Largest combined audience for a musical tour in 12 months

Based on the average attendance for the first 122 shows of The Rolling Stones’ (UK) 134-date Voodoo Lounge Tour, an estimated 5,769,258 people – or 47,289 people per concert – attended the spectacle as it visited North and South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe between 1 August 1994 and 1 August 1995. The Voodoo Lounge Tour – the highest-grossing tour ever at the time ($320 million; £178 million) – started on 1 August 1994 and continued until 30 August 1995, with the last 12 shows of the 134-date tour excluded from this record as they fall outside the 12-month period starting 1 August 1994. In total, 6,336,776 people attended the Voodoo Lounge Tour from 1 August 1994 to 30 August 1995.

The average attendance was calculated by dividing 6,336,776 people by 134 shows (47,289 people per show) and then multiplying 47,289 people by the 122 shows that made up the 12-month period starting 1 August 1994 (5,769,258 people).

The Voodoo Lounge Tour comprised 121 shows from 30 August 1994 to the final show on 30 August 1995, so the combined audience for this 12-month period was slightly less than for the 12-month period starting 1 August 1994 at 5,721,969 people.

Pink Floyd’s (UK) 110-date Division Bell Tour (30 March 1994–29 October 1994) played to 5,500,000 people in just seven months and would have comfortably exceeded The Rolling Stones’ 12-month attendance record had it continued for a full 12-month period.

The highest-grossing tour on record, U2’s (Ireland) 360o Tour, attracted a combined audience of 4,429,370 for the 12-month, 67-show period starting on 6 August 2010 and concluding – a week short of 12 months later – on 30 July 2011. The 110-show 360o Tour began on 30 June 2009 and finished on 30 July 2011 and attracted a total of 7,272,046 people. There was a nine-month gap between the second and third legs of the tour (28 October 2009 – 6 August 2010), so the period from 6 August 2010 to the end of the tour was the only 12-month period when U2 were playing (almost) continuously and could have broken the Voodoo Lounge Tour record.

The Rolling Stones succeed Jacky Cheung Hok Yau (China) as the holder of the record for the largest combined audience for a headline concert tour in 12 months.