The year is half over and while critics are chiming in with their best albums of the year so far lists, music industry trade magazine Pollstar goes after the numbers. They are tracking to see what the most profitable tours of the year are.
No shocker: pop is on top, with Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars in the top two spots respectively while The Rolling Stones take #3 because that machine ain't ever slowing down. But what about the hard rock and heavy metal? Well, Blabbermouth did the leg work and the closest metal comes is at #19 with Metallica, while Foo Fighters came in at #12. Here are all the rock acts on the list:
09. ROGER WATERS ($60.7 million)
12. FOO FIGHTERS ($53.6 million)
19. METALLICA ($40.6 million)
21. BON JOVI ($38 million)
35. QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT ($23.9 million)
43. JOURNEY / DEF LEPPARD ($21.2 million)
52. IRON MAIDEN ($17.3 million)
53. KID ROCK ($17.1 million)
83. AVENGED SEVENFOLD ($10.5 million)
91. SCORPIONS ($10.1 million)
Consider me a bit surprised that both Metallica and Bon Jovi out-rank Queen, although the former two were doing stadium shows while Queen was sticking to a Las Vegas residency. You can view the entire chart here.
Meanwhile, here's how things fared just in North America:
10. BON JOVI ($38 million)
19. JOURNEY / DEF LEPPARD ($21.2 million)
29. KID ROCK ($17.1 million)
49. FOO FIGHTERS ($10.3 million)
55. AVENGED SEVENFOLD ($9.5 million)
81. FOREIGNER ($5.8 million)
83. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE ($5.7 million)
89. JUDAS PRIEST ($5 million)
Metallica didn't make the list because their big US tour doesn't happen until the fall. View the full list here.
Pollstar notes the top drawing festival of the year so far would be Lollapalooza Brazil which drew 300,000 people (100,000 per day) and grossed $23.4 million off a lineup that featured Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Volbeat and Royal Blood, among others.
