List of highest-grossing benefit concerts

Live Aid is the highest-grossing benefit concert of all time.

The following is a list of benefit concerts that have generated the most gross income. Figures provided are in USD, and are sorted based on inflation-adjusted gross earnings.

They do not reflect later adjustments made due to additional donations received, or production costs incurred. Organizers of The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, for instance, declared $35 million had been raised at the conclusion of that event. ^[1] However, travel accommodation expenses for the event's performers decreased their net charitable contribution significantly. ^[1]

Malfeasance is also disregarded, such as the charity Yéle Haiti embezzling money raised by Hope for Haiti Now . ^[2] Funds raised by Live Aid to alleviate the famine in Ethiopia were allegedly distributed to dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, who instead used them to purchase weaponry. ^[3]

Live Aid has remained the highest-grossing benefit concert since 1985, when it overtook that title from The Concert for Bangladesh.

Highest-grossing benefit concerts

Top 20 highest-grossing benefit concerts of all time

Rank	Actual gross	Adjusted gross (in 2024 dollars)	Event	Beneficiaries	Year	Attendance	Ref.
1	$100,000,000	$292,357,673	Live Aid	Band Aid Trust	1985	170,000	[4]
2	$150,000,000	$266,369,104	America: A Tribute to Heroes	September 11th Fund	2001	N/A	[5]
3	$190,000,000	$190,000,000	Back to the Beginning	Acorns Children's Hospice Birmingham Children's Cure Parkinson's	2025	45,000	[6]
4	$128,000,000	$155,519,095	Together at Home	COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund	2020	N/A	[7]
5	$100,000,000	$100,000,000	FireAid	Annenberg Foundation	2025		[8]
6	$58,000,000	$83,632,230	Hope for Haiti Now	Clinton Bush Haiti Fund Oxfam America Partners In Health Red Cross UNICEF World Food Programme Yéle Haiti	2010	N/A	[9]
7	$35,000,000	$78,424,235	The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert	Mercury Phoenix Trust	1992	72,000	[1]
8	$50,000,000	$68,480,939	12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief	Robin Hood Foundation	2012		[10]
9	$40,000,000	$64,399,387	A Concert for Hurricane Relief	American Red Cross	2005	N/A	[11]
10	$45,000,000	$61,632,845	Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert	Oxford University	2007	18,000	[12]
11	$30,000,000	$53,273,821	The Concert for New York City	Robin Hood Foundation	2001	14,000	[13]
12	$30,000,000	$48,299,540	Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast	American Red Cross The Salvation Army	2005	N/A	[11]
13	$12,000,000	$35,082,921	The Concert for Bangladesh	UNICEF	1971	40,000	[14]
14	$18,300,000	$29,462,719	Tsunami Aid	American Red Cross	2005	N/A	[15]
15	$29,000,000	$29,000,000	Stand Up for Heroes	Bob Woodruff Foundation	2024	2,700	[16]
16	$7,000,000	$26,312,191	Farm Aid	National Council of Churches	1985	80,000	[17]
17	$12,000,000	$19,319,816	Live 8	Band Aid Trust	2005	1,000,000	[18]
18	$13,000,000	$16,676,215	One Love Manchester	We Love Manchester Emergency Fund	2017	50,000	[19]
19	$5,000,000	$13,293,472	Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute	Bishop Ambrose Reeves Trust CAFOD Christian Aid IDAF Oxfam Save the Children War on Want	1988	75,000	[20]
20	$7,000,000	$10,223,029	Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute	Nelson Mandela Foundation	2008	46,664	[21]

See also

• List of highest-grossing concert tours
• List of highest-grossing live music artists

References

1. DiMartino, Dave (July 17, 1992). "Mercurial Muddle". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
2. Sontag, Deborah (October 12, 2012). "Quake-Hit Haiti Gains Little as Wyclef Jean Charity Spends Much". The New York Times . Retrieved July 17, 2025.
3. Keating, Bob (July 13, 2015). "Live Aid: The Terrible Truth". SPIN . Retrieved July 17, 2025.
4. "Live Aid concert raises more than $100 million for famine relief in Africa". History Channel . November 24, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
5. "Tribute Raises $150 Million". ABC News . September 27, 2001. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
6. Perry, Kevin E G (July 9, 2025). "Ozzy Osbourne's final Black Sabbath concert raised $190 million for charity". The Independent . Retrieved July 16, 2025.
7. Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (April 19, 2020). "'One World' Concert Curated By Lady Gaga Raises Millions To Combat Coronavirus". NPR . Retrieved July 16, 2025.
8. Dolak, Kevin (February 4, 2025). "FireAid Benefit Concerts Estimated to Have Raised $100M for Los Angeles". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved July 16, 2025.
9. "'Hope for Haiti' raises $58 million and counting". CNN . January 23, 2010. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
10. Lewis, Randy (December 19, 2012). "First $50 million from '121212' concert going to Sandy relief". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved July 16, 2025.
11. "Katrina Telethon, Benefit Totals Roll In". Billboard . September 15, 2005. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
12. Fanelli, Damian (March 2, 2012). "Led Zeppelin's 2007 Reunion Concert Raises Millions for Oxford University". Guitar World . Retrieved July 17, 2025.
13. "Concert Brought in $30 Million". The New York Times . November 6, 2001. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
14. Johnston, David (June 2, 1985). "BANGLADESH: THE BENEFIT THAT ALMOST WASN'T". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved July 17, 2025.
15. "NBC telethons raise millions". Los Angeles Times . January 22, 2005. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
16. DiGiacomo, Frank (November 13, 2024). "Bruce Springsteen and 5 Other Memorable Moments From Stand Up for Heroes Benefit". Billboard . Retrieved July 17, 2025.
17. Uphues, Connor (September 7, 2022). "For The Family Farmer. First Farm Aid Lights up Memorial Stadium in 1985". champaign-co-history. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
18. LeGrand, Emmanuel (October 30, 2005). "Live 8 yields US$12 million windfall". NZ Herald . Retrieved July 17, 2025.
19. "Ariana Grande's Manchester Benefit Concert Raised $13 Million". TIME . June 5, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
20. "Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Concert". Classic Pop Magazine. June 11, 2025. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
21. Williams, Murray (June 30, 2008). "Mandela concert raises millions". IOL . Retrieved July 17, 2025.