Pollstar has revealed its list of The Most Popular Touring Artists of the Millennium, covering ticket sales from January 1, 2001 through the end of 2025 — basically the entire time most of us have been alive, depressed, or stuck in a merch line.
And surprise: Metallica, Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, and Iron Maiden all made the top 25.
Even bigger surprise: none of them beat Coldplay.
Yes. Coldplay.
The band responsible for making stadiums glow like sentimental microwaves has apparently moved 24.8 million tickets, which, honestly, is more people than have ever successfully found parking at a Metallica show.
How the metal world fared:
Metallica – #8
15.5 million tickets sold across 562 shows. So basically every time you blinked this century, Metallica were somewhere blasting “Sad But True” at structurally unsafe volumes.Bon Jovi – #9
13.9 million tickets, proving that “Livin’ On a Prayer” is not just a song, but a legally binding economic engine.Guns N’ Roses – #16
10.7 million tickets, many of which were sold to fans who bravely showed up on time anyway.Iron Maiden – #19
10 million tickets across 620 shows. Eddie has now appeared in more cities than your average airline pilot.
The top three overall:
Coldplay (24.8M)
U2 (20.2M)
Ed Sheeran (19.6M)
We’ll give Ed Sheeran credit: man looks like he should be tuning your guitar at Guitar Center, yet somehow he’s pulling bigger numbers than anyone with pyrotechnics.
Pollstar’s Industry Victory Lap
Pollstar’s editor-in-chief delivered an extremely wholesome statement congratulating everyone from Coldplay to the Dave Matthews Band, noting the “exponential growth” of the touring world. Translation: “Live music is bigger than ever, but also please stop yelling at us about fees.”
This list is all just a teaser for Pollstar’s 2025 Year-End Special Issue dropping December 12 — the big industry compendium with charts, stats, and enough spreadsheets to make a tour accountant feel seen.
The Business Conference Where Everyone Pretends They Sleep
Pollstar Live! returns April 14–16, 2026 in Hollywood — the annual gathering where managers, promoters, agents, and tech wizards discuss the future of touring while trying not to admit they haven’t fully recovered from last festival season.
This year they’re expanding to three full days, because why have two days of panels about “fan engagement” when you can have more?
The week closes with the 37th Pollstar Awards, honoring the artists, venues, and executives who moved the most tickets, kept the most fans alive, and survived the most catastrophic weather delays.
Final Thoughts
Love them or not, Pollstar is basically the IRS of live music data — if they say you sold it, you sold it. And after 25 years of tracking the world’s touring habits, the takeaway is clear:
Metal will always rule…
…but Coldplay apparently rules harder.
