Harry Styles, Foo Fighters, J. Cole, Chris Stapleton Win Big As Pollstar Awards Celebrate Return Of Live

“I loved being back out on the road, and I’m very much looking forward to going out again this year,” Styles said in a video message. “I’d love to say a massive thank you to my band and my crew for everything they did during this tour. Given the circumstances, it was very difficult, and a very different touring environment than everyone was used to.”

Styles’ manager Jeffrey Azoff of Full Stop Management also received recognition in the Personal Manager of the Year category.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure to have watched from afar as you have achieved everything from the comfort of your own home while I toured,” Styles said in another video message to a laughing audience. “Congratulations. I’m very, very happy for you – and you’re welcome.”

Styles was just one of several stars to deliver acceptance speeches by video, including Chris Stapleton (Best Country Tour), Billy Strings (Best New Headliner/Artist Development Story), Enrique Iglesias (on behalf of his and Ricky Martin’s Best Latin Tour win), Adam Levine (for Maroon 5’s win for Best Pop Tour) and Earth, Wind & Fire (Best R&B Tour). Sebastian Maniscalco appeared in person at the event, hosted by Steve Treviño and held once again at Los Angeles’ Beverly Hilton, to accept Comedy Tour of the Year.

Other artists and programming honored included J. Cole (Best Hip-Hop Tour), Garbage (Best Support/Special Guest Act, for supporting Alanis Morissette), Lady Gaga (for her Jazz & Piano Las Vegas residency) and Disney On Ice (Best Family, Event or Non-Music Tour of the Year).

While the night had plenty of levity, it periodically turned more somber, as winners reflected on the challenges of the pandemic and other hardships. In accepting Best Concert Visuals for Bandit Lites, Michael Strickland praised the industry’s collective work in passing the Save Our Stages Act relief package – and encouraged those in the audience to continue the fight for additional aid. When High Road Touring took home Independent Booking Agency of the Year, agency head Frank Riley discussed the tremendous accomplishments of the National Independent Venue Association.

Derrick “D-Nice” Jones won the Music Unites Award for his philanthropic work and ongoing Club Quarantine series, and used his speech to provide a detailed account of the pandemic’s immediate impact on the live industry and society at large in March 2020.

And in the most emotional moment of the night, manager Andy Gould paid tribute to late agent Steve Strange of X-ray Touring, who posthumously won International Booking Agent of the Year. An emotional Gould even brought a cutout of Strange onstage with him.

“This guy wasn’t just my friend, he was all of our friends; he wasn’t my agent, he was kind of all of our agent,” Gould said. “I miss him so fucking much, I really do. And I think I speak for everyone in the room: We need more Steve Stranges.”

Several of the county’s most beloved rooms were recognized, with West Hollywood’s Troubadour (Nightclub of the Year), Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium (Theatre of the Year), Inglewood’s Forum (Arena of the Year) and Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater (Red Rocks Award – Outdoor Concert Venue of the Year) all receiving awards. In addition to winning International Venue of the Year, London’s Royal Albert Hall, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2021, was bestowed the new Milestone Award.

Texas’ Austin City Limits Music Festival and Southern California’s Ohana Festival earned accolades, as did Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena and Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium, which received new venue honors for the club, arena and theater level, respectively. Climate Pledge also won Best Brand Partnership/Live Campaign for its naming rights deal with Amazon.

Other companies to receive honors included Rock-it Cargo (Transportation Company of the Year) and Clair Global (Best Concert Sound).

“One thing – which I hope doesn’t sound corny, but I try to internalize – is, if you think about it, in our world, if you go to a baseball game, someone roots for the Yankees, someone roots for the Red Sox. You go to a political thing, and someone’s red and someone’s blue,” Rowan said. “But you go to a show, and it doesn’t matter, right? Everybody there’s across all kinds of spectrums, socioeconomic and race and gender and sexuality. And you know what they’re doing? They’re experiencing joy together. And that’s what we do.”

Find the complete list of winners below.

Harry Styles, Love on Tour

Foo Fighters

J. Cole, The Off-Season Tour

Earth, Wind & Fire, Miraculous Supernatural Tour

Maroon 5

Chris Stapleton, Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show Tour

Enrique Iglesias / Ricky Martin, Live in Concert

Sebastian Maniscalco, Nobody Does This Tour

Garbage (Alanis Morissette)

Lady Gaga, Jazz & Piano, The Las Vegas Residency, Park Theatre, Las Vegas

Disney on Ice

Billy Strings

Austin City Limits Music Festival, Austin, Texas

Ohana Festival, Dana Point, Calif.

Troubadour, West Hollywood, Calif.

Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tenn.

The Forum, Inglewood, Calif.

Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, Tenn.

Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville, Tenn.

Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Wa.

Sofi Stadium, Los Angeles, Calif.

Royal Albert Hall, United Kingdom

David Kells, Bridgestone Arena

Amy Corbin, C3 Presents

Donna Busch, Goldenvoice

Bob Roux, Live Nation

Barrie Marshall, Marshall Arts

Dave Rowan, High Road Touring

Steve Strange, X-ray Touring

CAA

High Road Touring

Molly Warren, Live Nation

Jeffrey Azoff, Full Stop Management

Ken Helie (Dead & Company)

Rock-it Cargo

Bandit Lites

Clair Global

Allison McGregor, CAA

Amazon/Climate Pledge Arena Naming Rights

Austin City Limits Music Festival, Austin, Texas

Irving Azoff, The Azoff Company (TIE)

Michael Rapino, Live Nation (TIE)

Ron Delsener, Live Nation

Dave Chappelle

Royal Albert Hall, United Kingdom

D-Nice