Sign in

Most-attended concert tour in history sold 10.3 million tickets, it's not of Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Beatles

The most-attended concert tour in history has sold over 10 million tickets worldwide and is still ongoing.

Updated on: Jan 31, 2025, 16:38:55 IST
By
Share
Share via
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
Copy link
  • copy link

Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour broke every record conceivable. It added billions to the global economy, generated millions in revenue, and packed stadiums across the world. Yet, despite this monumental success, it was pipped in the race for the most-attended concert tour ever by another globally successful music tour, one that is still ongoing. (Also read: Coldplay gives India's largest concert ever with 1.34 lakh fans, more than Diljit-Justin Bieber's biggest shows combined)

Coldplay's Ahmedabad concert was their biggest ever. (Instagram)
Coldplay's Ahmedabad concert was their biggest ever. (Instagram)

The most-attended concert tour

On Thursday, the Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged British band Coldplay had broken Taylor's record for the most-attended concert tour. After record-shattering concerts in New Zealand as part of their Music of the Spheres World Tour, Coldplay took the tour's attendance to 10.3 million, beating the Eras Tour's mark of 10.1 million. Coldplay has performed 175 shows as part of the tour, which began in 2022. Interestingly, this number does not include their shows in Abu Dhabi and India, the latter of which included the biggest stadium concert of the 21st century. Coldplay has more concerts on the tour until September, and it is estimated to easily take the attendance figure past 12 million.

How Coldplay beat Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and U2

Coldplay used a combination of bigger venues and more shows to make the Music of the Spheres World Tour the biggest concert tour ever. The band followed in the footsteps of rock bands like U2 and Guns N Roses to book shows at the biggest stadiums in the world, ones with capacities of over 40,000. 134,000 people attended their show in Ahmedabad. This meant that their average attendance was over 58,000 as opposed to 33,000 for Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour, 20,000 for Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road, and 25,000 for Garth Brooks World Tour.

Navi Mumbai: British band Coldplay's Chris Martin performs during the band's Music Of The Spheres World Tour Produced and Promoted By BookMyShow Live, at the D Y Patil Sports Stadium, in Navi Mumbai, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil) (PTI)
Navi Mumbai: British band Coldplay's Chris Martin performs during the band's Music Of The Spheres World Tour Produced and Promoted By BookMyShow Live, at the D Y Patil Sports Stadium, in Navi Mumbai, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil) (PTI)

But the band also played more shows than many top artists. The Music of the Spheres World Tour will have close to 200 concerts by the time it comes to a close. In comparison, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour had 149 shows, U2's 360° Tour had 110 shows, and Michael Jackson's epoch-defining Dangerous World Tour had just 69 shows.

Other concert tours with high attendance

Music of the Spheres World Tour and the Eras Tour are the only concert tours with over 10 million tickets sold. Before them, the record belonged to Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour, which sold 8.8 million tickets. Historically, the record has belonged to U2's 360° Tour (7.3 million), Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion Tour (7 million), The Rolling Stones' Urban Jungle Tour (6 million), and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. Tour (5 million).

  • Abhimanyu Mathur
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Abhimanyu Mathur

    Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!.

Get more updates from Bollywood, Taylor Swift, Hollywood, Music and Web Series along with Latest Entertainment News at Hindustan Times.