The 21 biggest concert tours of all-time

U2's 360° Tour was the most-attended and highest-grossing tour of all time. The rock band toured for just over two years, from June 2009 until July 2011, in support of their album "No Line On the Horizon," performing 110 times in that time span. More than 7.2 million people attended the shows, and the tour generated more than $736 million in ticket sales. 

U2 may hold the top spot, but no other artist or band has had more successful tours than the Rolling Stones. The Stones' Voodoo Lounge Tour (1994-1995) was the second most-attended of all-time (more than 6.2 million people), and their A Bigger Bang Tour (2005-2007) is the second highest grossing of all time, raking in $558 million. 

Pretty much every artist or band on this list has outlasted One Direction, but that doesn't mean the former boy band didn't do some serious touring. More than 3.4 million directioneers attended the group's 2014 Where We Are Tour, which is the highest grossing tour by a vocal group to date (it grossed $290 million). 

More than 3.5 million people came out to see the Material Girl during her Sticky & Sweet Tour, which went from August 2008 until September 2009. At $408 million in ticket sales, it is the highest grossing tour by a solo female artist to date. 

Queen Bey might not be putting up Madonna numbers, but she's no slouch. More than 2.24 million members of the Beyhive came out in support of her 2016 The Formation World Tour. The tour grossed more than $256 million, an impressive feat given that there were only 49 total stops (for comparison, just about every other tour on this list had 100+ stops). 

Legendary rock band AC/DC's Black Ice World Tour, which lasted from October 2008 until June 2010, should have been called the "Highway to (a) Hell (of a lot of money)." It made $441 million over 167 shows. 

Money, it's a gas. Just ask Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd frontman, whose The Wall Live Tour, which went on from September 2010 until September 2013, grossed $458 million. That's enough for the third highest grossing tour of all time, and the highest by a solo male artist. It's also enough to buy him a football team.  

Country star Garth Brooks current world tour, which began in March 2014, already holds the record for highest number of shows on a given tour. It's currently at over 300 shows, and it doesn't seem like he'll stop any time soon. It helps to have friends in low places, apparently.

In May 2007, The Police kicked off their Reunion Tour in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the band forming. By the time they finished in August 2008, they had performed 156 shows for 3.3 million people. In total, the tour grossed $362 million. 

Coldplay's A Head Full Of Dreams Tour, which began in March 2016, isn't scheduled to be over until October 2017. The tour has already grossed $308 million, enough to make it the 11th highest grossing tour to date. It'll undoubtedly move up on that list. 

Bon Jovi's 2013 Because We Can Tour, which ran from February until December, was named after a single off of their "What About Now" album. It should also be seen as a declarative statement about how easily they can make money by performing. The band performed for more than 2.67 million people over the course of 102 shows, raking in $259.5 million in ticket sales. 

Near, far, wherever they are, Celine Dion fans will come out in full force to watch the Canadian songstress perform. For proof, look no further than her 2008-2009 Taking Chances World Tour, which saw an attendance of 2.2 million people. 

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney's Out There Tour, which lasted from May 2013 until October 2015, got by with a little help from 1.9 million friends. The tour grossed more than $275 million. 

There is a reason why people call him "The Boss." Bruce Springsteen has been one of the biggest touring musicians for quite some time now. His most successful tour to date was the Wrecking Ball World Tour, which ran from March 2012 until September 2013. Cumulatively, 3.65 million people went to go see Springsteen do the E Street Shuffle for a total gross of $355.6 million, making it the eighth biggest tour of all time.  

He was the King of Pop—and still is, despite not being alive anymore. Of course the most consequential pop artist of our time had several high-earning world tours. The biggest of them all was the HIStory World Tour, which lasted from September 1996 until October 1997. In that time, Michael Jackson did 82 total shows for approximately 4.5 million people. 

If Cher could turn back time, would she redo her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour over again? It'd be extremely tough. The tour ended up being 325 total shows, and it lasted from June 2002 until April 2005. 

Pink Floyd wasn't exactly hurting after Roger Waters (who's higher on this list) left the band. Their Momentary Lapse of Reason World Tour, the first without Waters, was the highest grossing tour of the 1980s. An estimated 4.25 million people saw the prog rock icons perform between September 1987 until June 1990. The tour sold $135 million in ticket sales, which in today's dollars would be $260.8 million. 

At one point in time, the New Kids On The Block, the grandaddy of all boy bands (other than the Beatles, of course), were the biggest act in the world. Specifically, that time was between April 1990 and September 1991, when they were on the road for their Magic Summer Tour. Close to 3.3 million came out to see whether NKOTB truly had the right stuff. 

The Thin White Duke embarked on his Glass Spider Tour between May and October 1987. The tour was largely panned because critics thought it was too pretentious (there was spoken word among other non-musical acts). That didn't stop fans from going to it, though. Though the exact number is unknown, experts estimate that anywhere between two and six million people attended the tour.  

More than 2.5 million people attended Lady Gaga's The Monster Ball Tour. Between November 2009 and May 2011, Gaga performed 203 total shows worldwide. Gross ticket sales were estimated at $227.4 million. 

Despite the fact that it has defined and dominated our culture pretty much since 1990s, hip hop hasn't really had that many big tours, at least not when compared to other genres like pop or rock. The most successful rap tour of all time was Drake and Future's Summer Sixteen Tour, which grossed just $84.3 million from 56 shows in 38 cities between July and October 2016. The crazy thing is that this tour didn't even crack the top ten of last year.