Top touring artists of the millennium

[Teletubby 155,708]

Pollstar presents the 25 Most Popular Touring Artists of the Millennium, led by Coldplay, U2, Ed Sheeran, Dave Matthews Band and Taylor Swift. Based on worldwide ticket sales reported to Pollstar from 2001 through the end of 2025, the 25 headlining acts collectively sold more than 340 million tickets over the past 25 years, generating grosses exceeding $35.7 billion. Reflecting pure ticket sales, the list showcases the most popular artists on the planet—those seen by more people than any others (full chart below).

Coldplay came in at No. 1 with over 24.8 million tickets sold at 731 concerts since 2001. That year, the band toured in support of their debut, 2000’s Parachutes, and now, seven tours later, their “Music of the Spheres World Tour” sold a gargantuan 13.1 million tickets since launching in 2022. It holds the record for the best-attended tour of all time and has the second highest gross of any tour on record with $1.52 billion reported during its multi-year run, and it hasn’t officially wrapped yet.

pollstar

Edited December 9, 2025 by Teletubby

[Debithius 6,000]

Gaga isn't a top touring artist?

[Lucas 28,851]

22 minutes ago, Debithius said:

Gaga isn't a top touring artist?

Guess not, her past few tours didn't have a lot of dates, she doesn't do stadiums often, and she debuted a while after the other artists in the list (so she toured for like 8 years less than them since 2001)

[Taumaturg0 898]

34 minutes ago, Debithius said:

Gaga isn't a top touring artist?

She has neglected a lot of places after the BTWB, and she does seem to not like stadiums for some reason

 

11 minutes ago, Lucas said:

 and she debuted a while after the other artists in the list (so she toured for like 8 years less than them since 2001)

tbf, so did Taylor, at least as a major commercial artist ww

[palma 8,622]

1 hour ago, Debithius said:

Gaga isn't a top touring artist?

No she's power bottom. G.U.Y. remember?

[Economy 51,491]

2 hours ago, Debithius said:

Gaga isn't a top touring artist?

She really isnt. Shes had a couple tours that ranked pretty high for those specific years but looking back at an almost 20 year career, theres artists that sell out and tour way more dates than Gaga consistently has

 

Edit: That doesnt mean she hasnt done extremely well. And the demand is sufficient she could rank higher if tours is something she wanted to put a higher emphasis on. But touring is exhausting so I get why not every artist milks tour demand to the max their audiences will support no matter how profitable it may be.

Edited December 9, 2025 by Economy

[27monster27 14,736]

I could see Lady Gaga being on a list of the top 25 pop artists, but up against people pleasing epic performances from male bands it's essentially a given that this would be a hard list to get on. I'm surprised Britney isn't on this list though. Maybe if the whole "the century doesn't start until the year ends in 1 thing" she would've given she had the Y2K tour and the Oops... I Did it Again tour.

[elsamars 5,131]

Fradulent list without Gaga!

We don't accept it as Gagadaily.

[Killa 18,100]

Dave Matthews band did that. I knew they were strong touring but like top 20/30 not top 5

Boringplay at the top Is so strange. How did they even get tò the top. I thought the Stones would rank higher. They had all tour recorda until some years ago.

[darkgaga 6,297]

Sorry but how did Coldplay sell 13,1M tickets in the current tour. They make the most bland white straight music ever. 
 

Love seeing P!nk so high on the list. She is so often overlooked and underrated. Her shows are really good

[Dojo 19,743]

So, Taylor is the biggest female touring act EVER??

[Bronco 16,402]

19 minutes ago, darkgaga said:

Love seeing P!nk so high on the list. She is so often overlooked and underrated. Her shows are really good

I am surprised P!nk has overtaken Madonna. Like I know her last 2 tours have been global stadium tours, but like Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tour was the highest grossing tour ever by a female act at one point.