Pollstar, the touring industry publication, has published the Top 20 tours of the year and U2's 30th anniversary outing of The Joshua Tree tops the list. The tour grossed $316-million from 2.71-million tickets sold.
Guns n' Roses and the second year of their Not in This Lifetime reunion tour was second with $292.5-million grossed and 2.68-million tickets sold.
Coldplay was third with $238 million grossed followed by Bruno Mars at four with a gross of $200.1-million and Metallica rounds out the Top 5 with a gross of $152.8-million.
Pollstar Top 20 tours of 2017:
- U2 - 316-million
- Guns n' Roses - $292.5-million
- Coldplay - 238-million
- Bruno Mars - $200.1-million
- Metallica - $152.8-million
- Depeche Mode - $141.1-million
- Paul McCartney - $132-million
- Ed Sheeran - $124.1-million
- The Rolling Stones - 120-million
- Garth Brooks - $101.4-million
- Celine Dion - $101.2-million
- Justin Bieber - $93.7-million
- Roger Waters - $92.1-million
- Bruce Springsteen - $87.8-million
- Lady Gaga - $85.7-million
- Billy Joel - $82.3-million
- The Weekend - $80-million
- Tim McGraw & Faith Hill - $79.3-million
- Red Hot Chili Peppers - $73.5-million
- Ariana Grande - $66.5-million
Some interesting side notes -- The Rolling Stones take of $120-million was from just 14 shows. And Bruce Springsteen's gross of $87.8-million is from 60 shows on his Springsteen on Broadway residency, where the nightly capacity of the Walter Kerr Theatre is 975. The average ticket price is $1,500.