genre rock

Coldplay has long established itself as a global touring force. By the end of 2024, The Music of the Spheres World Tour had become the most attended tour in history, via 11 legs of international concerts in five continents. Now, the band rules January’s Boxscore recap by breaking new ground with its first shows in India.
Over nine shows between Jan. 9-26, Coldplay grossed $56.6 million and sold 590,000 tickets in January, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. It’s the sixth time that the British quartet has ruled the monthly Top Tours ranking, continuing a cat-and-mouse chase to the record books.

In November, Coldplay scored its fifth win, pulling out of a three-way tie with Beyoncé and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Then, TSO caught up in December with its own fifth victory. Now, Coldplay inches to six. With a packed schedule between April and September, the band is in a better position to match Elton John and Bad Bunny’s record seven before TSO begins its annual holiday run in November.

Coldplay’s January run began with four shows at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City Stadium between Jan. 9-14. Those dates earned $28 million and sold 203,000 tickets, securing No. 1 on Top Boxscores. The band’s last trip to the United Arab Emirates was a one-night engagement on New Year’s Eve of 2016, raking in $4.3 million from 31,300 tickets during the A Head Full of Dreams Tour. The 2025 shows averaged $7 million and 50,800 tickets, marking improvements of 63% and 62%. But considering the expansion to four nights, Coldplay was able to sextuple its prior stop.

Then, the band went to India for the first time in its career, playing three shows in Mumbai on Jan. 18 and 20-21, grossing $12.8 million from 164,000 tickets. Finally, there were two shows at Ahmedabad’s Narrenda Modi Stadium. Those grossed $15.7 million and sold 224,000 tickets.

At more than 110,000 for each night, Coldplay broke the record for the largest stadium shows of the 21st century. The Ahmedabad shows sold 111,581 tickets on Jan. 25 and 111,989 on Jan. 26, narrowly bypassing George Strait’s 110,905 at Kyle Field at Texas A&M last June. Strait’s date remains the bestselling U.S. stadium show ever.

This is Coldplay’s second leg of shows in Asia during the Music of the Spheres World Tour. Between November 2023 and February 2024, it grossed $129.4 million and sold 884,000 tickets from dates in Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and more. Altogether, the entire continent has generated $186 million in grosses for the record-breaking tour, with more shows scheduled in April in Hong Kong and South Korea.

After that, the Music of the Spheres World Tour will continue with 17 shows in the U.S. and Canada, plus 12 in the United Kingdom, scheduled to wrap the trek with 10 hometown shows at London’s Wembley Stadium. Since its 2022 launch, the tour has sold 10.9 million tickets and grossed just under $1.2 billion, making it the best-selling and second highest-grossing tour in Boxscore history.

Coldplay nearly doubles its closest competition, with Luke Combs and SEVENTEEN at Nos. 2-3 with $30.3 million and $28.8 million, respectively. Only three more acts grossed more than $10 million, as the Eagles, Justin Timberlake and ATEEZ follow.

January was a particularly strong month for K-pop groups, with ENHYPEN as the third Korean act in the top 10, at No. 8 with $7.7 million from just two shows. SEVENTEEN and ENHYPEN score with shows in Asia – the former in the Philippines and Singapore and the latter in Japan. ATEEZ had a string of European dates, peaking with more than 22,000 tickets over two nights at London’s O2 Arena.

As is becoming increasingly common since its 2023 opening, Sphere is No. 1 on Top Venues (15,001+ capacity). Both acts who played shows there in January are among the top 10 touring acts, headed by the Eagles at No. 4. Two weekends of dates combined to $18.7 million and 65,600 tickets, pushing the band’s residency to $98 million and 327,000 tickets since its Sept. 20 kickoff. With four February shows still to be reported and more scheduled in March and April, those totals will likely soar beyond $150 million and half a million tickets.

At No. 9, Anyma posts $7.5 million and 52,300 tickets from three shows at the Las Vegas arena. Combined with its five shows in December, the Italian American DJ drove $21 million and 137,000 tickets, marking a successful close to the venue’s first electronic residency.

January is historically a dry month, with Western stadium tours on pause for cold weather. It makes sense then that Asia and Oceania make up nine of the month’s top 10 stadiums, powered by Coldplay and the K-pop acts mentioned earlier, plus Luke Combs with shows in Brisbane and Sydney. They leave room for Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros at No. 8, with $8.9 million from Kygo ($3.3 million on Jan. 25) and Linkin Park ($5.6 million on Jan. 31).

Even indoors, January calendars were light. In November and December, seven arenas eclipsed $10 million in each month, while Sphere is January’s only entry on Top Venues (15,001+ capacity) to gross eight figures.

Radio City Music Hall lores over the Top Venues (5,001-10k capacity) chart with $13.2 million – nearly five times the $2.7 million of Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion at No. 2. The New York theater benefits from the final shows of its Christmas Spectacular, with engagements later in the month from Dave Chappelle, The Giggly Squad, and Hugh Jackman.