Top 10 Most Successful Music Tours

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5. PopMart Tour, U2

Again, U2 makes it on the list. The band has obviously been extremely successful with their world tours, and their PopMart Tour is no exception. The band was able to gather 3,935,936 attendees throughout the length of the tour. U2 decided on this tour in order to promote their CD Pop which was released in 1997. Beginning on April 25, 1997, the tour finally ended on March 21, 1998 after going to places such as Germany, Austria, the U.S., Canada, Poland, and plenty of other countries. After all was said and done, this tour is considered one of U2’s best. The tour became so popular, as well as controversial, that the creators of the show The Simpsons decided to film an episode that involved the PopMart tour.

The stage used was extremely unique, featuring a large golden arch, as well as a huge LED screen, and even a mirror-ball in the shape of a lemon. U2, being the very political and involved band that they are, was able to poke a little bit of fun at pop culture as well as consumerism during their tour by using this stage as well as dressing in costumes. In any case, the tour was successful and fans all around the world made sure that they got to see U2 perform.

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4. Bad World Tour, Michael Jackson

Another artist that shows up on the list more than once, Michael Jackson’s Bad World Tour was the first world tour that he took on solo. The tour, lasting 123 concerts, went all over, from the U.S. to Europe, and even Japan. At the time of the tour, the Bad World tour went into the record books as the largest grossing and largest attended audience. Of course, that record was broken soon after, but it’s definitely a feat for Michael Jackson’s first solo tour to even be ranked at such a high level. In fact, his tour was so amazing that it was nominated for Tour of the Year 1988, but did not win. The tour began on September 12, 1987 and ended on January 27, 1989 after a long 16 months. The tour had two legs, but each featured similar songs, though some were omitted in the second leg and replaced with a new song.

Out of generosity, Michael Jackson went out of his way to ensure that 400 tickets to each of his concerts during the tour were given to children with disabilities or ones that were underprivileged. He also chose to donate some of the money made during the tour to hospitals, orphanages, and various other places. Even though this tour broke world records and made the record books, a later tour was able to be even more successful.

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3. HIStory World Tour, Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson makes it to #3 on the list after his highly attended HIStory World Tour. The tour attracted about 4,500,000 fans from all over the world. It began on September 7, 1996 and ended on October 15, 1997. Though shorter than his previous tour with only 82 shows, this tour was able to bring out more people. The tour, named after one of his CDs HIStory, was planned to help promote sales as well as sales of his remix album Blood on the Dance Floor. Jackson took the time to go to Australia, Africa, Europe, and of course the U.S. He even arranged a concert to be played in Hawaii, which is a pretty rare place for such a large concert. With 4,500,000 attendees, the tour grossed at $165 million. Many of his concerts were televised, though none of the concerts were made into a full DVD. Instead, countries such as Korea decided to release their own VHS of the concert at an arena there.

Even though Michael Jackson had another solo world tour planned after the successful HIStory World Tour, it would sadly be his last. His tour schedule for 2009, This Is It, was cancelled after his sudden death.

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2. Vertigo Tour, U2

U2’s Vertigo Tour stands as the band’s most successful tour yet. The tour, which went worldwide, was able to draw 4,169,021 fans. U2 played 131 shows all over the world, including Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Canada, and plenty of other locations. Out of all 131 shows, 110 sold out almost immediately. In the US alone, over 1.4 million tickets were purchased. The tour was planned to help promote the band’s CD How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, which is the band’s 11^th CD. It was so successful that three different films were created, each of them showing footage from different concerts that went on during the tour. Vertigo Tour lasted from March 28, 2005 to December 9, 2006 and not only did fans get to listen to U2, they also got a chance to enjoy Pearl Jam, Interpol, Snow Patrol, and plenty of other bands.

The most memorable part of the tour was probably the large LED curtain that covered the stage. With a wide variety of colors, the curtain often displayed abstract pictures and sometimes even text. The curtain was made with 189 strings of LED balls.

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1. A Bigger Bang Tour, The Rolling Stones

And topping the list is no one else but The Rolling Stones… the A Bigger Bang Tour stands as the most successful tour ever when looking at the number of attendees. Funded by American Express, the tour attracted 4,680,000 people throughout the tour’s 147 shows. Today the tour not only stands as the most successful in attendance, but also the most successful in the amount of grossed money. In fact, the Bigger Bang Tour brought in about $558,255,524. The tour began on August 21, 2007 at Fenway Park in Boston and ended on August 26, 2007 in London at the O2 Arena. Keeping with the tradition of the tongue logo, the band took the original logo and added an explosive look to it and gave it the name “chippy tongue.” Like most Rolling Stone concerts, there were plenty of other bands to enjoy, including Metallica, Motley Crue, John Mayer, Nickleback, and plenty of others.

This has been the Rolling Stones’ last world tour to date; however, if another one is planned, it will surely be just as successful.