Only one country star cracked the Top 10 of Pollstar‘s 25 Most Popular Touring Acts of the Millenium. Two more come in at No. 20 and No. 23.
That ranking comes via Pollstar data that aggregates tickets sold and total gross tour revenue for singers of all genres between 2001-2025.
What Country Artist Ranked Highest on Pollstar‘s 25 Most Popular Touring Acts of the Millenium List?
Kenny Chesney ranks highest of all country stars on the list, coming in at No. 7.
Jason Kempin, Getty Images
Per Pollstar, he raked in $1,357,983,712 in total gross revenue between 2001-2025, selling 18,198,369 tickets at an average price of $74.62 per ticket.
(Fun fact: No one in the Top 10 charged less for tickets than Chesney did except for the Dave Matthews Band, with an average price of $57.62 a pop.)
When the data came out, Chesney issued a statement saying he was “shocked” to be in the Top 10.
“I only really think about all those faces smiling, laughing, singing – it’s the most beautiful sea of love and joy imaginable,” he stated in a press release. “I have never really considered how many; just how much fun everyone’s having.”
Read More: The Top 25 Kenny Chesney Songs
Since the numbers date back to 2001, you could arguably say that Taylor Swift — who transitioned from country to pop in 2014 — could also count as a country star for these purposes. She ranked at No. 5.
But almost half the data, including her record-setting Eras Tour, comes from her time as a pop star, so we’re leaving her out of the list of country performers for now.
What Other Country Stars Made Pollstar‘s 25 Most Popular Touring Acts of the Millenium List?
Luke Bryan comes in at No. 20. He’s sold 10,021,410 tickets since 2001 across 683 shows, charging an average price of $59.02 per ticket and grossing $591,444,573.
Jason Kempin, Getty Images
Finally, the late, great Toby Keith ranked No. 23 on Pollstar‘s list. He grossed $403,206,066 across 791 shows with 9,392,691 tickets sold.
Rick Kern, Getty Images for iHeartMedia
Beyoncé landed at No. 13 on Pollstar‘s list, but again, the vast majority of her touring output — with the exception of her 2024 Cowboy Carter Tour — doesn’t fall under the country format.
Wait, Why Aren’t Garth Brooks + Morgan Wallen on Pollstar‘s Top Touring Artists List?!
Garth Brooks and Morgan Wallen are two of music’s biggest live acts, of any genre, and they’re frequent fliers on any list that rounds up the most successful musicians.
But both aren’t in the Top 25 list for the same very simple reason: They weren’t active during a large chunk of the time period considered.
Read More: Country Music Tours Scheduled For 2026
Wallen’s debut album If I Know Me came out in 2018, and he really only started gaining traction in the music industry at the end of the 2010s. So even though his tours are record-breaking today, he simply hasn’t been playing shows for long enough to place within the Top 25 on this list.
Brooks is a little more tricky, since he was a big star between 2001 -2025.
But the singer wasn’t playing shows for a large portion of that time period.
In 2000, Brooks announced he was retiring in order to focus on raising his kids, and he wouldn’t come back to the stage full-time until 2014. He did do a Las Vegas residency in 2009, but those limited shows weren’t enough to push him into Pollstar‘s Top 25 list.
See the Most Played Country Song from the Year You Were Born
Who had the most played country song during the year you were born? This list is a fascinating time capsule of prevalent trends from every decade in American history. Scroll through to find your birth year and then click to listen. Some of these songs have been lost through the years, many of them for good reason!
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
