The Pollstar Top 50
Posted on Wednesday December 30, 2009 at 05:41 PM
Pollstar has compiled its Top 50 Tours of North America for 2009 and, although there is no surprise as to who came in at No. 1, there were plenty of surprises just the same.
U2 surpassed all other tours by a wide margin, grossing $123 million in North America and selling more than 1.3 million tickets overall. It beat its closest competitor, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, by about $30 million.
With U2 and Bruce charting Nos. 1 and 2, the top five were rounded out by Elton John / Billy Joel, Britney Spears and AC/DC. The Top 10 included the inexhaustible Kenny Chesney, headlining newcomers Jonas Brothers, Dave Matthews Band, Fleetwood Mac and Metallica.
For all of the financial troubles of 2009, the concert business had an up year. The numbers for the Top 50 tours were better, across the board, than for 2008, be it total gross revenue or tickets sold. Last year, Chesney was the only artist to sell more than 1 million tickets. This year, U2, Springsteen, Chesney, Jonas Brothers, DMB and “Walking With Dinosaurs” all topped the million mark.
Newcomers to the list include Lil’ Wayne at No. 26 and Kings of Leon at No. 42. Taylor Swift, who essentially began the year as a support act, wrapped 2009 at No. 35 as country’s newest headline draw.
No Doubt, Blink-182 and Leonard Cohen, which each made splashy announcements that they were returning to the stage, made good on their returns, coming in at Nos. 24, 31 and 43 respectively.
So much for the Great Recession. When it comes to live music, 2009 was worth being around for.
Pollstar Top 50 Tours of North America:
1 U2
2 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
3 Elton John / Billy Joel
4 Britney Spears
5 AC/DC
6 Kenny Chesney
7 Jonas Brothers
8 Dave Matthews Band
9 Fleetwood Mac
10 Metallica
11 Nickelback
12 “Walking With Dinosaurs”
13 Miley Cyrus
14 Trans-Siberian Orchestra
15 Eagles
16 Keith Urban
17 Celine Dion
18 Rascal Flatts
19 Coldplay
20 Paul McCartney
21 Phish
22 Brad Paisley
23 Jeff Dunham
24 No Doubt
25 Cher
26 Lil’ Wayne
27 KISS
28 “American Idols Live”
29 Bette Midler
30 Dane Cook
31 Blink-182
32 The Dead
33 Beyoncé
34 Il Divo
35 Taylor Swift
36 Def Leppard
37 Cirque du Soleil – “Saltimbanco”
38 Mötley Crüe
39 Depeche Mode
40 George Strait
41 Eric Clapton / Steve Winwood
42 Kings of Leon
43 Leonard Cohen
44 Bob Dylan
45 “So You Think You Can Dance”
46 Jimmy Buffett
47 Luis Miguel
48 The Killers
49 “Vans Warped Tour”
50 Green Day
