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Donna DiBenedetto

VP of Global Touring, AEG Presents

As AEG Presents’ VP Global Touring, Donna DiBenedetto has run point in North America on one of the most successful tours of all time: Pollstar’s Major Tour of the Year Winner, Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.”

“It’s an honor working on such an iconic legend’s worldwide tour which continues until late 2021,” said DiBenedetto, who’s also executed tours for many other A-listers, including Neil Diamond, Justin Bieber, Carrie Underwood, Shania Twain, Lorde, Miley Cyrus, Andrea Bocelli, Hugh Jackman and Barry Manilow as well as “too many reality TV tours to count.”

Time-management is important when juggling multiple tours at once, according to DiBenedetto, who says she tends to be a perfectionist. 

“People assume it’s all fun, which it can be at times, but it’s still a business and it takes a village to make everything seem seamless,” she explained.

The self-professed “people watcher” said it was during her time working for Madison Square Garden in the late 1980s/early 1990s that she realized getting paid to attend concerts was “a pretty great way to spend my time.”

DiBenedetto remembers not being clear on what area best suited her when she first started out in this industry, but after about five years an opportunity to oversee some Neil Diamond tour dates came up. “I enjoyed it more than just local shows as I was also able to travel,” she recalled.

She now tells young people who want to enter this industry to first “assist in different departments until you find your interest and offer to help out even if not asked. If you really want it, there are many avenues to explore in the music industry.”

DiBenedetto looks back on more than 30 years of experience in the live entertainment business, the majority of which was spent promoting at Delsener/Slater Enterprises, Metropolitan Entertainment and now AEG Presents. Yet, “It seems like yesterday when I started. It was a much different world back then and I learned to not take anything personally and became more thick-skinned. As exciting as it sounds,” she finally acknowledges, “this business isn’t for everyone.”

Hot Takes:

Your first show and favorite show of all time?
Duran Duran but while I was working at the Garden, Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson each performed the first month I arrived so that made me realize that getting paid to attend concerts was a pretty great way to spend my time.  concert was Madonna’s Blonde Ambition Tour back in 1990.  She was a game-changer at that time.

New technology you use most?
I’m afraid I’m not a big tech-type person but social media.

Where can you be found during a show?   
Talking to the building manager and road crew, watching the audience’s reaction during the show, standing by the mix or in catering.  Everyone knows industry people don’t sit in one place.

Who would you nominate for this list and why?
There are too many hard-working industry women to select just one and I wouldn’t dare slight any of them. Why? Because they all deserve to be nominated.