Lady Gaga and Bad Bunny Dominate Midyear Touring, Topping Billboard Charts

Billboard has published its midyear Boxscore report, celebrating the biggest tours, venues and concert promoters, worldwide, of 2026’s first half. Across six months, some of the biggest artists in the world traded places at the top until one emerged victorious. Watch the video below to see the midyear Top Tours chart take shape, from Oct. 1, 2025, to March 31.

In the first few weeks of the tracking period, the No. 1 spot changed hands a few times. The Eagles were in the middle of its Sphere residency, Paul McCartney was fresh back on the road with another leg of Got Back and Chris Brown was playing the final shows of last year’s Breezy Bowl. Of the three, McCartney had the most longevity, ultimately extending his lead by almost $50 million over Shakira , Lady Gaga and Travis Scott by the end of November.

But no one can claim longevity in the 2026 midyear period like Lady Gaga. After starting The Mayhem Ball in July (she finished at No. 12 on the year-end 2025 Top Tours ranking), she continued the trek’s European leg in October and November, with three continents left to hit before the tracking window closed. Her December dates in Australia put her on top, while her fiercest competitor emerged.

Bad Bunny kicked off the Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour on Nov. 21, but was in the top three, behind Gaga and McCartney, within a month. His eight shows at Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros did heavy lifting, grossing $88 million from 518,000 tickets sold.

His sold-out stadium tour continued to pack a punch, eventually overtaking Gaga by mid-January and building a distance of more than $40 million between them. They both took a brief break to each win a couple of Grammys and perform together at the Super Bowl Halftime show before resuming in mid-February.

Bad Bunny’s tour went on hiatus after a March 1 show in Sydney, while Gaga continued on through the end of March, continually inching closer and closer to the top. In the final three days of the tracking period, she regained the top position and finished with $236.2 million, 3% ahead of Bad Bunny’s $230.3 million. They are the first pair of acts to each gross more than $200 million in the midyear period, with Gaga setting a midyear record for the highest grossing tour over U2 ’s $231.4 million from 2024.

Both acts played more dates after midyear closed, with Gaga wrapping The Mayhem Ball on April 13 at Madison Square Garden. Bad Bunny picked back up in Barcelona on May 22, with more than 20 more shows to play throughout Europe before closing the tour in July. Both acts remain major contenders for the 2026 year-end roundup.

_Originally reported by [Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/pro/lady-gaga-bad-bunny-race-billboard-midyear-touring-report/)._