Oasis, CAA, Metallica, Olivia Dean, Eagles, Bad Bunny, Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson Among 2026 Pollstar Award Winners

Oasis was the big winner at the 37th annual Pollstar Awards, with the Gallagher brothers taking home the award for Major Tour of the Year. It was a good night overall to be a rock fan, with appearances from Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and Eagles’ Timothy B. Schmit and Deacon Frey. Kendrick Lamar/SZA, The Weeknd, Benson Boone, Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson, Bad Bunny, Olivia Dean, Teddy Swims and Adam Sandler were among the other artists honored Wednesday evening at Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. 

Oasis’ long-awaited reunion tour was the second-highest grossing tour of 2025, with a gross of  $405,428,435 and 2,228,471 tickets sold. Arthur Fogel, Chairman of Global Music and President of Global Touring at Live Nation, accepted the award on behalf of Liam and Noel Gallagher, who were joined on the road during the “Oasis Live ‘25 Tour” by a live band featuring guitarists Gem Archer and Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, bassist Andy Bell, new drummer Joey Waronker plus keyboardist Christian Madden, and horn section, Alastair White, Joe Auckland and Steve Hamilton.

The Pollstar Awards were part of the second day of programming for Pollstar Live!, the world’s premier gathering of global live entertainment professionals. The Pollstar Awards – which were hosted for the second year in a row by iHeartRadio personality Valentine – are unique for being the only peer-voted honors in the live business. They were presented in more than 40 categories honoring the top tours, venues, live music executives, agencies, production companies and more. 

In addition to being a chance to celebrate the best in the business, from the superstar artists to those behind the scenes, the awards ceremony was an opportunity to pause and honor the recent loss of legendary Canadian promoter Donald “Donald K. Donald” Tarlton, who died on April 13 at age 82. The evening began with a tribute to Tarlton by Nick Farkas, Senior VP of Booking and Concerts at Evenko, who praised Tarlton as larger-than-life, an actual impresario, a pioneer, a visionary, “the first big promoter in our city and an actual rock star.” Farksas added that although Tarlton was a shrewd businessman who also had time for everyone and treated every person with respect.

Later, Arthur Fogel shouted out Tarlton as a “great mentor” and dedicated his own award for Promoter of the Year to Tarlton.

Metallica drummer Ulrich took the stage to present Chris Risner, who serves as Metallica’s Tour Accountant, with the award for Road Warrior of the Year – appropriately enough on Tax Day.

“Road families are a fun bunch, crazy, unpredictable and all over the fucking place, but in every collective of characters, there’s someone at the calm of the shit storm, the soothing presence that acts with authority and common sense. That’s Chris Risner,” Ulrich said.

The drummer went on to say that although Risner’s official title is tour accountant, he does so much more and also shouted out Risner for organizing Metallica’s recent blood drive. Ulrich added that the band was just getting started when it comes to giving back.

Saying he really didn’t know how to follow Ulrich’s speech, Risner noted that he’s humbled to even be considered for the award but that it “really touches my heart and means a lot.”

Ulrich later returned to the stage to pick up Metallica’s award for Rock Tour of the Year.

The other celebrity appearance of the night came courtesy of Eagles, with Timothy B. Schmit and Deacon Frey appearing to accept the band’s award for Residency of the Year at Sphere in Las Vegas. 

“Thank you on behalf of the band, this means a lot, we were able to do 56 shows at the Sphere – so far,” Schmit said, seemingly hinting at more shows to come. He went on to thank Josephine Vaccarello, who serves as Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s Executive Vice President, Live, along with thanking the band’s longtime manager and Chairman and CEO of the Azoff Co., “as Henley says, our own personal Satan, Irving Azoff,” along with all the crew.

Soulful-leaning artists were also given the spotlight, with Olivia Dean celebrated as the Support/Special Guest of the Year for her role on Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet Tour” and Teddy Swims awarded New Headliner of the Year.

The Country Tour of the Year award resulted in a tie, with the award going to Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson, who both sent in acceptance speeches via video.  

Danny Wimmer Presents celebrated back-to-back wins, with Talent Buyer of the Year going to Del Williams and Joe Moallempour winning Small Venue Talent Buyer of the Year (Under 10,000 Capacity). 

As a partnership between HeartRadio & Pollstar, the inaugural Fan Favorite Live Performer of the Year Award was presented to Morgan Wallen. The award marks the only trophy voted on by the general public.

This year also saw the return of the Billie Eilish Sustainability Awards, which were decided in part by her team, with the award for Sustainability Champions going to Hope Bishop & Marley West of BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Sustainable Venue award going to Co-op Live in Manchester, UK.

Independent Artist Group (IAG) won the Independent Booking Agency of the Year (Global), with Jarred Arfa, Executive VP and Head of Global Music, quipping, “We’ve been nominated a bunch in this category. I’ll be honest, it’s a lot more fun to win one.”

CAA dominated the rest of the agency awards with Darryl Eaton winning the Bobby Brooks Award – Agent of the Year, Emma Banks winning International Booking Agent of the Year, Allison McGregor being named Marketing Executive of the Year and the whole team coming up on stage to close out the evening with their win for Booking Agency of the Year. 

In his speech, Eaton noted that he’d like to share the award with his co-nominee CAA’s Jenna Adler and commented, “This is awesome, yeah; this is really fucking cool. Thanks so much to Pollstar and everyone in this room. We work in a sometimes demanding business that defies all logic, but we get to work in music – how cool is that?”

Check out the full list of 2026 winners below.

37th Annual Pollstar Awards Winners
Major Tour of the Year:
Oasis, “Oasis Live ’25 Tour”

Rock Tour of the Year:
Metallica, “M72 World Tour”

Hip-Hop Tour of the Year:
Kendrick Lamar/SZA, “Grand National Tour”

R&B Tour of the Year:
The Weeknd, “After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour”

Pop Tour of the Year:
Benson Boone, “American Heart World Tour”

Country Tour of the Year:
Chris Stapleton, “All-American Road Show” (TIE)
Lainey Wilson, “Whirlwind World Tour” (TIE)

Latin Tour of the Year:
Bad Bunny, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour”

Comedy Tour of the Year:
Adam Sandler, “You’re My Best Friend Tour”

Support/Special Guest of the Year:
Olivia Dean, “Sabrina Carpenter: Short n’ Sweet Tour”

Residency of the Year:
Eagles, Sphere, Las Vegas, NV

Family, Event or Non-Music Tour of the Year:
Dancing With the Stars

New Headliner of the Year:
Teddy Swims

Music Festival of The Year (Global; over 30K attendance):
Austin City Limits Music Festival, Austin, TX

Music Festival of The Year (Global; under 30K attendance):
Ohana Festival, Dana Point, CA

International Music Festival of The Year:
Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, UK

Nightclub of the Year:
Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA

Theatre of the Year:
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY

Arena of the Year (U.S. Only):
Sphere, Las Vegas, NV

Arena of the Year (Outside the U.S.):
The O2 – London, London, UK

Red Rocks Award – Outdoor Concert Venue of the Year:
Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA

Stadium of the Year (U.S. Only):
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV

Stadium of the Year (Outside the U.S.):
Wembley Stadium, London, UK

Casino/Resort Venue of the Year:
Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT

New Concert Venue of the Year:
The Pinnacle, Nashville, TN

Venue Executive of the Year:
Laurie Jacoby, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY

Talent Buyer of the Year:
Del Williams, Danny Wimmer Presents

Small Venue Talent Buyer of the Year (Under 10,000 Capacity):
Joe Moallempour, Danny Wimmer Presents

Bill Graham Award / Promoter of the Year:
Arthur Fogel, Live Nation

International Promoter of the Year:
Erik Hoffman, Live Nation Canada

Bobby Brooks Award – Agent of the Year:
Darryl Eaton, Creative Artists Agency

International Booking Agent of the Year:
Emma Banks, Creative Artists Agency UK

Booking Agency of the Year:
Creative Artists Agency

Independent Booking Agency of the Year (Global):
Independent Artist Group (IAG)

Rising Star Award:
Gade Raftery, Live Nation

Personal Manager of the Year:
Coran Capshaw, Red Light Management

Maxie Solters Award – Touring Publicist of the Year:
Rebecca Shapiro, Shore Fire Media

Marketing Executive of the Year:
Allison McGregor, Creative Artists Agency

Road Warrior of the Year:
Chris Risner, Metallica

Transportation Company of the Year:
Upstaging

Concert Visuals Company of the Year:
4Wall Entertainment

Concert Sound Company of the Year:
L-Acoustics

Tour Services Company of the Year:
Master Tour

iHeartRadio & Pollstar Fan Favorite Live Performer of the Year
Morgan Wallen

Billie Eilish Award For Venue Sustainability: Sustainability Champions
Hope Bishop & Marley West, BOK Center, Tulsa, OK

Billie EIlish Award: Sustainable Venue
Co-op Live, Manchester, UK