For its 40th anniversary, Pollstar, the trade publication dedicated to covering the worldwide concert industry, has created two special charts that reflect the overall impact of box-office realities during the four decades of the Pollstar Era, beginning in 1980 through the present. The two special charts present the “Top Touring Artists Of The Pollstar Era”, both ranking the top 150 headlining acts during Pollstar’s entire history. Each listing is comprised of cumulative totals for each artist and compiled from all the thousands of box-office reports Pollstar received since the early 1980s. Both charts present the Top Touring Artists, but one is ranked by gross and the other by the number of tickets sold. For both, Pollstar has counted only headlining shows for each act, omitting results from any festival appearance since the festival itself is eligible to rank on the All-Time Boxoffice chart, as many of them have. Pollstar also did not include any event where the touring artist participated as a support act.
Notable acts included on the “Top Touring Artists Of The Pollstar Era: Boxoffice Grosses” list:
#9 Metallica ($1,219,599,179)
#23 Guns N’ Roses ($751,306,152)
#27 Ac/Dc ($668,427,967)
#41 Kiss ($532,363,017)
#42 Def Leppard ($514,231,844)
#44 Iron Maiden ($475,817,777)
#51 Muse ($413,911,387)
#55 Foo Fighters ($397,110,491)
#63 Mötley Crüe ($367,345,912)
#65 Pearl Jam ($351,816,504)
#73 Rush ($341,767,928)
#89 Vans Warped Tour ($296,571,532)
#91 Van Halen ($295,611,828)
#97 Zz Top ($278,705,470)
#99 Scorpions ($271,865,172)
#100 Tool ($269,044,896)
#113 Queen + Adam Lambert ($225,209,819)
#119 Green Day ($204,959,692)
#132 Ozzy Osbourne ($186,754,231)
#143 Ozzfest ($174,320,095)
Notable acts included on “Top Touring Artists Of The Pollstar Era: Tickets Sold” list:
#6 Metallica, With 19,468,173 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $1,219,599,179
#22 Ac/Dc, With 11,512,424 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $668,427,967
#23 Def Leppard, With 11,321,650 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $514,231,844
#27 Vans Warped Tour, With 10,524,715 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $296,571,532
#30 Kiss, With 9,867,419 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $532,363,017
#35 Iron Maiden, With 9,187,132 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $475,817,777
#36 Zz Top, With 9,104,788 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $278,705,470
#42 Mötley Crüe, With 8,748,806 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $367,345,912
#43 Rush, With 8,593,428 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $341,767,928
#44 Guns N’ Roses, With 8,470,755 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $751,306,152
#53 Van Halen, With 7,483,253 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $295,611,828
#63 Pearl Jam, With 7,006,815 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $351,816,504
#66 Red Hot Chili Peppers, With 6,846,945 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $391,478,473
#78 Muse, With 6,124,001 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $413,911,387
#80 Ozzy Osbourne, With 6,006,522 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $186,754,231
#83 Scorpions, With 5,864,625 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $271,865,172
#84 Foo Fighters, With 5,815,511 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $397,110,491
#88 Pink Floyd, With 5,662,178 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $159,560,275
#105 Green Day, With 4,764,387 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $204,959,692
#109 Tool, With 4,483,293 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $269,044,896
#118 Poison, With 3,911,113 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $77,878,900
#120 Ozzfest, With 3,802,261 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $174,320,095
#149 Linkin Park, With 3,211,166 Tickets Sold For A Gross Total Of $164,426,28
Back in 2019, less than a year before the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the globe, Pollstar named Metallica one of the top-earning hard rock and metal tours of the “2019 Midyear” reporting period, which covered the six-month range from November 22, 2018 to May 22, 2019. The group’s 21 North American “WorldWired” arena shows during the reporting period grossed a total of $41.7 million, good for an average per-show gross of $1.99 million. With an average attendance of more than 16,000, the band moved nearly 350,000 tickets altogether. On a per-show basis, Metallica did even better internationally, as five of the six European stadium concerts the group performed in May 2019 grossed a combined $28 million thanks to an average attendance of more than 58,000. Altogether, the band grossed $69.7 million in the six-month reporting period, making the group the fourth highest-grossing act in the world during that time behind only Elton John, Pink and Justin Timberlake — each of whom sold fewer tickets but had a higher average ticket price.
Metallica played its first concert of 2022 on February 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show, which was reportedly attended by 60,000 fans, featured support from GRETA VAN FLEET and ICE NINE KILLS.
The Las Vegas show took place more than two months after Metallica’s two 40th-anniversary concerts at Chase Center in San Francisco, California which featured different setlists. They were part of Metallica’s “San Francisco Takeover”, a four-day citywide celebration of the band’s 40th anniversary that also included a film festival, photo exhibit and curated lineup of smaller venue shows featuring other acts.