Hot on the heels of BTS teasing a local tour, Coldplay looks set to bring their record-breaking Music of the Spheres tour to South Africa in 2027
The band’s spectacular Music of the Spheres tour launched in March 2022, and has since played 211 shows to more than 13 million fans, earning ticket sales in excess of R25-billion. Right now that makes it the second-highest-grossing tour ever. Behind, you know, Tay-Tay.
And while this first ‘leg’ of the tour has wrapped up, during the final shows at London’s Wembley Stadium, Chris Martin announced an extension kicking off in 2027 that will add 138 concerts to the roster. Given that the shows earn around £5 million (R125-million) per performance, the extra dates could see Coldplay edge out Taylor Swift’s Eras tour for the record of the highest-grossing concert tour in history.
But that’s not the most exciting part.
In the Wembley run Martin announced that the Music of the Spheres tour would resume “somewhere in southern Africa in about 18 months”. Given the scale of Coldplay’s stadium performances, it’s not a huge leap of logic to guess that South Africa will be the “somewhere” to welcome the band.
And it’ll be about time too! Africa is the only continent (except for Antarctica, obvs) that Coldplay didn’t visit on this latest tour, and Coldplay last performed in South Africa back in 2011, with a pair of concerts in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
If that Wembley whisper turns into a full-blown announcement, expect a stampede for tickets. After 14 years, South Africa’s more than ready for a technicolour sing-along. Get your Clocks in sync and your outfits primed to paint the night Yellow. Until dates drop, watch this space; when Coldplay finally touches down, we’ll be shouting every chorus beneath a sky full of stars.