Music History

U2 declared Touring Artist of the Decade by grossing over ONE BILLION DOLLARS on the road

As time ticks away on the 2010s, there’s a lot of retrospective material being shared. Pollstar, the bible of the live music/touring industry, has partnered with Venuesnow to declare which artists dominated the decade in terms of touring.

U2 is on top, grossing a staggering US$1.04 BILLION on the road, followed by The Rolling Stones at US$929 million and Ed Sheeran with US$899 million.

Meanwhile, the top live music venue in the world in terms of events and tickets sold is the O2 Arena in London, putting a total of 15.6 million bums in seats over the last ten years.

Here are the top 20 lists in both categories for Touring Artists of the Decade (all figures in USD):

  1. U2 – $1,038,104,132 gross
  2. The Rolling Stones – $929,196,083 gross
  3. Ed Sheeran – $922,361,663 gross
  4. Taylor Swift – $899,627,048 gross
  5. Beyoncé – $857,405,819 gross
  6. Bon Jovi – $836,661,584 gross
  7. Paul McCartney – $813,811,559 gross
  8. Coldplay – $731,805,591 gross
  9. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – $729,789,815 gross
  10. Roger Waters – $702,231,419 gross
  11. Elton John – $675,886,369 gross
  12. Metallica – $661,907,247 gross
  13. Guns N’ Roses – $648,112,698 gross
  14. Eagles – $630,066,670 gross
  15. One Direction – $628,242,521 gross
  16. Pink – $626,026,122 gross
  17. Jay-Z – $611,837,214 gross
  18. Kenny Chesney – $608,693,967 gross
  19. Justin Bieber – $554,229,462 gross
  20. Bruno Mars – $545,585,346 gross

Top Venues of the Decade:

  1. The O2, London – 15,579,691 tickets sold
  2. Radio City Music Hall, New York – 13,715,654 tickets sold
  3. Auditorio Nacional, Mexico City – 13,257,170 tickets sold
  4. Manchester Arena, England – 10,084,262 tickets sold
  5. Madison Square Garden, New York – 9,615,706 tickets sold
  6. MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J. – 8,015,609 tickets sold
  7. Foro Sol, Mexico City – 7,258,783 tickets sold
  8. Scotiabank Arena, Toronto – 6,490,847 tickets sold
  9. Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany – 6,430,861 tickets sold
  10. 3Arena, Dublin – 6,413,131 tickets sold

More on venues here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39178 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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