Pollstar is proud to present the 25 Most Popular Touring Artists of the Millennium, led by Coldplay, U2, Ed Sheeran, Dave Matthews Band and Taylor Swift. Based on worldwide ticket sales reported to Pollstar from 2001 through the end of 2025, the 25 headlining acts collectively sold more than 340 million tickets over the past 25 years, generating grosses exceeding $35.7 billion. Reflecting pure ticket sales, the list showcases the most popular artists on the planet—those seen by more people than any others

Coldplay came in at No. 1 with over 24.8 million tickets sold at 731 concerts since 2001. That year, the band toured in support of their debut, 2000’s Parachutes, and now, seven tours later, their “Music of the Spheres World Tour” sold a gargantuan 13.1 million tickets since launching in 2022. It holds the record for the best-attended tour of all time and has the second highest gross of any tour on record with $1.52 billion reported during its multi-year run, and it hasn’t officially wrapped yet.

Ticket prices and higher ticket sales are two of the primary engines driving the live industry’s unprecedented level of growth over the past 25 years. In 2001 the average ticket price for all events reported that year was $36.68; in 2025 it rose to $90.27, a 146% increase. The number of concert tickets sold increased even more, 214% in the last 25 years, while grosses leaped a staggering 673%.

Part of that rise is due to the proliferation of larger buildings and artists who can fill them. Just in the last year, there’s been an 11% increase in tickets sold at stadiums between 2024 and 2025. And in this era, far more artists and genres are represented in the big buildings. Gone are the days when only a handful of legends were able to fill the 50,000 seaters.

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Photo and Text from **Pollstar** • [Full Article](https://news.pollstar.com/2025/12/08/coldplay-u2-sheeran-dmb-top-pollstars-25-most-popular-touring-artists-of-the-millennium/)

Pollstar presents the 25 Most Popular Touring Artists of the Millennium, based on worldwide ticket sales reported from 2001 through the end of 2025