The biggest rock tour of all time has officially been confirmed – and it’s Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres world tour

British music institution and honorary Glastonbury house band Coldplay may well be celebrating this week, as it’s officially been confirmed that their latest tour has become the highest-grossing rock tour of all time, surpassing the likes of The Rolling Stones, U2, Guns N’ Roses and the previous leader, Elton John, whose massive, years-long Farewell Yellow Brick Road farewell tour grossed $939.1 million. That number has now been eclipsed by Codlplay’s ongoing Music Of The Spheres world tour, which is currently sitting pretty at $944.7 million.

According to new data presented by Billboard, Coldplay are set to fly even further into the lead given that the Music Of The Spheres world tour is far from over, with another million more ticket sales potentially yet to be counted. The remainder of the top ten highest grossing rock tours ever is rounded out by Roger Waters, AC/DC and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, with Coldplay and The Rolling Stones both making two appearances on the list. 

“Coldplay has 21 shows – half in Europe and half in Oceania – left on the schedule,” Billboard reports. “Based on their track record this year, the remaining dates could add another million tickets to the tour’s total, ultimately approaching an unprecedented count of 10 million.”

Coldplay made their seventh appearance at Glastonbury this past June as part of their current tour, which launched in 2022 and is in support of both 2021’s Music Of The Spheres album and its follow-up, this year’s Moon Music, due for release on October 4.

See the full list of the top ten highest grossing rock tours of all time below.

Top grossing rock tours of all time

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

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N’ Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.