Pollstar Awards Reward Touring Prowess of Taylor Swift, Dave Chappelle, Beyoncé, Metallica, Pink, U2 and More

In perhaps the year’s least surprising awards development, Taylor Swift was awarded the honor for major tour of the year at the Pollstar Awards, in a ceremony held Wednesday night at L.A.’s Wiltern Theatre amid the annual Pollstar Live! conference.

Swift was not on hand to pick up her trophy, but among those who were were Dave Chappelle, who won for comedy tour of the year, and Lars Uhlrich of Metallica, the winner in the rock tour category.

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“I used to take this shit for granted, but this last tour was hard as fuck,” said Chappelle (per a report in Pollstar). “I want to thank everyone at Live Nation, everybody on that team (and) everybody at Netflix. This was a real special tour. It was a hard one, but man, this shit is great.”

Said Ulrich (also via Pollstar), “Forty-two years ago, we started not too far from here. A little rock band started in Downey. … I was 17, James [Hetfield] was 18, and the idea that we could win awards like this 42 years later would at that time seem so fucking preposterous and just like a total mind fuck to be in the same category as artists like Bruce Springsteen and [Dead and Company].”

Other musicians coming up for reward as the biggest or best tourers in their respective leagues were Beyoncé, for R&B tour of the year; Post Malone, for hip-hop tour of the year; Pink, in the pop tour division; Morgan Wallen, for top country tourer; and Karol G, in the Latin tour of the year category.

Brandi Carlile, obviously a headliner in her own right, got an award for best support act, thanks to her showing up for a good number of Pink’s stadium shows. U2’s Sphere stint was the recipient of residency of the year honors. Jelly Roll was named the top new touring artist.

Among the venues and festivals honored in categories selected by their respective sizes were the Ryman Auditorium, the Hollywood Bowl, So-Fi Stadium, Sphere, D.C.’s 9:30 Club, the Ohaha Festival, Austin City Limits Festival and Glastonbury.

Talent buyer of the year honors went to Amy Corbin of C3 Presents and, in the under-10,000 division, Goldenvoice’s Donna Busch.

The complete list of winners:

Major Tour of the Year

Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour

Rock Tour of the Year

Metallica, M72 World Tour

Hip-Hop Tour of the Year

Post Malone, If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying Tour

R&B Tour of the Year

Beyoncé, Renaissance World Tour

Pop Tour of the Year

P!nk, Summer Carnival Tour

Country Tour of the Year

Morgan Wallen, One Night At A Time Tour

Latin Tour of the Year

Karol G, Mañana Será Bonito Tour

Comedy Tour of the Year

Dave Chappelle, It’s a Celebration Tour

Support/Special Guest of the Year

Brandi Carlile, P!nk

Residency of the Year

U2, Sphere

Family, Event or Non-Music Tour of the Year

Cirque du Soleil – Corteo

New Headliner of the Year

Jelly Roll

Music Festival of The Year (Global; over 30K attendance)

Austin City Limits Music Festival, Austin, TX

Music Festival of The Year (Global; under 30K attendance)

The Ohana Festival, Dana Point, CA

International Music Festival of The Year

Glastonbury Music Festival, Somerset, UK

Nightclub of the Year

9:30 Club, Washington, DC

Theatre of the Year

Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN

Arena of the Year

Moody Center, Austin, TX

Red Rocks Award – Outdoor Concert Venue of the Year

Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA

Stadium of the Year

SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA

Casino/Resort Venue of the Year

Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT

New Concert Venue of the Year (Over 5,000 Capacity)

Sphere, Las Vegas, NV

New Concert Venue of the Year (Under 5,000 Capacity)

The Salt Shed, Chicago, IL

International Venue of the Year

The O2 Arena, London, UK

Venue Executive of the Year

Jeff Nickler, Moody Center, Austin, TX

Talent Buyer of the Year

Amy Corbin, C3 Presents

Small Venue Talent Buyer of the Year (Under 10,000 Capacity)

Donna Busch, Goldenvoice

Bill Graham Award / Promoter of the Year

Louis Messina, Messina Touring Group

International Promoter of the Year

Arthur Fogel, Live Nation Global Touring

Bobby Brooks Award – Agent of the Year

Adam Kornfeld, Independent Artist Group

International Booking Agent of the Year

Emma Banks, Creative Artists Agency

Booking Agency of the Year

Wasserman Music

Independent Booking Agency of the Year (Global)

High Road Touring

Rising Star Award

Molly Warren, Live Nation

Personal Manager of the Year

John Silva, Silva Artist Management

Road Warrior of the Year

Jerome Crooks, Tool, Duran Duran, Billie Eilish

Transportation Company of the Year

Rock-It Cargo

Concert Visuals Company of the Year

Bandit Lites

Concert Sound Company of the Year

Clair Global

Tour Services Company of the Year

Dega Catering

Brand Partnership/Live Campaign of the Year

AMC, Taylor Swift Eras Tour Theatrical Exhibition

Marketing/PR Executive of the Year

Allison McGregor, Creative Artists Agency

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