Metallica Continues Rocking Pollstar’s LIVE75, Cody Johnson Named Chart’s Noise Maker

AP Photo / Marco Ugarte – James Hetfield of Metallica
James Hetfield and Metallica perform at Foro Sol in Mexico City March 5.

Metallica’s grip on No. 1 for a fourth consecutive week is a first for the LIVE75 chart, now in its third month of publication. The metal behemoth is one of only two touring artists with more than one appearance atop the rankings during the chart’s 11-week history.

Country headliner Eric Church grabbed the top spot during the week of April 29 as well as the following week. But Metallica’s tenure at No. 1 continues even though there is a minor drop this week in their sold ticket average by 1,282 tickets. For the first three weeks, concerts in Madrid, Barcelona and Milan were the only ones to fall in the 30-day eligibility time period that advances steadily from week to week, so each chart had the same sales average for the band. For this issue, with a time frame of May 5 through June 3 – plus additional reporting – the group has four stadium performances figured in the ticket averages.

Along with shows at Barcelona’s Estadi Olimpic on May 5 and the Ippodromo San Siro Milano in Milan on May 8, two other performances reported by promoter Live Nation also add to Metallica’s counts this week. The group’s WorldWired tour played to 46,349 fans at Stadion Letzigrund in Zürich on May 10 and a crowd of 74,889 at the Stade de France in Paris on the 12th. Overall grosses from all four dates total $21.1 million for an average per night of $5.2 million, the highest gross average among all 75 acts on the chart.

Greg Allen / GregAllenPhotos.com – Billy Joel
Billy Joel celebrates his 70thbirthday at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. on May 9.

Billy Joel’s HOT SHOT debut and second-ranked sales average of 26,071 tickets is based on three performances during the past 30 days – two arena concerts and one stadium event. The arena shows were both at Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of his monthly residency, now halfway through its sixth year. His shows on May 9 and June 2 at the arena moved 18,673 and 18,572 tickets, respectively. The stadium concert was on May 24 at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, a sold-out affair that drew a crowd of 40,969 for a $4.7 million take. It was his eighth concert at the city’s Major League Baseball venue according to Pollstar’s archives. He first headlined there during the summer of 2009 with 89,690 fans in the ballpark over two nights – and then every year from 2014 until now.

Jay Trevino – Cody Johnson
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Taking a turn as NOISE MAKER is country singer-songwriter Cody Johnson, who heads up the lower 50 at No. 26. The native Texan took an 18-position leap this week after hitting the chart for the first time at No. 44. His first ticket average of 1,183 last week came from three shows, but he doubles the number of concerts for this tally and averages 3,180 tickets per show.

Irish musician Dermot Kennedy earns BREAKTHROUGH status with 100% sellouts in his first shot on LIVE75, entering at No. 41. The 27-year-old singer-songwriter averaged 1,706 sold seats at six shows in three European markets including a four-night run at Olympia Theatre in Dublin. He also sold out concerts in Brussels, Belgium, and Glasgow, Scotland.