Highest-Grossing Concert Tours by Women, Ranked
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There have been countless legendary concert tours over the decades that have achieved unparalleled success. While women were always part of the equation, they've become some of the top earners in the music business in recent years.
The following tours have set new benchmarks for women in the industry and have redefined what it means to deliver a truly unforgettable concert experience.
10. Ariana Grande
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Tour name: Sweetener World Tour
Tour total: $146,000,000
Year: 2019
Arianna Grande's most successful tour was in support of her fourth album "Sweetener" released in August 2018.
The tour featured performances of songs from the "Sweetener" album, as well as tracks from her previous albums. It also incorporated elements of her fifth studio album, "Thank U, Next," which was released in February 2019.
The "Sweetner World Tour" was attended by 1.3 million people over 97 shows.
9. Adele
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Tour name: Adele Live 2016
Tour total: $167,700,000
Year: 2016–2017
While Adele is currently performing in Las Vegas at her "Weekends with Adele" residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, her most successful tour was "Adele Live 2016" in support of her third studio album, "25," which was released in November 2015.
Adele performed a series of shows across Europe and North America, setting attendance and sales records.
8. Cher
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Tour name: Living Proof: The Farewell Tour
Tour total: $200,000,000
Year: 2002–2005
Cher has been an icon since the 1960s. She began her career as one half of Sonny and Cher (who had a massive hit with "I Got You Babe" in 1965) before striking out on her own in the 1970s with a string of hits that charted through the 1990s and early 2000's. Cher's "Living Proof: The Farewell Tour" was a massive success and featured a mix of her greatest hits from her extensive career.
"Living Proof: The Farewell Tour" was said to be her final concert tour, however, she returned for the "Dressed to Kill Tour" in 2014 and the "Here We Go Again Tour" in 2018.
7. Katy Perry
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Tour name: Prismatic World Tour
Tour total: $204,000,000
Year: 2014–2015
Katy Perry's "Prismatic World Tour" was in support of her fourth studio album, "Prism," released in 2013 and stands as her Katy Perry's most successful tour.
Her shows featured elaborate stage setups, colorful costumes (nearly 300 were designed for Perry and her dancers) and a visually captivating production that matched the theme of the "Prism" album, but while it did have a theme, it had a less of a narrative than her previous tours.
She said at the time: "I'm going to bring all the bells and whistles like it was last time but it won't be so highly narrated. I just want a little bit more room to express myself ... it's unlike anything I've seen for any other artist and it's unlike anything I've ever done. It's different, it's fresh, it's clean and it's actually in the middle of the audience."
6. Lady Gaga
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Tour name: The Monster Ball Tour
Tour total: $227,400,000
Year: 2009–2011
"The Monster Ball Tour" was Lady Gaga's second worldwide concert tour, and her most successful to date. The tour, in support of "The Fame" and "The Fame Monster," was described as "the first-ever pop electro opera."
Its theme changed over the course of the tour dates, which she had revamped a few shows in. Originally, Gaga was supposed to do a joint tour with Kanye West — when it was cancelled, "The Monster Ball Tour" was throw together in a short span of time.
The original theme of the show was human evolution (in respect to the theme of paranoia in "The Fame Monster"), but from 2010 on, New York City took center stage. Gaga and her dancers acted out getting lost in the city with the end goal of finding the Monster Ball.
5. Celine Dion
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Tour name: Taking Chances World Tour
Tour total: $280,000,000
Year: 2008–2009
The "Taking Chances World Tour" was Celine Dion's ninth worldwide tour and her most successful thus far. It was launched in support of her 2007 album of the same name.
This tour marked a significant departure from Dion's previous concerts, as it was more rock-oriented with a more basic stage setup as compared to her earlier, heavily theatrical productions.
The setlist included the hits she was known for as well some unexpected covers from Queen, Prince and Kiki Dee.
4. Pink
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Tour name: Beautiful Trauma World Tour
Tour total: $397,300,000
Year: 2018–2019
No other singer on this list puts in the physical work that Pink does. Her most successful tour was support of her seventh studio album, "Beautiful Trauma," released in 2017 and featured her signature high-energy performances with the aerial and acrobatic stunts she's now known for.
She's currently on her "Summer Carnival Tour" through 2024, and its ticket sales may surpass that her previous tours.
3. Madonna
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Tour name: Sticky and Sweet Tour
Tour total: $411,000,000
Year: 2008–2009
Madonna changed the game for female pop artists in the 1980s and continues to do so to this day. All of her tours have been massively successful — so far, however, her "Sticky & Sweet Tour" in support of her eleventh studio album, "Hard Candy," has been her biggest.
But that record may be shattered soon. She's about to embark on "The Celebration Tour," to commemorate the 40th anniversary of her self-titled debut album. The tour kicks off on October 2023 in the U.K., and many dates are already sold out.
2. Taylor Swift
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Tour name: Eras Tour
Tour total: $300 million (through June 2023, tour ends Nov. 2024)
Year: 2023–2024
Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" is one of the biggest by any artist, is less than half over and expected to bring in $1.6 billion by the time it ends in Nov. 2024. And there is a "Taylor Swift Effect" to the cities she plays — her stadium-filling stops are affecting the economy in a good way wherever she goes.
For example, the California Center for Jobs and the Economy reports that Swift's six shows in the LA area added about $320 million to the county’s GDP. The Common Sense Institute also states: "The totality of Taylor Swifts' U.S. tour could generate $4.6 billion in total consumer spending, larger than the GDP of 35 countries."
1. Beyonce
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Tour name: Renaissance Tour
Tour total: $461 million (tour continues through 2024)
Year: 2023–2024
Beyonce, like Taylor Swift, has long way to go with several tour dates to come, but when all is said and done, it's estimated it will have made $2.1 billion and she'll have one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time (rivaling that of top earner, Elton John), and the highest-grossing concert tour of any black artist.
She's still adding dates, so we don't know the final outcome as of yet — but it's believed she'll top Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" by at least $500 million.