Today, we’re recognizing 18 concert tours that ended in 2018 with our inaugural Touring Milestone Award. The Award was developed to recognize the amazing artists behind the top global tours as measured by the total number of tickets sold and fans reached. To qualify, a tour must have wrapped during the year with total global sales in excess 500,000 tickets.
When you look at the tours that wrapped this past year, it’s incredible to see the caliber of artists that were on the road. These artists are unmatched in their ability to transport an audience to another place through their music, performance and production. This Touring Milestone Award is intended to recognize their commitment to their fans, to their art, and to the live experience.
Some of the tours we are recognizing this year include:
JAY-Z and Beyonce’s critically-acclaimed OTR II tour was a four-month run of summer and fall dates promoted by Live Nation Global Touring that encompassed 48 shows in 39 cities across the UK, Europe, and North America.
In 2018, Taylor Swift’s reputation Stadium Tour set attendance and gross records across the globe. The tour spanned 53 stadium dates in North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia and Japan. The tour’s 40 North American dates, promoted by Messina Touring Group, set a record for the territory’s highest grossing tour of all time.
Guns N Roses’ Not in This Lifetime… Tour began in April 2016 and after 159 shows in 41 countries it played its last date at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 8, 2018.
Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic World Tour Beginning in Antwerp and concluding in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve of 2018, the Live Nation-promoted 24K Magic World Tour played 214 shows in cities in North America, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Four-time Entertainer of the Year and American Idol judge Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country Tour headlined 13 of the biggest sports stadiums across North America in Toronto, New York City, Cincinnati, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Boston, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, Vancouver and Detroit.
Ticketmaster will continue to recognize artists with Touring Milestone Awards annually. Looking forward to the next class of awardees, Ticketmaster is anticipating outings from P!nk, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Chris Stapleton, New Kids on the Block, and Lynyrd Skynryd to be among the top selling tours of the year.
2018 Ticketmaster Touring Milestone Awards
Lady Gaga, Joanne World Tour
Guns N’ Roses, Not in This Lifetime… Tour
Depeche Mode, Global Spirit Tour
Roger Waters, Us + Them Tour
Foo Fighters, Concrete and Gold Tour
U2, eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour
Bruno Mars, 24K Magic World Tour
Taylor Swift, reputation Stadium Tour
Kenny Chesney, TRIP AROUND THE SUN TOUR
Kevin Hart, The Irresponsible Tour
Imagine Dragons, ƎVOLVE World Tour
Luke Bryan, What Makes You Country Tour
Shania Twain, Now Tour
Dave Matthews Band, Summer 2018 Tour
Drake, Aubrey & The Three Migos
Jason Aldean, High Noon Neon Tour
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Ghosts of Christmas Eve