The economy may have been down last year, but concert attendance was up in North America.
Pollstar, a publication that tracks the concert industry, released its top 50 tours of North America for 2009. U2 topped the list with 1.3 million tickets sold and gross revenues of $123 million.
In 2008, Kenny Chesney was the only act to surpass 1 million in ticket sales. In ‘09, U2, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Chesney, Jonas Brothers, Dave Matthews Band and "Walking With Dinosaurs" all reached the million mark.
Here is a look at Pollstar's top 50 tours of North America in 2009. How many did you see?
(Gross revenue in millions)
- U2, $123
- Bruce Springsteen, $94.5
- Elton John/Billy Joel, $88
- Britney Spears, $82.5
- AC/DC, $77.9
- Kenny Chesney, $71.1
- Jonas Brothers, $69.8
- Dave Matthews Band, $56.9
- Fleetwood Mac, $54.5
- Metallica, $53.4
- Nickelback, $47.4
- Walking With Dinosaurs, $46.2
- Miley Cyrus, $45
- Trans-Siberian Orchestra, $43.7
- Eagles, $42.8
- Keith Urban, $42.7
- Celine Dion, $42.6
- Rascal Flatts, $42.2
- Coldplay, $40.8
- Paul McCartney, $40.7
- Phish, $37.2
- Brad Paisley, $35.4
- Jeff Dunham, $34.6
- No Doubt, $33.9
- Cher, $33.2
- Lil' Wayne, $32.1
- KISS, $30.5
- American Idols Live, $30.1
- Toby Keith, $29.7
- Bette Midler, $29.1
- Dane Cook, $28.1
- Blink-182, $26.7
- The Dead, $26.4
- Beyoncé, $26.4
- Il Divo, $26.0
- Taylor Swift, $25.5
- Def Leppard, $24.8
- Cirque du Soleil "Saltimbanco," $24.2
- Mötley Crüe, $23.5
- Depeche Mode, $22.3
- George Strait, $22
- Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, $21.9
- Kings of Leon, $21.8
- Leonard Cohen, $21.3
- Bob Dylan, $20.4
- "So You Think You Can Dance," $19.7
- Journey, $18.8
- Jimmy Buffet, $18.7
- Luis Miguel, $18.5
- The Killers, $18.4
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.