The highest-grossing touring artists of the decade raked in insane profits
U2 made more than $1 billion while touring over the last ten years
Streaming and augmented reality may be peaking in today’s age of tech, but nothing can compare to the thrill of experiencing a live performance.
Over the last decade, artists have come and gone, toured and retired. Others continued to rock on and raked in some serious dough.
Pollstar, a trade publication in the entertainment industry, ranked the highest-grossing, top-touring artists of the decade. FOX Business took a look at the top five.
U2: $1,038,104,132
Bono (L) and The Edge of U2 perform onstage during Fox's "American Idol 2011" finale in Los Angeles. May 25, 2011. (Photo by Kevin Winter/American Idol 2011/Getty Images)
You read that right. Irish rock band U2 has made more than $1 billion touring in the last decade.
The band embarked on five different tours between 2009 and 2019 – totaling over 300 shows.
In 2011, the “U2 360°” tour became the highest-grossing tour in history, bringing in more than $700 million, according to Live Nation.
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The Rolling Stones: $929,196,083
Ronnie Wood (L), Mick Jagger (C), Charlie Watts (partially hidden) and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones perform as they resume their "No Filter Tour" North American Tour in Chicago.June 21, 2019. (Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP) (Photo credit s
It looks like The Rolling Stones have gotten plenty of “satisfaction” with their $900 million earnings. And that’s just this decade.
The British rock band has been rocking non-stop since 1962 and continues to top the charts five decades later.
The Stones toured six times between 2012 and 2019. Their latest “No Filter” tour brought in $415.6 million alone and sold 2,290,871 tickets, according to Billboard.
Ed Sheeran: $922,361,663
British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran gives a concert at Otkritie Arena in Moscow, Russia. July 19, 2019. (Sergei Bobylev/TASS) (Photo by Sergei BobylevTASS via Getty Images)
English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran gained some serious traction this decade.
Promoting his “talent over appearance” mantra, the famous red-head brought in $150.7 million in 2015 on his second tour, “X.”
Sheeran broke records in August 2019 with third tour, “÷,” grossing more than $736 million and breaking U2’s record for the highest-grossing tour in history.
Taylor Swift: $899,627,048
Taylor Swift performs at Z100's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Friday, Dec. 13, 2019. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Country artist turned international pop star Taylor Swift was just recently crowned artist of the decade at the American Music Awards in November.
Matching her new title, America’s sweetheart also cashed in as the fourth highest-grossing touring artist, coming in just under $900 million.
Swift performed five tours between 2009 and 2018, with a sixth on the way come 2020. According to Billboard, Swift's 2018 “Reputation” tour topped the rest, grossing $266.1 million and selling over 2 million tickets.
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Beyoncé: $857,405,819
Beyonce and JAY-Z perform onstage during the 'On The Run II' Tour at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. September 22, 2018. (Photo by Larry Busacca/PW18/Getty Images for Parkwood Entertainment)
“Queen Bey” made waves this past decade with hit after hit.
Beyoncé ran five tours total between 2009 and 2018, each exceeding $100 million per tour, according to Fortune.
Beyoncé’s bombshell album “Lemonade” was just recognized as the best album of the decade by AP. Her “Formation” tour, showcasing “Lemonade,” grossed $256 million – the most out of all five tours