By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer
New York (AP) — Much has been made about the global touring economy in the last few years. Take, for example, that tours grossing over a billion dollars is a new phenomenon in the 2020s — a benchmark first crossed by Taylor Swift in 2023 with her landmark Eras Tour and an accomplishment recently reached by The Weeknd. But who are the most popular touring artists of the last two decades based on ticket sales? The results may surprise you.
On Monday, in advance of Pollstar’s 2025 year-end issue, the concert trade publication ranked the top 25 “Most Popular Touring Artists of the Millennium,” based on ticket sales from Jan. 1, 2001, to the end of 2025. Leading the list? Coldplay with 24.8 million tickets sold. Next, is U2, with 20.2 million tickets sold, and Ed Sheeran, with 19.6 million.
Rounding out the top five is Dave Matthews Band, with nearly 19.6 million tickets sold, and Swift, with roughly 18.9 million. Keep in mind that her debut album was released in 2006.
Pollstar chart data is pulled from reported and estimated box office data from events that occurred between 2001 and 2025.
Swift is the only woman featured in the top 10. She’s followed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Kenny Chesney, Metallica, Bon Jovi and Elton John.
In fact, there are only four women in the top 25: Pink is at No. 11 with nearly 13 million tickets. Beyoncé is No. 13 with 11.8 million tickets sold; Madonna is listed at No. 15 with almost 11 million tickets.
Tickets sold differs from money grossed
Don’t get it twisted: It should be mentioned that numbers of tickets sold is a different metric than money grossed.
As previously mentioned, in 2023, Swift’s Eras Tour became the first tour to cross the billion-dollar mark, according to Pollstar’s 2023 year-end charts. Then she broke her own record: In December 2024, Pollstar announced that the Eras Tour brought in $2.2 billion across its nearly two-year run, extending its lead as the highest-grossing tour of all time.
According to the new chart published Monday, Swift has grossed over $3.1 billion in the new millennium. Compare that to Coldplay, who leads with most tickets sold, and follows with a gross of nearly 2.5 billion.
In September, Pollstar reported that cumulative grosses from Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour reached $1.39 billion. It also launched in 2022 and ran through 2025.
And last month, The Weeknd’s After Hours ‘Til Dawn Tour officially crossed the $1 billion mark, according to Live Nation.