This singer just beat Elton John for the highest-grossing tour ever

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 Tour is 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 Spheres World Tour – currently on pause after 225 shows – is also the highest-grossing band tour, with more dates expected for 2027.

The Weeknd wrapped his tour, which began in July 2022, on 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 Fund as well as Global 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 streams, and also Billboard's No. 1 on the Hot 100 songs of the 21st Century chart.

For context, Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour ran from 2018 to 2023 with 330 shows.

That means Elton played nearly twice as many shows as The Weeknd but grossed about $360 million less.

The Weeknd's $1.3 billion total comes from fewer than half the number of performances.

Elton John's tour was the final touring run of his career, designed as a global victory lap after five decades of performing.

It covered six continents and was originally scheduled to end in 2021 but was extended multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tour ultimately grossed $939 million, which was the highest for a male artist until The Weeknd's tally was confirmed.

Elton John, 79, has not announced any plans to tour again after the Farewell tour, though he continues to release music and collaborate with other artists.

Just this week, Amazon Music released an exclusive reinvention of Elton John's "Step Into Christmas," teaming Sir Elton with CMAT, the Irish singer-songwriter who took home the Ivor Novello Award earlier this year.

"I've loved CMAT since I first heard her and saw her videos years ago," Elton John said in a statement.

"She has this incredible personality and a wicked sense of humor. You can tell she has rock & roll and country and Americana at the heart of what she does—we're kindred spirits in so many ways."

"And that's why I was so thrilled with the idea of us collaborating on 'Step into Christmas.' She's done an amazing job," he added.

CMAT said, "It doesn't matter how old or famous I become—whenever I listen to Elton John I will always be 7 years old in the back of my mam's car."

"Reconciling this feeling with the reality of getting to work with the man in question has been confusing to say the least, but the greatest joy of my life," she said.

The Weeknd's record-breaking run also sets a new benchmark for stadium touring economics.

With 176 shows averaging about $7.4 million per night, the tour demonstrated the massive earning potential of limited-run stadium tours compared to longer arena runs.

Industry analysts are already watching to see which artist will attempt to challenge The Weeknd's record next.

For now, the top three tours of all time belong to Taylor Swift ($2 billion), Coldplay ($1.5 billion) and The Weeknd ($1.3 billion).

Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour now sits at No. 4 on the all-time list.

Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour, which grossed $776 million from 260 shows between 2017 and 2019, rounds out the top five.

U2's 360° Tour, which grossed $736 million from 110 shows between 2009 and 2011, is sixth.

The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour, which grossed $558 million from 147 shows between 2005 and 2007, is seventh.

Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball Tour, which grossed $329 million from 135 shows in 2012-13, is eighth.