AC/DC Earns $82 Million, METALLICA Makes $56.4 Million From Ticket, Album Sales

January 13, 2009

AC/DC is the only hard rock band to make the Los Angeles Times' 2008 "Ultimate Top 10," the newspaper's annual survey combining sales of concert tickets, albums and digital downloads to measure which acts were most popular with the broadest swath of music lovers. METALLICA came in at No. 14, an impressive feat considering that the band's latest album, "Death Magnetic", and corresponding U.S. tour didn't arrive until this past fall.

Regarding AC/DC's combined income of $82 million, the Los Angeles Times writes, "The new 'Black Ice' album took the veteran Australian hard rock band back to the top of the charts and also made its concert tour one of the year's hot tickets. The band's Ultimate Top 10 tally was almost evenly divided, with $37.5 million coming at the concert box office and $44.5 million from album sales. Like KID ROCK, AC/DC doesn't do digital tracks. Average ticket price: $99.73."

Los Angeles Times' 2008 "Ultimate Top 20":

01. MADONNA ($120.1 million)
02. CELINE DION ($106.8 million)
03. KENNY CHESNEY ($95.7 million)
04. EAGLES ($90.7 million)
05. AC/DC ($82 million)
06. COLDPLAY ($81.6 million)
07. BON JOVI ($81.4 million)
08. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND ($79 million)
09. JONAS BROTHERS ($77.9 million)
10. RASCAL FLATTS ($77.1 million)
11. NEIL DIAMOND ($70.5 million)
12. TAYLOR SWIFT ($62.2 million)
13. MICHAEL BUBLÉ ($59.5 million)
14. METALLICA ($56.4 million)
15. CARRIE UNDERWOOD ($54.9 million)
16. DAVE MATTHEWS BAND ($51.6 million)
17. THE POLICE ($51 million)
18. LIL WAYNE ($50.8 million)
19. TOM PETTY ($50.5 million)
20. KID ROCK ($50. 2 million)

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