Think about your favorite artist. Who are they? What kind of music do they write? Everyone has an artist that they love, and once they announce a tour, everyone wants tickets, crashing sites and creating long queues to get the best prices. It’s usually rare to see your favorite artist tour due to the stressful and taxing environment performing on tour brings. However, 2026 has been bursting with tour annoucements; big artists like Bruno Mars, Ariana Grande, and Lady Gaga will all be stepping on the big stages throughout the country. Their tours will span over multiple months and are largely sold out so far, sending fans into a frenzy trying to buy resell tickets at outrageous prices. Here is a preview of the big tours this year and what to expect from them, as well as how they are impacting the music industry.
First off are the large scale tours scheduled in the genre of pop, R&B, and K-pop. For example, artists like Ariana Grande, Alex Warren, Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars, Bon Jovi, BTS, Cardi B, and more are touring. As one of the bigger artists on this list, Ariana Grande has almost sold out her Eternal Sunshine Tour, which will mainly feature songs from her album “Eternal Sunshine,” several of which have spent time at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Not only has the album reached number one, but it also spent over one hundred weeks on the billboard. Due to her popularity, the tour is projected to sell up to $150 million solely in ticket sales. However, even though this is a measure of her success, the tour is almost half the size of her previous ones, using this format to balance her mental health, music, and acting career. Next is Bruno Mars, who is on his fifth major tour, titled “The Romantic Tour”. The album he is touring was released with the song “I Just Might” which charted number one on the Billboard Hot 100. At 2.1 million ticket sales, he surpassed Taylor Swift’s record of the highest number of tickets sold in one day. Originally, the tour was meant to only be 40 dates, but with the extreme popularity of the artist, the tour expanded to around 80 shows across the world. Bruno Mar’s last tour was in 2018, making this one in 2026 even more special. Previously, he had only performed internationally and in Las Vegas, which is a result of his connection with Dolby Live at Park MGM. Secondly, a preview of the upcoming big concerts this year in the genres indie, rock, and country.
Although Zach Bryan started as a small artist, his music took off in 2019 and he became mainstream with his album “American Heartbreak”. His “With Heaven on Tour” series of performances has 39 shows and is showing in both North America and Europe. The tour began March 7 and is staying on the road until October 10. Another major artist touring this year is Florence + The Machine. The “Everybody Scream Tour” promotes her newest album. This indie rock artist is mainly touring for the spring in North America. Her album debuted at number one on some Billboard charts exemplifying its popularity. Immediately after “Everybody Scream” was released the tickets to her tour opened and were in high demand. Now, there are only resale tickets available for most locations. The next band that is touring in 2026 is Metallica. They started in 1981 and are now on a world tour named “M72 World Tour.” They also have many dates at The Sphere in Las Vegas for their “Life Burns Faster” residency. Metallica will be applying a special format for the “M72 World Tour” that gives an audience two different sets every night for each city. The “no repeat weekend” format keeps the material engaging for the audience and is a large reason the fans flock to this concert. Fans may purchase twoday passes to The Sphere and watch them twice in one weekend due to this format.
In conclusion, many artists are on tour this year with great projected success. Those mentioned here are only a small snapshot of all the concerts which are to come in 2026. The music industry is constantly changing, so keep an eye out for new music from these creators and what the future holds for them.