Coldplay, U2, and Ed Sheeran top the list of favorite touring artists.

In recent years, global tours by major music artists have undergone many changes, most notably the emergence of tours that generate massive revenues of billions of dollars.

In 2023, Taylor Swift reached this milestone with her landmark Eras Tour, and it's a recent achievement for The Weeknd.

But according to a recent Pollstar ranking of the most popular touring artists of the past two decades based on ticket sales, the names that made the list might surprise you.

On December 8th, the music trade publication Pollstar released its ranking of “25 most beloved touring artists of the millennium” based on ticket sales from January 1st, 2001 to the end of 2025.

Leading the list is Coldplay with 24.8 million tickets sold. Following them are U2, with 20.2 million tickets sold, and Ed Sheeran, with 19.6 million tickets.

Rounding out the top five are Dave Matthews Band, with nearly 19.6 million tickets sold, and Swift, with around 18.9 million tickets. However, it's worth noting that her debut album was released in 2006.

Pollstar's chart data is derived from reported and estimated box office data from events taking place between 2001 and 2025.

Swift is the only female artist to make it into the top 10. Following her are Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band, Kenny Chesney, Metallica, Bon Jovi, and Elton John.

In fact, only four female artists made it into the top 25: Pink ranked 11th with nearly 13 million tickets sold; Beyoncé ranked 13th with 11.8 million tickets sold; and Madonna ranked 15th with nearly 11 million tickets.

It's important to note, however, that ticket sales are a different measure than revenue.

As mentioned previously, in 2023, Swift's Eras Tour became the first tour to surpass the billion-dollar mark, according to Pollstar's end-of-year 2023 rankings.

She then broke her own record: In December 2024, Pollstar announced that the Eras Tour had grossed $2.2 billion in nearly two years, continuing to hold the top spot as the highest-grossing tour of all time.

According to the rankings released on Monday, Swift has earned over $3.1 billion in the new millennium. Coldplay, the leading band in terms of ticket sales, came in second with nearly $2.5 billion in revenue.

In September, Pollstar reported that Coldplay's Music of the Spheres tour had grossed $1.39 billion. The tour, which kicked off in 2022, runs through 2025.

The tour set numerous records for a rock band, becoming the largest, highest-grossing, and best-selling rock tour of all time, according to Billboard.

Coldplay has surpassed Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which grossed $939 million (£721 million) over its run from 2018 to 2023.

And last month, according to Live Nation, The Weeknd's After Hours 'Til Dawn tour officially surpassed the $1 billion mark./.

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/coldplay-u2-va-ed-sheeran-dan-dau-danh-sach-nghe-sy-luu-dien-yeu-thich-nhat-post1082139.vnp