Only Two Metal Bands Rank Among the 25 Biggest Touring Acts of the Millennium

As the year winds down, Pollstar have compiled a list of the 25 Most Popular Touring Acts of the Millennium (2001-2025). Among them are two metal bands, with one of the acts even cracking the Top 10 of touring acts over the past 25 years.

What Metal Bands Made Pollstar's Biggest Touring Acts of the Millennium?

Though they've scaled back the number of shows they perform for a good portion of the last 25 years, that has not made Metallica any less popular. In fact, according to Pollstar's stats, the band has sold 15,567,194 tickets at an average of 27,700 audience size per show. That has netted them $1,456,399,805 with an average gross of $2,591,459.

Tickets have been priced at a comparatively affordable $93.56 average and they've played a total of 562 shows since 2001. Per the Pollstar results, that's good enough to land them at the No. 8 spot among all touring acts for the millennium.

The other metal band should likely be expected as well. Iron Maiden are well known amongst metal fans for some of the greatest live shows and incredible production value, making the performances a top draw.

Per Pollstar, Iron Maiden have sold 10.070,915 tickets since 2001, with an average attendance of 16,243 at their shows. They've grossed $716,639,584 over the quarter century span with an average gross of $1,115,670.

The average cost for an Iron Maiden ticket is at $71.16 and they've played 620 shows since 2001. Their tally places the band as the No. 19 touring act of the millennium.

What Rock Bands Made the Pollstar Touring Artists of the Millennium List?

Pop rock and alternative seemed to have the biggest pull since the millennium began. Coldplay takes the top honors with 24,805,126 tickets sold. That's an average of 33,933 per show.

They've netted $2,486,330,250 for an average gross of $3,401,273. The average Coldplay ticket price is $100.23 while the band has played 731 shows.

READ MORE: 10 Rock Artists That Went Pop

Right behind them on the list are U2, who sold 20,216,314 tickets with an average attendance of 34,034. They've netted S2.187,175,842 with an average gross of $3,682,114.

The average U2 ticket price is $108.19, while the band has played 594 shows since 2001.

The remainder of the Top 10 includes Ed Sheeran at No. 3, followed by The Dave Matthews Band, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Kenny Chesney, the aforementioned Metallica, Bon Jovi and Elton John.

The list also features such established rock acts as The Rolling Stones (No. 12), Guns N' Roses (No. 16), Eagles (No. 17), Phish (No. 18), Iron Maiden at No. 19, Roger Waters (No. 21), Paul McCartney (No. 22) and Billy Joel (No. 24).

What Else We Learned From Pollstar's Millennium List

Coldplay sold the most tickets (24,805,126), but the Rolling Stones had the greatest average attendance (36,862) of any band on the list.

Taylor Swift was the biggest touring money maker ($3,126,217,400), but once again The Rolling Stones netted the highest average gross ($6,007,041).

Taylor Swift tickets were also the most pricey to purchase amongst the top 25 with an average ticket going for $165.54. By comparison, fellow country star had the lowest priced concert ticket average with his tickets going for $42 93.

The artist on the list that has played the most shows is Andre Rieu at 1.700 performances. Elton John and The Dave Matthews Band are the only two other acts on the list to pass the 1,000 show mark. The Rolling Stones, meanwhile, are on the low end of the spectrum for performances. They've played 341 dates since 2001 according to Pollstar.

The full Top 25 list of the Most Popular Touring Artists of the Millennium can be found through Pollstar.