The Gig Gap: Which Musicians Tour Most Widely?

For music fans around the world, there’s no better feeling than seeing their favourite artist live. Whether it’s a small, intimate gig for an up-and-coming act or standing among thousands in a packed stadium, seeing a musician or band perform their work live is an unforgettable experience.

To discover which artists are touring most widely, we reviewed their most recent tours and counted the number of cities, countries and continents visited, as well as the number of nights played in both capital and non-capital cities. Then we calculated the proportion of nights played in non-capital cities, which we then scored, alongside the number of cities, countries and continents visited. We used this to create the ultimate ‘Touring Score’ out of 100, revealing which artists are the easiest to see live, based on the locations they visit. The higher the score, the more opportunities to see the tour live.

Ranking top of the charts for their huge ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour is Coldplay, scoring a whopping 77.8 out of a possible 100. Though the tour is currently taking a break, the band has been on the road since 2022 and have suggested that there may be another 138 dates¹ added when the tour resumes in 2027.

The tour is reported to have grossed over £1 billion, making it the second highest-grossing tour of all time and even breaking records at Wembley, thanks to their 10-night run at the stadium. With 225 dates played across 80 cities so far, there are plenty of opportunities for fans to experience the show for themselves.

Travis Scott’s ‘Circus Maximus’ tour places in second, thanks to tour dates being spread across five different continents, and 83% of them were played in non-capital cities. The rapper concluded his tour in 2025, after breaking the record for the highest-grossing solo rap tour in history.

Doja Cat follows in third with her ‘Tour Ma Vie World’ tour, scoring 71.8 out of 100. After visiting Australia, New Zealand and Asia in 2025, the Grammy-winning singer announced dates spanning the UK, Europe and Latin America throughout 2026, before wrapping up in North America at New York’s Madison Square Garden on 1st December.

Other notable artists include rocker Yungblud, who’s currently performing dates for his IDOLS tour, with Olivia Rodrigo, Tate McRae and The Weeknd featuring in the top 10, alongside Billie Eilish.

See below for the full ranking of the artists that are touring most widely:

In the four years since the ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour kicked off, Coldplay have racked up a huge 225 show dates - 67 dates more than second place The Weeknd. However, they still have some way to go to break the all-time record set by Thirty Seconds to Mars’ Closer to the Edge tour, which spanned a huge 309 shows between 2009 and 2011. They may be on track for a record-breaking tour when they resume in 2027 though – Chris Martin suggested that there are still 138 shows yet to be added!

Billie Eilish’s ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ tour places in third with 106 dates, followed by Olivia Rodrigo with 102 dates and Metallica completing the top five with 99 shows. 

With the ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour covering so many dates, it’s no surprise that Coldplay have visited a large number of countries on their travels. With 42 countries visited on their tour to date, the band stand head and shoulders above joint second place Travis Scott and Metallica, who have visited 28 countries apiece on their respective tours.

Olivia Rodrigo and AC/DC follow in joint fourth, with 25 countries visited each, while Tate McRae, Doja Cat and The Weeknd sit in joint sixth position at 24 countries.

However, some artists prefer a much more limited run for their ‘world’ tours, with Beyonce visiting just three countries – the United States, England and France – for her ‘Cowboy Carter’ tour, while Ariana Grande has also only scheduled dates in three countries – the United States, Canada and England – for her upcoming ‘Eternal Sunshine’ tour. 

While some tours focus on visiting a wide range of countries, others focus on playing a larger number of dates in each country – Coldplay has somehow managed to push the limits on both! With 80 cities visited to date on their ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour and more yet to come, some cities, including London and Rio de Janeiro, have already been included for two sets of shows.

However, with his ‘IDOLS’ tour only kicking off in 2025, Yungblud is hot on their heels with shows planned in 78 cities. Performing five nights in cities across Australia to kick off 2026, the rockstar is then returning to North America for a further 24 dates in addition to the 16 performed in 2025. His additional UK dates also feature two smaller shows at HERE at Outernet, London and PRYZM Kingston, as well as arena dates in Sheffield, Liverpool, Leeds, Cardiff and Dublin.

Travis Scott ranks in third with 73 cities visited on his tour, and Post Malone comes in fourth. 

While capital cities are often a favourite for touring artists thanks to their ability to host large audiences, only visiting these locations can exclude people who live in other parts of the country. As part of our scoring, we calculated the percentage of nights played in non-capital cities to reveal which artists are not just visiting a country, but also travelling more widely within it.

Looking at this metric alone, Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber’ tour has the highest proportion of non-capital cities visited, with 94% of dates played outside of the nation’s most prominent locations. Lady Gaga’s ‘The Mayhem Ball’ follows closely in second, with Lily Allen’s ‘Lily Allen Performs West End Girl’ tour placing in third at 90%.

Though they ranked highest overall, Coldplay’s ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour doesn’t rank so highly based on this metric, with 58% of dates played in non-capital cities. Similarly, though further dates are likely still to be announced, the first leg of Harry Styles’ highly anticipated ‘Together, Together’ tour also has 58% of dates in non-capital cities, helped largely by his run of 30 dates at Madison Square Garden. 

Planning to see a concert but don’t fancy rushing for the last train home?

If you’re making a long journey to see your favourite artist playing live, why not avoid missing the encore and make it a weekend trip instead? Our hotels are well located for the country’s top music venues and are sure to help you rest up with a good night’s sleep. You can check the location of your nearest hotel here. 

We collated a list of 46 of the world’s top touring artists, choosing those who are currently touring, have an upcoming tour announced for 2026, or who completed their tour in 2025. Using tour date listings on the artist’s site, Songkick or tour Wikipedia page, we counted the total number of dates, number of cities, countries and continents visited, and the number of dates played in both capital and non-capital cities. The latter then allowed us to calculate the proportion of shows played in non-capital cities.

This proportion, along with the total number of dates, number of cities, countries and continents visited were then normalised, before being weighted to create a final ‘Touring Score’ out of 100. The artists were then ranked based on their score to reveal which are touring the most widely.

All data correct as of 18th February 2026.