]
8. Other estimate attendances are 3.4 million.^[33]
9. Other estimate attendances are 3 million.^[35]

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