Beyoncé released Renaissance, her seventh solo studio album, in July 2022 to rapturous acclaim and No. 1 status on the Billboard 200 and, for lead single “Break My Soul,” No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. But unlike 2016’s Lemonade and 2013’s Beyoncé, there were no concerts and no televised performances — not even a music video.
But six months later, days ahead of a potentially pivotal Grammy ceremony (Feb. 5) where she’s the year’s leading nominee, Beyoncé has announced the Renaissance world tour. It’s bound to be one of the year’s biggest concert events, aiming to be her fourth tour to gross more than $200 million based on forecasts estimated by Billboard Boxscore. In fact, the tour could easily sail past the $275 million mark. The all-stadium trek is currently scheduled to play 41 shows in 10 countries from May 10 through September 27.
A Beyoncé tour used to be a given every couple of years, but the Renaissance world tour will launch seven years after her last solo outing, 2016’s The Formation World Tour. That was her first solo trek in stadiums, though neither the show’s stellar reviews nor fans’ insatiable demand hinted at her rookie status. The tour earned $256.1 million and sold 2.2 million tickets, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, finishing atop Billboard’s year-end Top Tours chart.
In the years since, Beyoncé mounted On the Run II, her second stadium tour alongside Jay-Z following 2014’s On the Run. The stadium trek came close to Beyoncé’s solo high mark but finished with $253.5 million and 2.2 million tickets — coming within 1% of Formation’s gross and 3% of its attendance despite the doubled-up star-power. The strength of Beyoncé’s solo tour among her entire live history perhaps speaks to her unique draw as one of the century’s most singular live entertainers.
The Formation World Tour marked a 21% improvement upon the $212 million take of 2013-14’s The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, which spanned 126 dates in arenas.
This summer’s Renaissance world tour was announced with 15 shows in Europe in May and June, followed by 26 shows in the U.S. and Canada.
That 41-show sum is slightly shorter than The Formation World Tour’s 49 and On the Run II Tour’s 48. But while Renaissance could trail her previous outings in cumulative gross because of a more compact schedule, that scenario is unlikely considering the industry’s plumped-up ticketing.
In efforts to redirect second-and-third-party ticket sales to the artist, dynamic pricing, platinum ticketing and fan-to-fan re-sale have sent grosses soaring in the post-pandemic era. Beyoncé’s 2016 and 2018 tours averaged $114 and $116 per ticket, but that number will likely be far closer to, if not more than, $200 in 2023.
And like with Billboard’s early projections for Taylor Swift and Madonna, Beyoncé’s initial routing announcement may just be the singer playing coy. Per the first announced round of shows, London is the only market with more than one show, while previous Beyoncé tours also doubled up in New York, Chicago, Paris, Houston and more. More dates could be announced in some of the routing’s open spaces due to expectedly high demand. As the routing stands at press time, there are often four or five days between shows, with long stretches between May 30 (London) and June 8 (Barcelona), and September 2 and 11 (Inglewood, Calif. and Vancouver).
The continental splits for Formation and OTR2 were similar to that of Renaissance, with slightly more than a third of the entire tour in Europe and the other 60-65% in North America. Grosses and attendance lined up, too — $86.9 million and 867,000 tickets in Europe on Formation and $87 million and 871,000 tickets on OTR2, versus $169.1 million and 1.4 million tickets in North America on Formation and $166.5 million and 1.3 million on OTR2.
Given her consistent sell-out stadium business and an expected 30%-plus lift on ticket prices, the Renaissance world tour could be earning $6.8-$7.5 million per show. At the low end of that projection, with no additional shows, total gross would be heading for a personal-best $275 million. With just a few extra shows, at the top of that range, she’d notch her first $300 million tour.
Across her career, Beyoncé has grossed $767.3 million and sold 8.9 million tickets across 375 shows, including those with Jay-Z and the Verizon Ladies First Tour, a co-headline run with Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys in 2004. That means that the Renaissance world tour is setting her up to be one of three women to potentially cross the billion-dollar mark this year. Swift’s Eras Tour is sure to push her over the edge, while P!nk’s Summer Carnival Tour could do the trick as well.
Renaissance was Beyoncé’s seventh No. 1 album, while “Break My Soul” marked her eighth No. 1 song. When album cut “Cuff It” shot to No. 10 on the Hot 100 last month, it became the 21st top 10 Hot 100 song of her solo career. The Renaissance world tour is scheduled to kick off May 10 at Stockholm’s Friends Arena and wrap on September 27 at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome.
