Coldplay Sells The Most Tickets Of All Time While Trying To Save The Planet (Cover Story)

2024 Top 10 Worldwide Tours
No. 2 Coldplay
Gross: $421,713,321
Average Ticket Price: $128.05
Average Tickets Sold Per Show: 60,990
Total Tickets: 3,293,480
Average Gross: $7,809,506

Coldplay had been on the road for more than two and a half years with its record-setting “Music of the Spheres World Tour” when the British pop-rock band encountered the biggest challenge of the trek yet. It was the opening night of the Australian leg, the first of four nights at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, and bassist Guy Berryman was struggling with a last-minute bout of gastroenteritis.

“We assumed he’d be OK for the show – as we’ve all played shows when we’ve been unwell. But two hours before stage time, he was completely incapacitated – too weak to lift his head, let alone his bass,” drummer Will Champion tells Pollstar.

“Luckily, we have a phenomenally talented producer called Bill Rahko who comes on tour with us. He was able to fill in for Guy, despite never having performed the songs before. Poor Bill had to wear a heavy alien head for the entire two-hour performance. He did an incredible job and we got through the show – just about – but the incident definitely reinforced that the four of us are an inseparable unit… with a unique chemistry that can’t be substituted or replaced.”

That chemistry between the members of Coldplay, which also includes frontman Chris Martin and guitarist Jonny Buckland, has only gotten stronger since they first joined together in 1997 (initially known as Starfish) after meeting as students at University College London – and has allowed them to build a fanbase that continues growing after more than a quarter of a century to fill stadiums around the world. The connection between the band, known for its unapologetically earnest lyrics, and its fans can be seen in technicolor on tour as reusable LED wristbands given out to the tens of thousands of fans at each concert are synchronized to the music, becoming part of the show.

The “Music of the Spheres World Tour” has shown the rest of the music business what’s possible when an artist is guided by values, with the talent, charisma and a devoted fanbase to go along with it. The excursion has become one of the most sustainable tours as well as earning Coldplay the distinction of selling more tickets than any artist on a single trek ever and being the first band to gross $1 billion – and counting — on a tour. (The billion-dollar breakthrough follows Taylor Swift becoming the first solo artist to do so with her “The Eras Tour.”)

Coldplay’s astronomic tour, which began in March 2022 with two nights at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica, has grossed $1,145,070,413 through its final 2024 shows at Auckland, New Zealand’s Eden Park Nov. 13 and Nov. 15-16, selling a total of more than 10.3 million tickets. With 48 more gigs on the books in 2025, Coldplay will have sold more than 12.8 million tickets by the end of their 10 sold-out shows at London’s Wembley Stadium Aug. 22 through Sept. 8.

“‘Music of the Spheres’ isn’t just the band’s most successful tour by the numbers — it’s a testament to their ability to innovate and evolve 25 years into their touring career,” says Jared Braverman, senior vice president of global touring, Live Nation Concerts. “They’re reaching fans in markets they’ve never played before and continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. From innovative production and deepening fan connections to meaningful sustainability initiatives, they are redefining the live experience in every way.”

As Simon Moran, managing director of SJM Concerts, sums up: “I firmly believe the ‘Music of The Spheres’ show is the best in the world of touring over the last decade.”

Coldplay also ranks No. 2 on Pollstar’s 2024 Worldwide Top Touring Artists chart with a gross of $421,713,321 and 3,293,480 tickets sold for the timeframe of Nov. 16, 2023, to Nov. 13, 2024. The band grossed an average of $7,809,506 per show with an average of 60,990 tickets sold. Coldplay’s average ticket price is a relatively modest $128.05, the second lowest in the Top 10, just behind Metallica’s $119.64.

Every “Music Of The Spheres” show has also featured Coldplay’s Infinity Tickets program, designed to make tickets accessible to fans for an affordable price. Infinity Tickets cost $20 per ticket or the local currency equivalent and are restricted to a maximum of two tickets per purchaser. Tickets are bought in pairs and exact seat locations, which can vary throughout the venue, are revealed when tickets are picked up in person from the venue box office on the day of the show.

The “Music of the Spheres World Tour” was a long time coming, marking the band’s first tour since 2016-2017’s “A Head Full of Dreams Tour.” Coldplay made headlines in November 2019 when Martin told the BBC that instead of touring in support of its eighth studio album, 2019’s Everyday Life, the band would be taking “the next year or two, to work out how our tour can not only be sustainable [but] how can it be actively beneficial.”

And then COVID hit, further delaying Coldplay’s return to the road.

Longtime tour manager Marguerite Nguyen explains that in her opinion, the biggest challenge of the tour has been working and touring post-COVID. After touring was able to resume, Nguyen says, “We’ve really been on the road since. We were moving people and touring places where no one else was performing. That’s another reason that makes all these shows so much more special. Just a few years ago, we couldn’t get 60 people into one room. Now there are 60,000 nightly.”

Evidence of the band’s commitment to their fans is in the routing, with Coldplay hitting up cities around the world including places they hadn’t been able to play in the past. Along with support acts such as H.E.R., Janelle Monáe and Maggie Rogers, Coldplay often invites special guests who are local to each region including Seu Jorge in São Paulo, Brazil; Bruce Springsteen in East Rutherford, New Jersey; and TINI in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Coldplay has set touring records from continent to continent including the aforementioned Melbourne stop, where the guys achieved the highest attendance by a band at Marvel Stadium with a total of 229,120 tickets sold over four shows and $28,849,369 grossed, and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the band’s Nov. 22, 2023, show at Bukit Jalil National Stadium sold 81,387 tickets, marking the highest single-day attendance in Asia for a Western act.

And in June 2024, Coldplay achieved another historic landmark, with an update that direct CO2 emissions from the first two years of the band’s ongoing “Music Of The Spheres World Tour” are 59% less than its previous stadium tour – exceeding its 2021 pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 50%. The band’s sustainability efforts were assessed and validated by Professor John E. Fernandez of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Environmental Solutions Initiative.

Luke Howell, who serves as sustainability officer for Coldplay, came on board in 2019. He explains that the team was able to lower its carbon emissions by trying to implement ways to reduce impacts across all aspects of the show.

“Solutions have been found to reduce emissions and waste from all the main impact areas including energy, transport, merch and materials – such as more efficient lighting and audio equipment that is now powered by our bespoke 1.68MW electric battery system. Nothing like it existed when we started the tour, so we had to work with experts from around the world to create a new system and solution which now helps us utilize mains and renewable energy, dramatically reducing the need for energy from generators,” Howell says.

He adds, “The team has worked hard to reduce the number of trucks needed and in 2023 we reduced the impact of freight by a third. Utilizing space in trucks and containers more economically and designing sets that can be transported in a way that maximizes efficient use of the space has made a real difference. For all modes of travel, low carbon renewable fuels made from palm-oil-free bio-based waste materials have been used helping further reduce impacts.”

Production manager Chris Kansy notes that sustainability is at the heart of the tour, including installing kinetic floors in locations around the stadiums and electricity–generating power bikes so fans can help power the show. The same goes for the special effects, with confetti used during the show 100% biodegradable and the tour utilizing sustainable pyrotechnics with less explosive charge and new formulas that greatly reduce or eliminate harmful chemicals.

With “Music of The Spheres World Tour” supporting Coldplay’s ninth and 10th studio albums, 2021’s Music of the Spheres and 2024’s Moon Music, Kansy notes that “the MOTS theme is at play everywhere with very few straight lines.”

He adds, “They are supported by large, rounded LED screens upstage, off stage and on pixel clad three-dimensional spheres blending both colorful content and notch affected IMAG [image magnification]. Along with the video, the show is very visual with several songs introducing big moments flooding concertgoers with lights, lasers, balloons, streamers, flames, pyrotechnics and a steady flow of confetti. The show concludes with the fans interacting with the show by wearing ‘Moongoggles’ – 3D cinema-type glasses that take the production into a new dimension.”

The show is divided into four acts: Planets, Moons, Stars and Home. Martin has said that the show’s flow represents a classic hero’s journey – a cosmic exploration that ends with a return home, inspired and transformed.

Despite the massive venues on the tour, Kansy says Coldplay is able to connect with the audience by “moving throughout the crowd by way of Tait runways and substages bringing the band closer to their fans throughout the stadium.”

The band’s team also includes co-managers Mandi Frost and Arlene Moon, along with longtime manager/creative director Phil Harvey, who is often referred to as the fifth member of Coldplay and has been by the band’s side since day 1 – including financing their first release, 1998’s Safety EP. He and Martin have been best friends since they were kids.

“There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes when it comes to planning an album campaign and tour, it really is a herculean team effort. The greatest reward for us is witnessing the infectious joy that the band’s music brings to fans across the globe at every show. We constantly remind ourselves to sit back a minute and take it all in,” Frost and Moon said in a joint statement.

Asked about how Coldplay’s live show has evolved since the early days, Harvey says, “Obviously there are a lot more lights, lasers and fireworks nowadays, but the core essence of a Coldplay show has always been the same: great songs delivered with passion, humanity and vulnerability.

“To my mind, Chris has become the best frontman in the world. His superpower is his authenticity. What you see onstage is 100% true and authentic. This allows him to be extremely free and spontaneous because he’s not following a script – he’s just doing what comes naturally.”

Reflecting on the nearly 20 years he’s worked with Coldplay, agent Josh Javor of WME, says, “After each Coldplay tour we always used to say, ‘No way can they top this one’ and each time they come up with genius and original ideas to make the show better and more groundbreaking to where it is now.”

Looking ahead to 2025, the band returns to the stage with four nights at Zayad Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 9-14. In addition to the 10 nights at London’s Wembley Stadium (which would set the record for the most shows at the iconic venue in a single year), Coldplay’s major milestones include booking its biggest-ever shows at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, with more than 100,000 people set to attend each night Jan. 25-26.

For now, the members of Coldplay will continue soaking up the moments of joy and connection.

“This tour has gone far beyond our wildest dreams, not just the scale of it but also in terms of spirit and human connection,” Champion says. “The tour represents a place where 70,000 lives can collide in a confluence of joy, love and shared humanity. In many ways, it feels like the reward for all the long hours of second-guessing ourselves in the studio, when we’re making the albums that provide the tour’s conceptual and aesthetic framework.

“It’s incredibly fulfilling and exhilarating to see those studio recordings turn into mass singalongs. To watch audiences, night after night, come together to sing, dance and smile is such a huge honor. Those moments of connection and togetherness give us our sense of purpose and reason for existing as a band.”