LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ Live Nation) - Live Nation, the world's largest live music company, today unveiled a preliminary slate of summer tours by some of the world's greatest artists. The company expects to offer more than 6,700 concerts in 35 countries this summer. Live Nation has sold over 20 million tickets so far this year and global ticket sales are in line with 2008, as millions of fans plan to attend concerts in one of the annual rites of the summer season.
"The live music industry has performed consistently well during economic downturns," said Michael Rapino, Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation. "We look forward to another robust summer as millions of fans come out to support their favorite artists."
There is music for everyone this summer with the biggest names in the business hitting the road utilizing Live Nation's global concert platform. Tickets are available through LiveNation.com - the official site for Live Nation concerts.
Some of the concerts Live Nation is currently scheduled to produce around the world include concerts by:
AC/DC
Aerosmith
Beyonce
Blur
Brad Paisley
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Coldplay
Creed
Crue Fest 2 (Motley Crue, Godsmack)
Dave Matthews Band
Def Leppard with Poison and special guest Cheap Trick
Depeche Mode
Eagles
Elton John & Billy Joel
Fleetwood Mac
George Strait
Girls Aloud
Green Day
IL Divo
Jimmy Buffett
Jonas Brothers
Katy Perry
Keith Urban
Kenny Chesney
Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd
Kings of Leon
Madonna
Mayhem Festival 2009 (co-headlined by Marilyn Manson and Slayer)
Metallica
Neil Young
New Kids On The Block
Nickelback
Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction
No Doubt
Offspring
Phish
Rascal Flatts
Rod Stewart
Slipknot
Styx and REO Speedwagon
Take That
The Dead
The Killers
Toby Keith
U2
Warped Tour 2009
ZZ Top
In 2009 Live Nation will produce 18 festivals in seven countries globally. Live Nation's festival ticket sales are currently tracking in line with last summer.
Live Nation's festivals include:
Live Nation N. America: Bamboozle (Fall Out Boy, No Doubt, Third Eye Blind, Taking Back Sunday, Rise Against) - East Rutherford, NJ
Sasquatch Festival (Kings of Leon, Jane's Addiction, Nine Inch Nails) - George, WA
Live Nation UK: T in the Park (Kings of Leon, The Killers, Blur, Snow Patrol)
Download (The Prodigy, Faith No More, Slipknot, Def Leppard)
Hard Rock Calling (The Killers, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen)
Latitude (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Grace Jones, Pet Shop Boys)
O2 Wireless (Kanye West, Basement Jaxx)
Reading/Leeds (Radiohead, Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys)
Live Nation Belgium: Rock Werchter (The Prodigy, Oasis, Coldplay, Metallica)
Werchter Boutique (Madonna)
TW Classic (Depeche Mode, Moby, Basement Jaxx)
Pukkelpop (Bloc Party, Stereophonics, Dropkick Murphys)
Live Nation Netherlands: Lowlands (Arctic Monkeys, Basement Jaxx, Bon Iver)
Pink Pop (Bruce Springsteen, Depeche Mode, Snow Patrol, The Killers)
Live Nation Sweden: Way Out West (Amadou & Mariam, Crookers, Magnetic Man)
Where The Action Is (Neil Young, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Pixies)
Popaganda (MGMT, Camera Obscura, LIFELIKE)
Live Nation France: Main Square Festival (Coldplay, Kanye West, Placebo, Lenny Kravitz)
Additional tours are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. More information on all of Live Nation's exciting tours is available at www.LiveNation.com.
ABOUT LIVE NATION:
Live Nation's mission is to maximize the live concert experience. Our core business is producing, marketing and selling live concerts for artists via our global concert pipe. Live Nation is the largest producer of live concerts in the world, annually producing over 22,000 concerts for 1,600 artists in 33 countries. During 2008, the company sold over 50 million concert tickets and drove over 70 million unique visitors to LiveNation.com. Live Nation is transforming the concert business by expanding its concert platform into ticketing and building the industry's first artist-to-fan vertically integrated concert platform. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol LYV. For additional information about the company, please visit www.livenation.com/investors.
