Coldplay Breaks Record for Largest-Ever Stadium Shows of the 21st Century

Coldplay now holds the record for the largest-ever stadium shows of the 21st century following a two-night stint at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in India, according to Live Nation. The shows also marked the first time Coldplay has played in the country.

Over the weekend (Jan. 25-26), the British band performed for 111,581 fans at the first show and 111,989 fans per night at the second, totaling more than 223,000 fans across the two nights.

This narrowly beats the record set by George Strait, who in June played to 110,905 fans at Kyle Field at Texas A&M. Strait’s show will retain the record for the largest U.S. stadium concert.

Coldplay’s India dates are part of the band’s global Music of the Spheres World Tour that kicked off in March 2022. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the global trek has sold more tickets than any tour in history, at 10.3 million as of December. Already in January, Coldplay has played four nights at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; three nights at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbia, India; and the two Narendra Modi Stadium shows last weekend.

The Music of the Spheres World Tour has been a global event, selling out stadiums on five continents. About half of the tour’s 175 concerts have been in Europe, where it sold 5.2 million tickets over 87 shows. It also sold 1.8 million tickets in South America, 1.6 million in North America, 884,000 in Asia and 848,000 in Australia. As of mid-December, Coldplay had sold more than 100,000 tickets on over half the stops on the tour and grossed a total of $1.14 billion.

The Music of the Spheres World Tour will pick up in April with shows in Hong Kong, China and Seoul before heading back to the United States and Canada. The tour is currently scheduled to close out with 10 sold-out nights at Wembley Stadium in London.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.