Rock Artists Make Up One-Third of 2023 ‘Billboard’ Top Tours List

Billboard has released their 2023 Year-End Boxscore Charts for touring, and rock artists fared incredibly well.

Per an infographic shared via social media, rock artists accounted for 32.4% of the top 100 tours of 2023. However, Billboard noted of rock and pop's combined figures, "While pop and rock have long dominated the touring space, the two central genres’ combined market share has dropped from 69% in 2019, to 59% in 2022, and now to 48% in 2023."

Regardless, many rock artists found themselves in the top 40 of the publication's Year-End 2023 Top Tours list. The include the following:

-2. Coldplay ($342.5M gross)
-7. Elton John ($210M gross)
-9. Depeche Mode ($175.2M gross)
-14. Metallica ($125.8M gross)
-15. Dead & Company ($114.7M gross)
-18. Guns N' Roses ($96.2M gross)
-19. blink-182 ($95.7M gross)
-20. Muse ($92.7M gross)
-23. Red Hot Chili Peppers ($77.2M gross)
-24. Phish ($76.8M gross)
-25. Eagles ($76.4M gross)
-30. Dave Matthews Band ($66.6M gross)
-31. Trans-Siberian Orchestra ($66.5M gross)
-39. Billy Joel & Stevie Nicks ($56M gross)
-40. Sting ($55.7M gross)

Among the top rock artists on Billboard's Year-End 2023 Top Tours list is Elton John. In 2023, the world saw Sir Elton officially say goodbye to touring in July with the final show of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour.

Before Taylor Swift came and made an obscene amount of money with her "Eras Tour," Billboard reported in January that John's farewell tour grossed more than any other tour in history. At that time, the tour had grossed $817.9 million over the course of 278 shows. That shattered the previous record holder, which was Ed Sheeran. His "The Divide Tour" raked in $776.4 million in 258 shows.

The setlist from Sir Elton's final show on July 8 in Stockholm, Sweden is below.

Bennie and the Jets
Philadelphia Freedom
I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
Border Song
Tiny Dancer
Have Mercy on the Criminal
Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)
Take Me to the Pilot
Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Levon
Candle in the Wind
Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Burn Down the Mission
Sad Songs (Say So Much)
Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
The Bitch Is Back
I'm Still Standing
Crocodile Rock
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

Encore
Cold Heart
Your Song
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

The Who’s Live at Leeds was released on May 16, 1970, and it’s one of the greatest live albums of all time.

It saw the band adding heavier guitars to their mod-era classics and to some early rock and roll chesnuts, and it holds up to any of their studio albums. Through the ‘70s, and ever since, rock bands have been releasing live documents of their concerts, and while some of them are little more than “greatest hits” collections with crowd noise, the albums on this list are essential parts of their respective artists’ discographies.

Scroll through the gallery below and see where some of your favorites are ranked in our greatest live albums list.