Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Eric Church, Garth Brooks, P!NK, and The Rolling Stones Lead Nominees for 31st Annual Pollstar Awards

Pollstar, the leading trade publication for the live entertainment industry, is proud to announce today the nominees for the 31st annual Pollstar Awards. Presented by Live Nation on Feb. 6, the Pollstar Awards concludes the Pollstar Live! conference and honors and recognizes the most successful artists, executives, venues, events, and companies in the thriving global live entertainment business. To be held at The Beverly Hilton on February 4-6, 2020, Pollstar Live! is the world’s largest gathering of live entertainment professionals and Pollstar magazine’s flagship event.

The 2020 Pollstar Award nominations were selected by the largest, most diverse, and most international nominating committee in the history of the awards. This is a direct result of Pollstar’s outreach efforts to more than 2500 agents, promoters, managers, venues, production companies, and many others across the live industry worldwide. As a result, this year secured 29% more nomination submissions.

Pollstar Awards’ nominees for the “Major Tour of the Year” award, which recognizes the most commercially and artistically successful tour of the year, are Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Eric Church, Garth Brooks, P!NK and The Rolling Stones.

Also nominated for awards in categories including “Best Rock Tour,” “Best Hip-Hop/R&B Tour,” “Best Pop Tour,” “Best Country Tour,” “Best Latin Tour” and “Best Residency” are such artists as Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Billy Joel, Carrie Underwood, Drake, Garth Brooks, Jennifer Lopez, Jonas Brothers, Lady Gaga, Lizzo, Maná, Metallica, Travis Scott, among many others.

Nominees for “Best New Headliner,” those that achieved a significant breakthrough in 2019 through memorable performances, fan engagement, and box office success are Billie Eilish, Greta Van Fleet, Kacey Musgraves, Lizzo, Luke Combs, and Maggie Rogers.

The slate of awards is geared toward presenting a compelling ceremony that salutes the touring industry’s illustrious past while celebrating its current vitality and promising future.

“The nominees for the 31st Pollstar Awards represent the pinnacle of achievement in live entertainment this year and reflect our ongoing efforts to present the most relevant recognition for the highest achieving artists and professionals that make up this great business,” said Ray Waddell, president of OVG Media & Conferences. “For more than 30 years, the Pollstar Awards have been the gold standard for recognizing success in the live business, and we are honored and privileged to again salute the elite artists, venues, and executives that make live the ultimate barometer of fan passion.”

While the Pollstar Awards remain predominantly an industry peer-voted honor, Pollstar factors in box office performance (gross revenue and ticket sales) using its industry-leading touring data in determining winners for many awards.

Additional categories include “Comedy Tour of the Year,” “Music Festival of the Year” (both more than and less than 30K attendance); venue awards for “Arena of the Year,” “Best New Concert Venue,” “International Venue of the Year,” “Nightclub of the Year,” “Theatre of the Year”; executive awards for “Bobby Brooks Award – Agent of the Year,” “Bill Graham Award/Promoter of the Year,” “Venue Executive of the Year,” “Talent Buyer of the Year,” “International Promoter of the Year,” “International Booking Agent of the Year,” “Personal Manager of the Year,” “Road Warrior of the Year” and more.

Pollstar has also continued its irreverent categories including for this year with Best Hang” (the venue or event that was the most enjoyable to hang out due to staff, catering, on-site amenities or backstage culture), “Best Person to Score a Dinner With” (the person with whom having dinner can have the most impact on project, career, or status), “The Wall” (the person least likely to cave on agreed-upon terms), “Life of the Party” (the person you most enjoy seeing at the backstage hang or live event), and “Most Frequently Name-Dropped” (the executive whose name is most frequently dropped by industry stakeholders to open doors, impress colleagues, or otherwise facilitate business.