Tour trade publication Pollstar tracked more than 44,000 live concerts in 2018 logging in a record-setting $10.4 billion total gross and 152.1 million tickets sold. Ed Sheeran topped the year grossing a whopping $432 million, an all time touring record.
Pollstar’s Top 100 World Wide tours totaled $5.6 billion U.S. dollars with 59.8 million tickets sold to 3,691 events. The Top Ten of the Worldwide Tour chart surpassed $2 billion in grosses for the first time.
The Top 100 North American tours totaled $3.7 billion U.S. dollars with 40 million tickets sold to 3,025 event records
• Ed Sheeran set the all-time touring record in a calendar year with an astronomical gross of $432 million. Sheeran’s 2018 tour numbers, when combined with 2017, is already the third highest-grossing tour ($554.6M) behind U2’s “360” ($735 M) and the Rolling Stones’ “A Bigger Bang” ($558M) tours.
• Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” Stadium Tour is No. 2 on the Top 100 Worldwide tours chart, grossing $345 million. Swift topped the Top 100 North American tours chart, grossing $277.3 million and nearing a $1 billion lifetime touting gross.
• Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift’s combined tours grosses of $777.5 million makes up 14% of the overall gross of the Top 100 Worldwide Tours. Four artists – U2, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, and The Rolling Stones – appear in the Top 10 of the 2018 Worldwide Tours chart also ranked in the Top 10 of 2017’s Worldwide Tours Chart.
Last year, U2 topped the chart, grossing $316m with 2,713,136 tickets sold. Sheeran came in at #8, grossing $124.1m with 1,525,882 tickets sold.
2018 Top 10 Worldwide Tours
GROSS TICKETS SOLD
432.4 Ed Sheeran 4,860,482*
345.1 Taylor Swift 2,888,892
254.1 Jay-Z / Beyoncé 2,169,050
169.2 Pink 1,285,411
167.6 Bruno Mars 1,290,438*
166.0 Eagles 964,245
151.0 Justin Timberlake 1,193,365
131.3 Roger Waters 1,448,771
126.2 U2 927,034*
116.6 The Rolling Stones 750,914*
2018 Top 10 North American Tours
GROSS TICKETS SOLD
277.3 Taylor Swift 1,268,706
166.4 Jay-Z / Beyoncé 1,298,038
166.0 Eagles 964,245
114.4 Kenny Chesney 1,297,731
110.0 Justin Timberlake 791,780
105.0 Ed Sheeran 1,136,497
97.8 Journey / Def Leppard 1,000,272
95.3 Pink 688,558
88.3 Springsteen On Broadway 173,461
79.0 Drake 678,410
Top 3 Promoters
Live Nation 49.6 million tickets
AEG Presents 11.6 million tickets
Messina Touring Group 5.3 million tickets
Top Stadiums
Foro Sol Mexico City, Mexico 887,802
MetLife Stadium East Rutherford, NJ 521,215
Gillette Stadium Foxboro, MA 454,383
Top Amphitheaters
Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center Noblesville, IN 588,023
BB&T Pavilion Camden, NJ 505,287
The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion The Woodlands, TX 467,620
Top Theaters
Auditorio Nacional Mexico City, Mexico 1,325,493
Radio City Music Hall New York, NY 1,004,255
Fox Theatre Atlanta, GA 704,828
Top Clubs
The Anthem Washington, D.C. 391,835
House Of Blues Boston Boston, MA 325,731
9:30 Club Washington, D.C. 240,156