Top Tours 2009: Sweet Success

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.

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Pollstar Top 50 Tours of North America:

Rank       Total Gross*               Artist

1               123.0                             U2
2                 94.5                             Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
3                 88.0                             Elton John / Billy Joel
4                 82.5                             Britney Spears
5                 77.9                             AC/DC
6                 71.1                             Kenny Chesney
7                 69.8                             Jonas Brothers
8                 56.9                             Dave Matthews Band
9                 54.5                             Fleetwood Mac
10               53.4                             Metallica
11               47.4                             Nickelback
12               46.2                             “Walking With Dinosaurs”
13               45.0                             Miley Cyrus
14               43.7                             Trans-Siberian Orchestra
15               42.8                             Eagles
16               42.7                             Keith Urban
17               42.6                             Celine Dion
18               42.2                             Rascal Flatts
19               40.8                             Coldplay
20               40.7                             Paul McCartney
21               37.2                             Phish
22               35.4                             Brad Paisley
23               34.6                             Jeff Dunham
24               33.9                             No Doubt
25               33.2                             Cher
26               32.1                             Lil’ Wayne
27               30.5                             KISS
28               30.1                             “American Idols Live”
29               29.7                             Toby Keith
30               29.1                             Bette Midler
31               28.1                             Dane Cook
32               26.7                             Blink-182
33               26.4                             The Dead
34               26.4                             Beyoncé
35               26.0                             Il Divo
36               25.5                             Taylor Swift
37               24.8                             Def Leppard
38               24.2                             Cirque du Soleil – “Saltimbanco”
39               23.5                             Motley Crue
40               22.3                             Depeche Mode
41               22.0                             George Strait
42               21.9                             Eric Clapton / Steve Winwood
43               21.8                             Kings Of Leon
44               21.3                             Leonard Cohen
45               20.4                             Bob Dylan
46               19.7                             “So You Think You Can Dance”
47               18.7                             Journey
48               18.5                             Jimmy Buffett
49               18.4                             Luis Miguel
50               18.3                             The Killers

* In US millions

This exclusive Pollstar chart ranks touring artists for all shows worked during the calendar 2009 year. All figures are in U.S. dollars. Average gross and tickets sold is per city except for the Las Vegas residencies for Cher and Bette Midler where the averages are per show.