Ed Sheeran didn't even release any new music in 2018, yet he is the highest earning musician of the year. All thanks to his absolutely massive Divide World Tour. He played stadiums all over the world for months and months and months straight, and sold 4.86 million tickets for the shows in the past 12 months!
That helped Ed earn $430,000,000.... yes Four hundred thirty thousand MILLION DOLLARS. That is the MOST MONEY earned by a musician in a single year, ever!
His pal Taylor Swift is the second highest earning musician after her tour Reputation earned her $308 million this year.
According to Rolling Stone, here is the full top 10 highest earning touring musicians of 2018:
2018 Top 10 Worldwide Tours:
Gross (In $ Millions) — Artist — Tickets Sold
$432.4 — Ed Sheeran — 4,860,482
$345.1 — Taylor Swift — 2,888,892
$254.1 — Jay-Z / Beyoncé — 2,169,050
$169.2 — Pink — 1,285,411
$167.6 — Bruno Mars — 1,290,438
$166.0 — Eagles — 964,245
$151.0 — Justin Timberlake — 1,193,365
$131.3 — Roger Waters — 1,448,771
$126.2 — U2 — 927,034
$116.6 — The Rolling Stones — 750,914