Watch: METALLICA's LARS ULRICH Accepts 'Rock Tour Of The Year' Honor At 2024 POLLSTAR AWARDS

METALLICA was awarded the honor for "Rock Tour Of The Year" at the Pollstar Awards, in a ceremony held Wednesday night (February 7) at Los Angeles's Wiltern theater amid the annual Pollstar Live! conference. The other nominees were FOO FIGHTERS, BLINK-182, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, PARAMORE and DEAD & COMPANY.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was on hand to pick up his band's award, saying in his acceptance speech in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Forty-two years ago, we started not too far from here. Our little rock and roll band started over in Downey. And we were outsiders, misfits, disenfranchised, trying to figure out what the fuck was up down and sideways. I was 17; James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] 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 mindfuck.

"To be in the same category as artists like Bruce Springsteen and THE GRATEFUL DEAD and to go on a tour like we've just been on this year where we've played actually a couple nights over at SoFi [Stadium in Los Angeles] which is literally, literally down the street from where we started is totally fucking crazy. So, the fact that we're still around and functioning, or somewhat functioning, I'm very grateful for. But the fact that hard music, heavy music is still such a force to be reckoned with, and that the fans and even the mainstream audience has embraced it over the last three or four decades is totally, totally crazy cool. So, thank you to all the fans and the industry for that."

In December, Billboard reported that METALLICA's 2023 tour grossed $125.8 million, with 1.2 million tickets sold over 19 shows. The band grossed more than $10 million in seven markets between Europe and North America, doubling up in Montreal, Paris and more.

According to Touring Data, METALLICA earned its highest grossing concert of all time on August 6, 2023, with $10.443 million at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey as part of the "M72" tour. The first night of the weekend engagement drew a crowd of 80,977 which was surpassed the second night by 82,051 attendees. Together, the sold-out concerts in the New York City metropolitan area grossed $20.8 million. Then the following weekend, METALLICA played Montreal's Olympic Stadium for two performances, the first of which earned a $7.2 million gross from 61,465 tickets on August 11, 2023, according to Pollstar.

METALLICA kicked off the "M72" tour on April 27, 2023 with a two-night stint at Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam, followed by two-show engagements in Paris; Hamburg, Germany; and Gothenburg, Sweden. A headlining appearance at the annual Download festival held in Castle Donington, England was also part of the European leg of the 2023 trek that ended on June 18.