The record books have a new king, and his name is The Weeknd.
With the conclusion of his After Hours Til Dawn stadium tour and a $1.3 billion tally, The Weeknd can claim the highest-grossing tour by a male artist in history. The tour spanned 176 shows across 67 cities, 30 countries and five continents.
The enigmatic pop/R&B superstar surpasses Elton John, whose Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour earned $939 million from 330 shows worldwide between 2018 and 2023.
The Weeknd’s achievement, confirmed by tour promoter Live Nation, ranks as the third biggest concert tour in history.
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Touris not only the topline for the biggest female tour, but also the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, with $2 billion in revenue from 149
shows in 2023-24.
Coldplay comes in second on the all-time list with more than $1.5 billion. Their Music of the Sphere World Tour – currently on pause after 225 shows – is also the highest-grossing band tour, with more dates expected for 2027.
The Weeknd sets more records and gives back
The Weeknd wrapped his tour, which began in July 2022, Nov. 4 at TM Stadium National in Kuala Lumpur. The finale followed 16 other sold-out stadium shows across Asia, including three nights in Bangkok and four nights in Hong Kong.
Since its inception, the tour moved more than 9 million tickets as it traveled across North America, Europe, the UK, Latin America and Australia.
The Weeknd also set records in Toronto (the most performances by a male solo artist at Rogers Centre, with six); Los Angeles (the most performances and highest gross by a male artist at SoFi Stadium, with seven); and France (the first artist to sell out six nights at Stade de France in Paris on a single tour).
Along with its tremendous commercial success, The Weeknd’s tour impacted communities worldwide with $8.5 million donated to his XO Humanitarian Fundas well asGlobal Citizen, which supports global hunger relief and access to quality education for children worldwide.
The Weeknd released "Hurry Up Tomorrow" in 2025, the final chapter in the trilogy that includes "After Hours" (2020) and "Dawn FM" (2022). His 2019 hit "Blinding Lights" is the most streamed song on Spotify, surpassing 5 billion, and also Billboard's No. 1 on the Hot 100 songs of the 21st Century chart.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This singer just beat Elton John for the highest-grossing tour by a male artist
