Coldplay breaks record for highest grossing rock tour of all time
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Coldplay breaks record for highest grossing rock tour of all time

Steve Acedo

With just 21 shows left, Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour has now become the highest grossing rock tour of all time, according to Billboard Boxscore.

Data shows that since its start in March 2022, the tour has grossed $945.7 million with 8.8 million tickets sold, just edging out previous record holder, Elton John, by a mere 5 million dollars. Elton John had held the record since 2018 with his five-year run of the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.

Elton John plays his last show at Dodger Stadium - Ben Gibson

Coldplay is wrapping up the European leg of the tour before moving on to Oceania for the final 11 shows. If the pattern holds, they could close out the tour in Auckland with a grand total of 10 million tickets sold.

Although Coldplay currently holds the record for both highest grossing and most tickets sold for a rock tour, they are not mutually exclusive. According to Billboard Boxscore, here are the ten previous rock acts to hold each record.

HIGHEST GROSSING ROCK TOURS

  1. Coldplay (Music of the Spheres World Tour) - $944.7 million
  2. Elton John (Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour) - $939.1 million
  3. U2 (U2 360 Tour) - $736.4 million
  4. Guns N' Roses (Not in This Lifetime... Tour) - $584.2 million
  5. The Rolling Stones (A Bigger Bang Tour) - $558 million
  6. The Rolling Stones (No Filter Tour) - $546.5 million
  7. Coldplay (A Head Full of Dreams Tour) - $523.3 million
  8. Roger Waters (The Wall Live) - $459.2 million
  9. AC/DC (Black Ice World Tour) - $441.6 million
  10. Red Hot Chili Peppers (Unlimited Love Tour) - $390.8 million

HIGHEST TICKET SALES FOR ROCK TOURS

  1. Coldplay (Music of the Spheres World Tour) - 8.82 million
  2. U2 (U2 360 Tour) - 7.27 million
  3. The Rolling Stones (Voodoo Lounge Tour) - 6.44 million
  4. Elton John (Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour) - 6.03 million
  5. Coldplay (A Head Full of Dreams Tour) - 5.39 million
  6. Guns N' Roses (Not in This Lifetime... Tour) - 5.37 million
  7. U2 (Vertigo Tour) - 4.62 million
  8. The Rolling Stones (Bridges to Babylon Tour) - 4.52 million
  9. Roger Waters (The Wall Live) - 4.13 million
  10. U2 (PopMart Tour) - 3.98 million
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It is, however, unlikely that Coldplay will reach the insane billion dollar figure that Taylor Swift's reeled in with her Eras Tour, which Pollstar reports sold 4.3 million tickets. And that number is from LAST December – Swift isn't calling it curtains on Eras until December 2024.

Coldplay's forthcoming album Moon Music will release October 4, 2024


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