Rolling Stones Top Touring Act of the Decade, U2 Tops For the Year

It was a great decade for the Rolling Stones, U2 and Madonna.  They all grossed over $800 million on the road over the course of ten years.

Even more amazing is that U2, who is also the number one touring act of 2009, sold out every one of their 288 shows since 2000.  No other artist in the top 25 can make that claim, although Madonna came close with 244 of her 248 concerts selling out.

In all, 17 of the top 25 tours of the decade were by veteran artists and the balance were made up of one easy listening act (Celine Dion), one rock group (Dave Matthews Band), one pop queen (Britney Spears), one rock orchestra (Trans-Siberian Orchestra) and x country acts (Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts and Toby Keith).

Billboard's Top Tour Artists of the 2000's

• 1. Rollings Stones (Gross: $869 million/Attendance: 8.2 million/190 of 264 shows sold out)
• 2. U2 ($844 million/9.9 million/288 of 288)
• 3. Madonna ($801 million/6.4 million/244 of 248)
• 4. Bruce Springsteen ($688 million/8.6 million/248 of 403)
• 5. Elton John ($604 million/5.8 million/470 of 541)
• 9. Bon Jovi ($419 million/5.4 million/224 of 249)
• 10. Billy Joel ($418 million/4.1 million/213 of 241)
• 11. Police ($362 million/3.2 million/134 of 144)
• 12. Eagles ($348 million/3.1 million/174 of 240)
• 14. Aerosmith ($292 million/4.6 million/61 of 320)
• 15. Neil Diamond ($265 million/3.8 million/244 of 248)
• 16. Cher ($257 million/3.4 million/171 of 383)
• 17. Paul McCartney ($239 million/1.9 million/85 of 106)
• 18. Rod Stewart ($234 million/3.0 million/148 of 281)
• 19. Metallica ($228 million/3.6 million/93 of 187)
• 22. Jimmy Buffett ($215 million/3.9 million/131 of 196)
• 23. Tina Turner ($212 million/3.2 million/106 of 168)

U2 and Madonna went one-two on the top tour list of 2009 and both sold out 100% of their shows.

Veteran artists took 10 of the top 25 this year (11 artists with the combining of Elton John and Billy Joel) with the balance of the artists being from pop (Pink, Britney Spears, Jonas Brothers), classical/opera(lite) (Andre Rieu, Il Divo), rock (Coldplay, Dave Mathews Band, Nickelback), rock orchestra (Trans-Siberian Orchestra), R&B/rap (Beyonce, Lil Wayne), easy listening (Celine Dion) and country (Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley).

Billboard's Top Tour Artists of the 2009

• 1. U2 ($312 million/3.1 million/44 of 44)
• 2. Madonna ($222 million/2.2 million/46 of 46)
• 3. Bruce Springsteen ($156 million/1.7 million/42 of 72)
• 4. AC/DC ($135 million/1.6 million/52 of 76)
• 5. Pink ($103 million/1.6 million/69 of 103)
• 8. Billy Joel & Elton John ($90 million/.7 million/31 of 32)
• 9. Tina Turner ($86 million/.8 million/47 of 59)
• 11. Metallica ($77 million/1.1 million/47 of 66) 
• 14. Fleetwood Mac ($63 million/.6 million/9 of 59)
• 20. Depeche Mode ($46 million/.7 million/9 of 31)
• 25. Paul McCartney ($34 million/.3 million/7 of 10)