Both legs were out of this world, but lets face it: one just makes for a slightly cooler story to tell the grandkids -- Matt Melis, 15. live music Buyer pays for return shipping. In many ways, the Highway to Hell Tour can be seen as Bon, on his last tour, handing the mic to Brian to continue down that satanic highway. Year(s): 199798. If youre hoping to hear some of your favorite tracks from yesteryear live, heres a list of the 50 biggest groups across all genres you can catch live this year. List of the top 20 highest-grossing tours (by actual gross, not adjusted for inflation) of all time Rank Actual gross Gross adjusted for inflation (2023 $) Artist Tour name Year(s) Shows Attendance Average gross per show (millions) Average attendance per show Average gross per attendee Ref. Shows played: 390 Total tour attendance: 4.85 million Please sign up now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. In 2010, it finally glowed bright enough for everyone to notice. Most nights of the tour opened with their classic hit "Message in a Bottle, but the August 2008 show began withCreams "Sunshine of Your Lovea moving tribute to the band who had played their own final show at MSG years prior. Well, it knocked Springsteens Born in the U.S.A. out of the No. Onstage, she proved how she was born to be an artist. & Rakim, Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew, and Public Enemy. Just look at the setlists. Year(s): 200203. By the time the 73 leg started, the album was already a smash, and the band had blown up to stadiums and arenas rather than more intimate venues like theaters. The first leg promoting the album began some 14 months before The Dark Side was released and found the band previewing arguably the greatest album of all time in its near-completed form for their fans. Pregnancy had cut a planned tour in the mid-60s down to a mere handful of shows, and stage fright had kept her away from performing ever since. But lets not forget that MJ became a star as the focal point of these family-based groups long before he was dubbed the King of Pop. The other half of the tour, she brought her full band back to bring the new material to life with a bit of edge, proving she can do it all no matter how famous she is now 15 years deep into her career. 1983, so it was a pretty big deal. Heres everything to know, The biggest music festivals in 2022: Dates, cities, ticket info, lineups announced, What is MegaSeats? On the eve of their UK tour, Joe Strummer went missing as a publicity stunt-turned-actual scare. Total tour attendance: 2.67 million The footage that exists of the tour shows a rock band still in its prime with Mercury playfully teasing the crowd in between showing off some of the greatest pipes in rock history. His songs skipped from bizarre folk to outlier rap to heavy rock and glitchy pop. While the tour's production was notable, particularly it's rotating LED cube dubbed "the Monolith," it was Beyonc's ever-improving talent that stole the show. Its a classic example of how dynamic music can bring people together from all walks of life. A half-dozen albums later, U2 released "The Joshua Tree in 1987, which won them the Grammy for Album of the Year and spawned two of their most classic tracks, "With or Without You and "I Still Havent Found What Im Looking For. In 2017, marking the 30th anniversary of their landmark album, the group embarked on their "Joshua Tree Tour, in which they played the entire song list in order every night. The data have been pulled from a compiled list of sources, and concerts have been ranked by the tours gross (adjusted for inflation). With the release of Guero, his ninth studio album, Beck found a new string of singles -- like "E-Pro" and "Girl" -- to hook audiences with. The British band was blamed for selling out with the success of Combat Rock, still their best-selling album to date, though it would go on to show what new wave could and should do: merge influences of all kinds. Their biggest album, "For Those About to Rock, We Salute You, topped charts in 1983, but in 2008 they were still going strong. Nina Corcoran, 79. Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $476,474,639 In 1991, Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette was opening on tour for Vanilla Ice and probably still best remembered in America for being one of dozens of childhood stars regularly slimed on Nickelodeon in the 80s. Originally conceived by Perry Farrell as a farewell tour and victory lap for his band, Janes Addiction, the festival hasnt travelled since its one-year comeback in 2003. Everyone from KISS to Marilyn Manson owes Cooper a debt for losing his head like that. Bob Marley and the Wailers -- Uprising Tour (1980), Bob Marley might best be thought of as an ambassador: for reggae, his native Jamaica, Rastafarianism, and human rights. Jawbreaker- 2018 Reunion Tour (2018), For 10 solid years, punk fans and emo kids got to soak up the earnest talent that was Jawbreaker. For a few years, the Rolling Stones held the title for the top-grossing tour of all timethanks to their "A Bigger Bang tour. Jackson had hits, set touring records, and even played before royalty with his siblings. Phish- Phish Destroys America (1997), Its hard to pick a single best Phish tour, especially if youre a die-hard fan. The band used an aerial photo of the concert in the liner notes of its . And who can blame him? Guns N' Roses: Not in This Lifetime Tour, #2. Both occurred during Queens Magic Tour. All rights reserved (About Us). Sufjan Stevens- Surfjohn Stevens Christmas Sing-A-Long: Seasonal Affective Disorder Yuletide Disaster Pageant on Ice (2012), Out of everything in his toiling discography, its arguably Sufjan Stevens yearly voyage into holiday music that makes him so intriguing. However, Floyd fans who saw the first leg of The Dark Side of the Moon Tour got a preview theyll never forget (and one the rest of the universe will forever be insanely jealous of). While on this tour, Joel has created a sort ofresidency for himself at Madison Square Garden, playing one show there a month, as long as ticket sales stay high (already six dates at MSG have been announced for 2019). La Nuit d'octobre (paroles adaptes d'un pome d' Alfred de Musset, musique compose par Serge Gainsbourg) Adieu crature L'Anthracite Mambo miam miam Indiffrente (paroles de Serge Gainsbourg, musique compose par Alain Goraguer) Jeunes femmes et vieux messieurs L'Amour la papa L'tonnant Serge Gainsbourg (1961) [ modifier | modifier le code] It took me a lifetime to get here, she told them. Paul McCartney- Out There Tour (2013-15), No musical artist appears on the average bucket list in concert form more than Paul McCartney. I'd rather go out and be a colour television set, he later said of the era and his take on performance at large. Total tour attendance: 1.96 million Run-DMCandBeastie Boys- Together Forever Tour (1987), In 1986, Run-DMC broke hip-hop stereotypes when their rap rock take on Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" hit No. Is it legit? -- Matt Melis, Grateful Dead are one of those bands that really need to be seen and not just heard. Nina Corcoran, 08. The experience turned into a masterclass for the future Fab Four, with Penniman teaching them his songs and showing a young Paul McCartney how to sing like him. Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan, and Steven Adler mixed elements of classic rock with metal undertones and slasher influences and brought something totally new to the industry. 1 Name Just One - 10 to 1: Music . Just like the music itself, the tour was a dazzling, repetitive, blisteringly loud spectacle, pushing each person to sensory overload. Though he's been touring ever since he was a preteen, Wonder's live shows have only gotten better with age, which explains why his recent Songs in the Key of Life Tour was so remarkable. The deciding factor on how to rank and include tours? While it may have been unusual for its time, everyone from Depeche Mode to Bjrk have cited the band as a major influence. Other touring locations included London, New Zealand, South America, and Japan. Despite a long line of revolving band members, the Nine Inch Nails frontman has always managed to push the live experience to its edges, creating a cathartic, communal experience for fans that owes as much to mud and sweat as it does to high-tech rock-show theatrics. Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $288,513,488 YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Year(s): 2012. by Madison Marx, January 12, 2023 The Top 100 Music Festival Lineups of All Time, The Top 10 Music Venues in 10 American Cities. [emailprotected]. Nick Cave& the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree Tour (2017-18), After the loss of his son in 2015, Nick Cave returned to the writing board to channel his devastation into Skeleton Tree, an aching record that's deeply personal because of both the details and the delivery from which he discusses it. He wound up growing a beard, hiding in Paris, and running the city's marathon incognito, causing the band to cancel their UK dates but pull him back aboard in time for the US tour stretch with their ideal catalog ready to go. Total tour attendance: 3.50 million Its just that in no way was their following at the time commensurate with their impact on the music world. Queen had no idea that their world was about to change forever, but they certainly left it all on the stage. It was the year of the big suit, a year that lives on in cartoonish costume design fame. Matt Melis, 24. Total tour attendance: 3.65 million Comments. Terms of Use. The 40 Most Anticipated Tours of 2023: Taylor Swift, SZA, Blink-182, Arctic Monkeys, Beyonc, and More Angel Olsen, Big Thief, Coldplay, Dry Cleaning, Fever Ray, Glorilla, Kelela, and more of the. On their 1970 tour, The Who hit the road to support the recently released Tommy. (It always seems to take critics a little bit longer.) In other instances, a concerttour transcends live events and is a culturalmoment. The legendary rock group, The Who, perform on stage during the band's final . distribution partner, email us at AC/DC didnt so much replace Bon as they went out and found another brother with the same electric current pumping through his veins. held between 1980 and 1996 at . Nina Corcoran, Theres no science to picking out the best tours, especially when some of the artists on this list have more great tours than you can count on a single hand. The chance to see Hendrix in smaller clubs already playing with his teeth and, yes, lighting his guitar on fire (often to the consternation of security) months before Americans got to see it overseas feels like the ultimate sneak preview. Bruce Springsteen went on tour with the E Street Band in 2016 to mark the 35th anniversary of his 1980 EP "The River. There are a whopping 20 songs on the album, and Springsteenperformed it in its entirety at all North American tour stops. Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $307,106,208 During their reunion shows in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York, Jawbreaker gave generations new and old the chance to hear their material live and sounding better than most everyone expected them to, too. The first artist to do that, Joel also broke the record for solo performances at The Garden, previously held by Sir Elton John, when he played his65th concert on July 1, 2015. But now things are looking up again way up. See details Those who saw it had no idea they were seeing My Bloody Valentine on their last tour ever, as the band chose not to play again until reuniting over 16 years later in 2008. Proving that we often dont know a good thing til its gone, The Polices reunion tour grossed more than any of their heyday tours. Her performance, her costumes, and the stage and multimedia setup had all been taken to new levels for this tour. Nina Corcoran, 42. The 1980s brought the world some of the best music the 20th century had to offer. They also went on a year-long tour, primarily playing thesongs on the compilation, but sprinkling in a handful of other band favorites. In truth, so was his creativity as a songwriter. Year(s): 200203. They had something to prove, and their 1968 North American tour saw them go from supporting bands like Vanilla Fudge, Country Joe & the Fish, and Iron Butterfly to headlining the very same tour, culminating in concerts like one in Boston where the band transformed one albums worth of material and a handful of popular covers into more than four hours that left everyone spellbound. Yes, the Dead have great albums, like Workingmans Dead, and more bootlegs showcasing their live chops than most people could ever get around to listening to, but, more than any band in history, what they toured from city to city was a culture and brotherhood, and their people followed. It began in the United States only a few months removed from the Kennedy assassination when the mop-topped lads from Liverpool played their first American concerts sandwiched between Earth-shifting appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. St. Vincent- Fear the Future Tour (2017-18), What do you do when youre one of the greatest guitarists of all time? Nothing new, or exciting, or experimental had popped up in a number of years. Another wildly popular Bruce Springsteen tour, "The Rising Tour began a week after the release of Springsteens 12th studio album, "The Rising." Despite winning Album of the Year at the Grammys, Arcade Fire still performed with an exuberant, impassioned, almost amateaur energy that recalled their early years, the type of intense live delivery that suggested the band was leaving it all on the floor just for you, that very night, right before your eyes. January 23, 2019 Bill Wyman walked away from the band, saying that he was tired of touring and would no longer continue playing with the group. Matt Melis, Rock doesn't get better than The Who, and what better way to challenge the notion of ruff and tough classic rock than an opera? The Big Time shows captured those two worlds colliding. Someone in the audience shouted out Judas!, prompting Dylan to turn to his band and order them to play it fucking loud. The Hawks obliged, and rock and roll has never been the same since. 2. On his first solo concert tour in five years, Kanye went hard amping up his own personality, mythos, and talent with a stage design that felt like a medieval quest for a self-declared deity. Tour gross (adjusted for inflation): $273,464,451 Year(s): 199495. Legendary shows at venues like Shea Stadium and the Hollywood Bowl not only helped set attendance and revenue records but also captured footage of just how emotional fans could get at a concert. -- Matt Melis, 33. Nina Corcoran, Rarely do we know at the time that were witnessing history in the making. "The Farewell Tourwas no exception. With his vibrantly orange hair and glitter-covered outfits, Bowie moved with the air of someone who had spent his whole life performing to massive crowds, and yet this was nearly the beginning. Bee Gees - Spirits Having Flown Tour (1979), The Bee Gees are one of those groups that has more lives than a cat. To a less confusing time, when both werent out on tour separately. Nina Corcoran, 77. AC/DC- Highway to Hell Tour (1979-80), When Bon Scott died of alcohol poisoning in early 1980, Brian Johnson stepped in a couple months later, and the band didnt miss a beat. Genesis- The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Tour (1974-75), Few prog rock tours are as infamous as Genesis' jaunt in support of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, the band's sixth studio album and last with Peter Gabriel as the lead singer. Shows played: 100, For many an instrumentalist, landing a job withthe E Street Band would be a dream come true. The record-breaking concert at Rio de Janeiro was held in the middle of the "A Bigger Bang" tour. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Luckily, nobody told that to Tina Turner, or at least she didnt pay them any attention if they did. New Jersey band Bon Jovi appeared on the scene in 1980 with big hair and electric smiles. While Dylans acoustic sets were welcomed, each nights subsequent electric set received its fair share of hecklers and scathing ink from the press. Shows played: 136 In an era of eclectic festivals and post-nu-metal, it may not seem so groundbreaking, but to bring these genres together 30 years ago absolutely busted down doors and changed how fans thought about different types of music. Richards said he only "spent a couple of days in the hospital; it later came out that hed actuallyhad brain surgery to remove a blood clot resulting from the fall. Whether its equipping fans with boom boxes, shooting lasers from giant hands, or frontman Wayne Coyne emerging from projections of giant glowing vaginas, the Lips put on a confetti-coated feast for the eyes like few others. by Madison Marx, January 31, 2023 While the shows would become even more of a spectacle by the bands next tour a rocket-shooting guitar, you say most agree that the Alive II Tour (and the couple tours before it) marked the perfect mix of KISS mayhem and metal mastery. They didnt stay a duo for long, swiftly being joined, and left, by a variety of other musicians. By embracing 80s camp, the self-love themes of the record, and tour-specific Versace outfits, Gaga used innovative stage installations like a medieval castle and a puppeteered horse to create a world all her own through which to relay her music. The tourcoincided with the release of their new album of the same name and featured other artists like The Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban. Joanna Newsom- Have One on Me Tour (2010), Though one could say Joanna Newsom continues to outdo herself in live settings today, the singer-songwriter and harpist outdid herself in 2010 while touring behind the triple-LP Have One on Me. As a blend of pop, soul, rock, and hip-hop, the album showed how versatile Mone was in creating music. Swift's sets primarily came from the "Reputation, album with only one or two classics mixed in. Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour, #16. Nina Corcoran, 38.