Earlier this week, Billboard revealed its year-end Boxscore charts, ranking the top tours, venues, and promoters of 2025. We’re breaking it down further, looking at the biggest live acts, genre by genre. Today, we continue with R&B.
One could spin R&B’s overall performance on the Boxscore charts in one of two ways. On one hand, there are just five R&B acts on the overall top 100, which is fewer than any year since 2018, and half of 2023’s total. On the other, R&B artists made up 12.3% of the top 100 acts’ total revenue – the genre’s second-highest share ever, totaling nearly $1.5 billion.
With so few R&B acts in the top 100, the genre’s upper tier does heavy lifting. Two grossed more than $300 million, with a third over $200 million and a fourth over $100 million. Last year, only one R&B artist cracked nine figures.
This top-heavy pile-up is even more impressive considering the genre’s biggest touring act ever out grossed all of them while detouring to country music. Beyoncé previously led the all-genre Top Tours chart in 2016 and 2023, pushing R&B’s total figures toward the sky. This year, with the Cowboy Carter Tour categorized separately, a new class of headliners – piers of Queen Bey and some younger stars – pick up the mantle.
Scroll to check out the 10 highest-grossing tours by R&B acts, with such acts qualifying due to recent performance on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums and/or Hot R&B Songs charts. Rankings are determined according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. All reported shows worldwide between Oct. 1, 2024 – Sept. 30, 2025 are eligible.
