Musicians That Raked In A Staggering Amount Of Money While On Tour

If there are two things the biggest musicians in the scene can depend on, it's touring and making money. Whether through high-priced tickets, expensive merch, record sales, or a combination of all three, the most famous acts in the world are (usually) guaranteed a massive haul when the registers are emptied and the corporate accounts are filled. Unlike rock stars who are surprisingly poor, these performers are jaw-droppingly wealthy thanks to their super-successful tours.

The most profitable aspect of modern celebrity musicianship is touring, which provides an opportunity for incredible wealth to come rolling in while performers do what they do best. Just how much cash have the best-known musicians made when they've gone on tour? The collective figure is in the billions, with a few stars even becoming billionaires themselves after taking their acts on the road. From Taylor Swift's juggernaut "Eras" tour ushering in a new age of interactive shows to the massive financial magic of Coldplay's "Music of the Spheres" and Ed Sheeran's "Mathematics" tours, these musicians have proven to be the most profitable touring acts in the world.

The juggernaut that was "The Eras Tour" took the already-powerhouse Taylor Swift into a new realm of superstardom. The friendship bracelet industry alone saw a boost unlike anything outside the summer camp community, and it was nothing compared to the money motherlode this nearly three-year-long odyssey brought in. It seemed to go on forever, cropping up in another country just as the furor was dying down, with surprise songs snuck in to encourage repeated visits from Swifties who hang on the pop phenomenon's every Easter egg. 

What more can be said about a tour that brought in 2 billion dollars in ticket sales alone — twice as much as any other tour in the history of tours? It was lucrative enough to put Swift herself into the billionaire's club and set the bar unreachably high for most other musicians. If that wasn't profitable enough, the tour moved another $200 million in merch, plus an additional $261 million thanks to ticket sales for the tour's concert film. None of this takes into account the additional sales of her "Taylor's Version" albums or her new works released during the tour, which only tops the money-making cake with a cherry made of more money. The cultural sweep that brought Swift's overwhelming following together to laugh, cry, and sing their hearts out also helped her shake it off all the way to the bank. There's a reason she's at the top of so many lists, including this one.

Coldplay's "Music of the Spheres Tour" is still rolling along as of this writing, so it's difficult to say how much the musicians will rake in when it's all finally said and done. And it may not even matter too much, considering the present haul is over $1 billion, which already makes this road show the best-selling rock tour of all time. The crew embarked on its current showcase in 2022, with tickets running for around $300 and up. But even at prices like that, Coldplay has to generate a lot of heat to get fans in seats and put money in the bag. This isn't the first time the band has made history at the box office, either — the 2017 "Head Full of Dreams Tour" resulted in $532 million in cash flow, the third-highest-grossing tour ever at the time.

The tour got an unexpected shot of renewed energy when the CEO of Astromer and his HR exec girlfriend appeared on the Coldplay kiss cam during the July 16 show. The ensuing social media response flung both the couple and the band back into the spotlight, with the band enjoying a pulse of coolness thanks to frontman Chris Martin's cheeky handling of the snafu. Whether it helps push ticket sales or simply stands as a noteworthy moment in a milestone tour, Coldplay has shown its talent for turning tunesmithing into gold.

It seems that whenever pop prodigy Ed Sheeran takes his act to concert halls around the globe, he creates a waterfall of cash that rains down riches into his bank account. You may not have been able to escape him on streaming services or the radio, but there were plenty of people who ran in his direction and gave their hard-earned cash for the privilege of watching him perform life. When the singer-songwriter's "Divide Tour" finished up, the total tally had reached $776 million, a stunning figure for a 225-show circuit (per Billboard). Running from March 2017 to August 2019, the 29-month collection of performances generated a whopping $26.7 million per month. From the looks of things, Sheeran has no problem covering his monthly expenses with coin like that passing through the registers. 

But the mind-blowing numeric facts don't stop with division. Sheeran's current "Mathematics Tour" is nipping at the heels of the "Divide Tour" totals, ringing up $649 million so far, and it's still going as of this writing (per Touring Data). The current run began in 2022 and is rolling forward as of 2025, to the tune of more than 6.7 million tickets. Maybe there's a reason for Sheeran naming all of his albums after mathematic signs — the good luck generated by numbers seems to be leading him closer to a spot on the billionaire tote board. It's enough to make you wonder what sort of money-making sorcery he'll come up with when he runs out of arithmetic symbols. 

They're not just one of the biggest touring bands in the world — the Rolling Stones are one of the biggest bands in the world, period. It makes total sense that the band would have brought in more money on tour than just about everyone else who ever picked up a guitar. It didn't happen just once or twice, but three times, proving not only that lightning strikes repeatedly, but sometimes it comes with a shower of cash. For a group of near-octogenarians who just keep rolling with the punches, the ability to outlast the competition comes with vast rewards.  

One of the larger tours on the books, the band's "Voodoo Lounge Tour" brought $320 million dollars into the box office — a serious sum, but one that was outdone by the $558 million haul from the "A Bigger Bang Tour," despite having lower ticket sales overall (per Pollstar). In 2021, the Stones rolled on, into the bank account-filling "No Filter Tour," which moved another $130 million in the band's direction (per Pollstar). If you're mathing in your head as you read this, that's more than 1 billion dollars in gross funds. Believe what you want about Keith Richards outliving us all if you want, but the lasting power of this quartet is a lesson in the money-making potential for a rock band that doesn't know when to quit. And when cash is moving in such vast quantities, why would they ever?

Elton John's piano-driven concerts never failed to provide a high-energy good time and a jukebox of golden memories drawn from almost six decades of premium musicianship, songwriting, and live performance. Which is why it's no wonder that his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, which included the very last shows of his touring career, was a breathtaking financial driver that helped him pad the vault for his retirement years.

When the melodic wizard decided to hang up his grand piano, he had no way of knowing a pandemic was looming, but the pullback required for the COVID-19 pandemic — as well as surgery for a bum hip — put his touring plans on pause not once, but twice during the tour. It only seemed to make his most fervent admirers even more determined to see him play out his final shows. It also made the tour drag on for more than five years, with a huge wrap-up tribute show where John played at Giants Stadium. The tidy sum that his farewell tour racked up? A sweet $939 million, establishing it as the highest-grossing tour of all time as of 2023 (per Billboard). Looks like he'll be well taken care of from here on out.

In the boldest of rock 'n' roll folklore, U2 front man Bono long ago proclaimed his aspirations for the group to be the biggest band in the world, and these four lads from Ireland have certainly delivered on that vision. The fact that this group has had the staying power to pull off one of the most financially successful tours of any act ever is a testament to their lasting popularity and ability to spark new interest every time a project crops up. Critics may dispute the evolution of U2's sound, but no one can deny the drawing power of the band's live shows or the fabulous funds that come along with them.

Part of this manifestation of ongoing success is the band's wildly high-grossing "360" tour, which brought in $736 million during its run from June 2009 through July 2011. U2 even broke the Rolling Stone's standing record in the United Kingdom with 20 shows still left on the roster (per The Guardian). For that era, it was the highest-grossing tour ever — quite an accomplishment for a gigging quartet that always gives its music and its roadshow just enough of a twist to bring fans running back for more. Bono may be embarrassed by U2, but their devoted fans are A-okay spending money to keep them stagebound.

Harry Styles may have started on the road to superstardom as part of boy band One Direction, but his solo career is what launched him into the stratosphere. Part of this ongoing success is one of the music industry's most-cash generating tours, built on the success of two wildly popular solo albums that stretched his talents into formally unexplored sonic territory. As a reward for his experimentation, crowds showed up in droves to absorb his considerable charisma while he performed his best-known tunes. It turns out that's all it takes to turn a pop musician's piggy bank into a full-blown vault.

How much did these adoring followers pay for the honor? Collectively, Styles' fans poured out $617.3 million to see him live during his "Love On Tour" for the "Harry's House" record, inspiring cartoon-like dollar signs in the starry eyes of industry insiders, and rightly so. Back in 2023, it was the fifth-highest grossing tour ever, as well as being only the fourth tour to hit the $600 dollar mark at that time. Spanning September 2021 to July 2023, it was one of the most profitable periods in live music, all thanks to a former boy band member who made it bigger on his own.

Pixie-punkish pop star Pink unleashed cotton candy vibes on her rollercoaster ride of a concert adventure, high-flying her way to one of the most lucrative tours to ever coast around the world. Her "Summer Carnival Tour" brought electrifying entertainment to a thirsty fan base — one that had waited through an era of quarantines and lockdowns that kept them from seeing their favorite performer get back to her old antics. But once she was back on the road, her admirers came running, and they brought their wallets with them. The result was a $693 million barnstormer of a tour, becoming the second-highest-grossing tour ever for a female act.

For the money they pay, Pink's followers get one dazzling spectacle of a pop concert. Her derring-do and crowd-spanning high-wire act have become her trademark, inspiring diehard fans to spill their debit cards into her pockets to see her superior showmanship up close. No wonder she's one of the most successful touring acts in the world. If her tour gross is any indication, her onstage bravery has helped make her one of the wealthiest, too.

The gritty crunch of hard rock is still a dependable draw on the world tour circuit, especially when the rockers in question are long-time heavy hitters Guns 'N Roses. When Axl and the boys reassembled for the 2019 "Not in this Lifetime ... Tour," sparks flew and money changed hands. When everyone's ears stopped ringing and the books were closed, these GNR shows had raked in $584 million gross, the third-highest-grossing tour of all time at that moment. That kind of cash can buy a lot of replacement guitar strings.

What does it take to generate such a brain-busting sum, even for a band that looms large in the mythical world of rock 'n' roll? According to Loudwire, it took selling 5,371,891 tickets. Since the tour kicked off in 2016, there was a long lead-up to these totals, though that doesn't always guarantee high figures for any act. But Guns 'N Roses isn't just any act, and if the throngs that clamor to throw money in their direction for live music are any indication, they're in the upper-est of the upper echelon.

By now, Beyoncé has become more than a mere recording artist, entrepreneur, or touring performer; she's a bona fide industry, stretching her money-making skills around the globe. It's no secret that most everything she touches turns to gold, and that includes returns on her ticket sales for the "Renaissance World Tour." This song-and-dance celebration was more than just a promotional tour for the first of her return trilogy; it was also one of the most money-generating tours of all time, driven by incredible demand and soaring ticket prices. Fans with the funds paid upwards of $2,300 for tickets, and likely even more. Even at lesser prices, the tour raked in $579 million gross, the highest by a woman in history, according to Boxscore records.

The Beyhive was abuzz for their favorite performer, who regaled them with a 36-song setlist, glimmering costumes, a cadre of dancers, and a spirit that reflected ballroom culture. With a mix of familiar favorites, new classics, and an interactive element that brought about the mute challenge, where the audience falls silent at Bey's beckoning, the tour wasn't only a money-driving force — it was a festival of good feelings that kept the talented multihyphenate reaching new heights of success and wealth. In July 2025, she finished up her "Cowboy Carter Tour," which drew over $400 million in ticket sales, making it the highest-grossing country tour ever at the time. It might have been slightly less lucrative than Renaissance was, but it's still bound to keep her rolling in the dough. 

It's always a kick to see a band like Rammstein maintain its success, especially when the accomplishment is putting on one of the highest-grossing stadium tours ever. The German power combo has been making ears bleed and hearts pound for more than 30 years, but their drawing power appears to be as vital as ever. How else could the band generate $537 million dollars for their 2019 to 2024 tour (per Touring Data)? That's a ton of money for a band with far more visibility, and it elevates Rammstein into the world of high rollers on the rock stage.

There was enough of a frenzy to call for a documentary film that captured the sizzle of the shows. But after five years on the road enriching the cash flow of their enterprise, the truth about Rammstein is that the players decided to give the amps a rest and took a break for 2025 and 2026. It's clear that the money they cleared from the tour should be enough to sustain the band until they decide to hit the road again. Who knows how much they'll wrangle when that happens?