Highest-Grossing Concert Tours by Women, Ranked

Tours by these iconic female artists have redefined success in the music industry.

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

Jordan Strauss / Invision/AP Photo

Tour name: Sweetener World Tour

Tour total: $146 million

Year: 2019

Arianna Grande’s most successful tour was in support of her fourth album, “Sweetener,” which was 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 “Sweetener World Tour” was attended by 1.3 million people over 97 shows.

* Concert numbers are current through February 2024.

9. Adele

Joel C Ryan / Invision/AP Photo

Tour name: Adele Live 2016

Tour total: $167.7 million

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

Owen Sweeney / Invision/AP Photo

Tour name: Living Proof: The Farewell Tour

Tour total: $200 million

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 2000s. 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

Yui Mok / AP Photo

Tour name: Prismatic World Tour

Tour total: $204 million

Year: 2014–2015

Katy Perry’s “Prismatic World Tour” supported her fourth studio album, “Prism,” released in 2013 and stands as her 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

Chris Pizzello / Invision/AP Photo

Tour name: The Monster Ball Tour

Tour total: $227.4 million

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

Richard Shotwell / Invision/AP Photo

Tour name: Taking Chances World Tour

Tour total: $280 million

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

Rob Grabowski / Invision/AP Photo

Tour name: Beautiful Trauma World Tour

Tour total: $397.3 million

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 million

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. Beyonce

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Tour name: Renaissance Tour

Tour total: $579 million

Year: 2023

Beyonce’s world tour wrapped up in October 2023 to the tune of $579 million, and like Taylor Swift, she decided to bring it to the big screen, earning her several more million from theater tickets.

Perhaps most exciting was that she asked audience members to wear silver to her shows. That was extra special at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London, where she played five nights — the most an artist has had since the stadium’s 2019 opening — with 238,000 fans in attendance across all shows.

1. Taylor Swift

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Tour name: Eras Tour

Tour total: $1.04 billion (could be up to $2 billion)

Year: 2023–2024

Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” is one of the biggest by any artist ever. While it finished in the U.S. in November, she’s still touring internationally and is expected to make over $2 billion by the time it’s over.

Plus, there’s a “Taylor Swift Effect” in 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 reported that Swift’s six shows in the LA area added about $320 million to the county’s GDP. The Common Sense Institute also stated: “The totality of Taylor Swift’s U.S. tour could generate $4.6 billion in total consumer spending, larger than the GDP of 35 countries.”