*The Following Press Release Was Issued By Scoop Marketing*
Harry Styles Wins ‘Major Tour of the Year’ at 34th Annual Pollstar Awards
Don Henley Accepts Eagles’ Pollstar Milestone Award
Award Winners Include Def Leppard/Mötley Crüe, Post Malone, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Chris Stapleton, Bad Bunny & More
Los Angeles, CA – At the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom, comedian, actress and author Anjelah Reyes-Johnson hosted the 34th Annual Pollstar Awards. Presented by Live Nation, the Pollstar Awards is the only peer-voted live entertainment industry awards and the most relevant and coveted recognition for achievement in the touring and live events industry.
Rock N’ Roll Hall of Famers Eagles received the Pollstar Milestone Award in recognition of more than 50 years as a band. Don Henley accepted the award on behalf of the group.
“I just want to say how grateful I am for the fact that we’ve been able to do this for over 50 years now,” Henley commented. “I wear my work boots tonight; these are Red Wing work boots… I wear them in honor of my father, who was a farmer and worked in an auto parts shop. He gave me the work ethic that I have and I share that work ethic with all the guys in the band – with Timothy, Joe, Vince and Deacon and all the rest of the guys and I accept this award on their behalf this evening.”
Harry Styles’ “Love on Tour” was one of the night’s big winners for “Major Tour of the Year” with other Tour of the Year winners including Def Leppard/Mötley Crüe (Rock), Post Malone (Hip-Hop), Lizzo (R&B), Billie Eilish (Pop), Chris Stapleton (Country), Bad Bunny (Latin).
Dave Chappelle took home the Comedy Tour of the Year and said, “After the pandemic, I couldn’t tell you guys how much I missed being on the road with everyone and this last tour was very special. I just want to let everyone know I’m glad that you’re back and to stay strong and persevere and I hope it only gets better and better.” While laughing, he later ran out from backstage to try to pick up a second award, Disney on Ice’s.
Additional awards honored venues and venue executives, talent buyers, promoters, agents and agencies, talent managers, tour managers, and more (see the full list of winners below and at www.Pollstar.com). John Silva, of Silva Artist Management, was awarded Personal Manager of the Year by his longtime client Dave Grohl.
Grohl came to the stage calling Pollstar “the one f**king awards ceremony that’s actually fun.” He explained that “I’m here to honor a person that I’ve known for 33 years, the only manager I’ve ever had, Mr. John Silva… Over the years, we’ve had some incredible triumphs and some devastating crises, but the one thing that has kept us together over the years has been love.”
“The winners and nominees at the 2023 Pollstar Awards, as well as the record turnout for Pollstar Live!, are a testament to the power and resilience of live entertainment, and the artists, executives, venues and events that make the magic happen,” said Ray Waddell, President of Media & Conferences for Oak View Group, Pollstar’s parent company. “Pollstar congratulates all who are part of the greatest business in the world, as well as the fans that continue to support the shows. The best is yet to come!”
34th Annual Pollstar Awards Winners
Major Tour of the Year
Harry Styles, Love on Tour
Rock Tour of the Year
Def Leppard/Mötley Crüe, The Stadium Tour
Hip-Hop Tour of the Year
Post Malone, Twelve Carat Tour
R&B Tour of the Year
Lizzo, The Special Tour
Pop Tour of the Year
Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever, The World Tour
Country Tour of the Year
Chris Stapleton, All-American Road Show Tour
Latin Tour of the Year
Bad Bunny, World’s Hottest Tour
Comedy Tour of the Year
Dave Chappelle
Support/Special Guest Act of the Year
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts / Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard
Residency of the Year
Harry Styles, Madison Square Garden, New York
Family, Event or Non-Music Tour of the Year
Disney on Ice
New Headliner of the Year
Dua Lipa
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)
Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI
International Music Festival of The Year
Glastonbury Festival, United Kingdom
Nightclub of the Year
Exit/In, Nashville, TN
Theatre of the Year
Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
Arena of the Year
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Red Rocks Award – Outdoor Concert Venue of the Year
Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA
New Concert Venue of the Year
Moody Center, Austin, TX
International Venue of the Year
The O2, United Kingdom
Venue Executive of the Year
Josephine Vaccarello, Madison Square Garden
Talent Buyer of the Year
Amy Corbin, C3 Presents
Small Venue Talent Buyer of the Year
Molly Warren, Live Nation
Bill Graham Award / Promoter of the Year
Louis Messina, Messina Touring Group
International Promoter of the Year
Arthur Fogel, Live Nation
Bobby Brooks Award – Agent of the Year
Adam Kornfeld, Artist Group International
International Booking Agent of the Year
Emma Banks, CAA
Booking Agency of the Year
CAA
Independent Booking Agency of the Year (Global)
High Road Touring
Rising Star Award
Austin Neal, The Neal Agency
Personal Manager of the Year
John Silva, Silva Artist Management
Road Warrior of the Year
Dale “Opie” Skjerseth / The Rolling Stones, Guns ‘N Roses
Transportation Company of the Year
Rock-It Cargo
Concert Visuals Company of the Year
Bandit Lites
Concert Sound Company of the Year
Clair Global
Thank You, Can I Have Another? Award
Austin City Limits
Brand Partnership/Live Campaign of the Year
Everytown for Gun Safety / Harry Styles
Marketing/PR Executive of the Year
Allison McGregor, CAA
WhizBang Award
Coldplay, Music of the Spheres World Tour
Best Hang
Austin City Limits Music Festival, Austin, TX
The Irving Azoff Award: Best Person to Score a Dinner With
Michael Rapino, Live Nation
Life of the Party
Ron Delsener, Live Nation
The Per Cap Award
Harry Styles
The Dayum! Award
Bad Bunny, World’s Hottest Tour
Live Music is Better Award
Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins Tribute at the Kia Forum
The Pollstar Awards capped the first of two days of Pollstar Live! 2023, the largest gathering of live entertainment professionals in the world.
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ABOUT POLLSTAR:
Since its founding in 1981, Pollstar, The Voice of Live, has been the premier trade publication dedicated to covering the worldwide concert industry. Pollstar data is the leading resource for the touring industry encompassing box office numbers, routing and directories. Pollstar produces a weekly magazine, publishes daily content to Pollstar.com and its “Daily Pulse” e-newsletter, and executes the world’s largest gathering of live music industry professionals – Pollstar Live.
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ABOUT OAK VIEW GROUP (OVG):
Oak View Group (OVG) is a global sports and entertainment company founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015. OVG is focused on being a positive disruption to business as usual in the sports, live entertainment and hospitality industries and currently has eight divisions across five global offices (Los Angeles, New York, London, Philadelphia and Toronto). OVG oversees the operations of Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center; UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY; Moody Center in Austin, TX; Acrisure Arena in Greater Palm Springs, CA; as well as arena development projects for Co-op Live in Manchester, UK; and projects for Arena São Paulo in São Paulo, BZ; CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD; FirstOntario Centre Arena in Hamilton, ON; a new arena and entertainment district in Las Vegas, NV; and a new arena in Cardiff, Wales. More information at OakViewGroup.com and follow OVG on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
