The Top-Earning Summer Concert Tours Of 2024

Updated Oct 14, 2024, 08:21pm EDT

When an artist had the kind of year that Taylor Swift did in 2023—including the record-breaking Eras Tour, becoming the most famous Kansas City Chiefs fan and a billionaire—it was easy to imagine what the 34-year-old pop star would do for an encore: stage another Eras Tour.

With 65 performances across Europe, Asia and Oceania in 2024, Forbes estimates that Swift grossed $1.15 billion before taxes and fees, with pretax earnings of $400 million—$100 million more than she earned last year. She is now conservatively worth $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.

It was also a record-breaking year overall in the music business, with Pollstar reportingyear-over-year increases in the number of tickets sold, number of shows, and total grosses for artists. In addition, 2024 marked the highest average ticket price ever recorded, at nearly $127 a seat.

“There’s no question that it’s more expensive to tour than it’s ever been before,” says agent Jbeau Lewis, who represents Latin trap megastar Bad Bunny (who ranks No. 6 this year). “The evolution of technology and ticket pricing [like Ticketmaster’s dynamic model] has allowed tours at the high end to earn more money than they've ever earned before, which offsets a lot of that increasing cost.”

Having a significant fan base for every tour stop is pivotal to success, according to Peter Paterno, the veteran music attorney who signed Queen to their first U.S. record deal. “Some tours aren’t happy, because they’re booking shows where they don’t have the fan base,” he says, citing Jennifer Lopez’s canceled 2024 tour as an example.

Overall, Forbes estimates that the top 10 touring acts collectively grossed more than $3 billion from January through the end of August, a nearly 10% increase from the same period last year. Other top acts this year include Coldplay, whose Music of the Spheres tour earned the band an estimated $131 million and billionaire Bruce Springsteenbanked $101 million for another tour alongside the E Street Band.

Next year’s top earners could be very different, seeing as Swift’s Eras era will come to an end in December. To date, some big names—including Billie Eilish, Metallica and BTS—have announced tours for 2025. And should Oasis’ greatly anticipated reunion tour last longer than Jane’s Addiction’s, the Britpop band could find themselves on next year’s list.

Here are the top 10 earning summer concert tours of 2024:

1. Taylor Swift

The Eras Tour | No. of shows: 65

2024 Gross: $1.15 billion | Earnings: $400 million

In addition to playing 65 shows to date this year, Swift dropped her 11th studio album in April, The Tortured Poets Department, which became Spotify’s most streamed album of all time in its first 12 hours of release. Tracks were quickly added to her Eras tour setlist, with new outfits to match, including a white Vivienne Westwood gown covered in album lyrics. Swifties were soon able to buy a t-shirt featuring her in the gown (for $45), with Swift pulling in an additional $70 million just from apparel, postcards and other tour merchandise.

2. Coldplay

Music of the Spheres Tour | No. of shows: 40

2024 Gross: $302 Million | Earnings: $131 Million

Chris Martin and company dethroned Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tour as the biggest touring rock act in history. John held the record at $939 million in 2023 and Coldplay now sits at $946 million and counting. More impressive are the 8.8 million tickets the band sold since kicking off its tour in 2022, showing that appetite for their music is greater than previous record-holders U2 with 7.3 million tickets.

3 . Zach Bryan

Quittin’ Time Tour | No. of shows: 63

2024 Gross: $318 Million | Earnings: $113 Million

Bryan’s brand of moody country made him 2024’s top earning country act, with estimated earnings of $113 million to date. The Navy veteran and “Something in the Orange” crooner still has stops across North America through the end of the year, meaning there is more green coming his way.

4. Bruce Springsteen 

Springsteen and E Street Band 2024 Tour | No. of shows: 36

2024 Gross: $250 Million | Earnings: $101 Million

New Jersey’s favorite son headed to Europe for the 2024 leg of his world tour with The E Street Band, earning an estimated $101 million. With those earnings, Forbes now estimates Springsteen’s net worth to be $1.2 billion. The Boss earned his place in rock history representing the working man; always the egalitarian, audio recordings of every show from the tour are available online, while a Hulu documentary about the tourdebuts October 25.

5. P!nk

Trustfall Tour | No. of shows: 44

2024 Gross: $267 Million | Earnings: $87 Million

The Pennsylvania native’s aptly named Trustfall Tour—in which the 45-year-old singer performs in an aerial rig—made another 44 stops in 2024 and entertained more than 2.1 million fans. That makes P!nk second to only Taylor Swift in terms of total concert attendees for 2024 to date, while pulling in an estimated $87 million.

6. Bad Bunny

Most Wanted Tour | No. of shows: 63

2024 Gross: $208 Million | Earnings: $76 Million

After taking 2023 off to recharge, Bad Bunny wrapped up his Most Wanted Tour with estimated earnings of $76 million. Performing mostly in Spanish, the 30-year-old King of Trap has shown that Latin music is now a mainstream genre. “If you go to a Taylor Swift show, sure, maybe they speak a lot of English, but probably a lot of them speak Spanish also,” his agent Jbeau Lewis tells Forbes. “And so there may be a lot more crossover than we realize.”

7. Madonna

Celebration Tour | No. of shows: 47

2024 Gross: $135 Million | Earnings: $63 Million

Madonna continued dominating the road in 2024, earning an estimated $63 million for the final leg of her Celebration Tour. With those earnings, Forbes estimates that she is now has a net worth of $877 million. The 66-year-old Material Girl capped off her time on the road with a free concert in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro, which drew an estimated 1.6 million people—and broke the records for the largest audience at a standalone concert and the largest crowd in history for a female artist.

8. Justin Timberlake

Forget Tomorrow Tour | No. of shows: 33

2024 Gross: $128 Million | Earnings: $55 Million

The “Cry Me A River” pop star’s June DWI arrest didn’t ruin the world tour after all. Timberlake earned an estimated $55 million from the Forget Tomorrow Tour, with over 1 million tickets sold, per Pollstar. In addition to serenading fans with hits “Sexyback” and “Mirrors,” Timberlake’s stage show featured the 43-year-old singer performing atop a multi-story floating platform.

9. Luke Combs

Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour | No. of shows: 28

2024 Gross: $167 Million | Earnings: $54 Million

After going viral in 2023 for his cover of Tracy Chapman’s seminal “Fast Car,” Combs had a banner 2024 with an estimated $54 million in earnings from his Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old tour across North America. In 2025, he will hit Oceania, playing his first shows in Australia and New Zealand.

10. U2 

UK:UV Achtung Baby Live Tour | No. of shows: 15 2024 Gross: $86 Million | Earnings: $51 million

Despite only playing 15 shows this year at Las Vegas’ Sphere, the Achtung Baby rockers pulled in an estimated $51 million pretax, translating to a healthy estimated gross of $8 million per show. Even more impressive? The Sphere’s over-the-top technological capabilities, including responsive seating that shakes to match the sound system, has a relatively small seating capacity of some 17,000.

METHODOLOGY

Earnings figures represent 2024 pretax earnings from January 1 to August 31, minus fees for representation—managers, lawyers, agents—and tour operating costs. Sources include data from Billboard and Pollstar, as well as interviews with industry experts and analysts.