Additional Coverage:
- Top touring artists of the new millennium revealed (the-independent.com)
Coldplay Crowned Millennium’s Top Touring Act by Ticket Sales, Swift Leads in Gross Revenue
While recent headlines have been dominated by the astronomical financial successes of tours from artists like Taylor Swift and The Weeknd, a new analysis offers a comprehensive look at the most popular touring artists of the last two decades based on a different metric: ticket sales.
Concert trade publication Pollstar has unveiled its “Most Popular Touring Artists of the Millennium” list, providing a broad overview ahead of its 2025 year-end issue. This ranking, which meticulously tracks ticket sales from January 1, 2001, through the end of 2025, places British rock band Coldplay firmly in the top spot, having sold an impressive 24.8 million tickets.
Following closely are Irish rock legends U2, with 20.2 million tickets, and global pop sensation Ed Sheeran, who has moved 19.6 million. The Dave Matthews Band also features prominently in the top tier with nearly 19.6 million sales.
Rounding out the top five is Taylor Swift, with approximately 18.9 million tickets. Swift’s achievement is particularly noteworthy given that her debut album was released in 2006, giving her a shorter period to accumulate these numbers compared to many of her peers on the list.
This extensive ranking is compiled from both reported and estimated box office data spanning events that occurred between 2001 and 2025.
Swift stands as the sole woman within the top 10. The rest of this elite group includes Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Kenny Chesney, Metallica, Bon Jovi, and Elton John. The broader top 25 list reveals a continued gender imbalance, with only four women making the cut: Pink at No. 11 with nearly 13 million tickets, Beyoncé at No. 13 with 11.8 million tickets sold, and Madonna at No. 15 with almost 11 million tickets.
Understanding the Distinction: Tickets Sold vs. Money Grossed
It is crucial to differentiate between the number of tickets sold and the total money grossed, as these are distinct metrics reflecting different aspects of tour success.
As previously reported, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour made history in 2023 by becoming the first tour to surpass the billion-dollar mark in gross revenue, according to Pollstar‘s 2023 year-end charts. Swift then shattered her own record, with Pollstar announcing in December 2024 that the Eras Tour generated an astounding $2.2 billion over its nearly two-year run, solidifying its position as the highest-grossing tour of all time.
According to the new chart published Monday, Swift’s tours have collectively grossed over $3.1 billion in the new millennium. In comparison, Coldplay, while leading in tickets sold, follows with a gross revenue of nearly $2.5 billion.
In September, Pollstar reported that cumulative grosses from Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour had reached $1.39 billion. This tour also launched in 2022 and is scheduled to run through 2025. Adding to the list of high-grossing tours, The Weeknd’s After Hours ‘Til Dawn Tour officially crossed the $1 billion mark last month, as reported by Live Nation.
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- Top touring artists of the new millennium revealed (the-independent.com)