The highest-grossing rock tours in history: Elton John loses the top spot - this is the new leader

There is a new face on the rock olympic podium. They have been in the industry for decades and several of their songs are authentic anthems of the present century.

They turned Barcelona into an authentic party on their last visit to the city and they can boast of being the first British group to reach number one simultaneously in the United Kingdom and the United States. Viva la Vida shot to the top of the UK Singles Charts and the Billboard Hot 100 in the same week in 2008. The group of course, is Coldplay.

Their latest success comes during the third European leg of their world tour, Music of the Spheres, which has seen them enter a prestigious chart and, suddenly, top it. As reported by Billboard, the band’s current tour has grossed a total of $945.7 million and sold 8.8 million tickets since its launch in March 2022, figures that make this tour the highest-grossing in rock history since the specialist portal started compiling data.

Record figures

The ticket sales figures are from January, which is the most recent month due to inflation and the constant movement of the market. Looking at the calendar, Coldplay still have 21 concerts pending, so that, adding their remaining shows in Europe and Oceania, the number of tickets is estimated to grow by another million, which would bring Chris Martin’s group closer to the unthinkable figure of 10,000,000 tickets sold. The list, as far as ticket sales are concerned, draws a top 10 that is full of rock, music and legends:

Monetarily, the English group has surpassed Elton John’s legendary Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which raised a whopping $939.1 million between 2018 and 2023; Previously, the Briton had dethroned the record held by Irish rockers U2, whose 360 Tour earned $736.4 million between 2009 and 2011.

Before that, reaching the top spot seemed a pipe dream, monopolized by the Rolling Stones’ legendary A Bigger Band Tour, which earned $558 million between 2005 and 2007. In this case, looking at the monetary aspect, the list is as follows:

Taylor Swift set to break the record

The record could soon change hands again. Taylor Swift’s 152-date Eras Tour is projected to become the highest-grossing tour of all-time by any single artist or group by the time it concludes in Canada in December.

Swift has sold an average of 72,500 tickets per show, with each ticket costing an average of $238.95. Using those figures, it can be calculated that the singer has probably sold around 6.02 million tickets.

By the end of 2024, the tour is expected to have brought in approximately $2.165 billion according to estimates by Pollstar. Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, sold six million tickets over the course of 328 shows to earn $939.1 million.