The Pollstar Top 50

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. 43. Taylor Swift, who essentially began the year as a support act, wrapped 2009 at No. 36 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, 32 and 44 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                         Mötley Crüe
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                 19.1                         Barry Manilow
48                 18.8                         Journey
49                 18.7                         Jimmy Buffett
50                 18.5                         Luis Miguel

* 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.