The Dave Mattews Band takes home Top Act of the Decade award.  

Pollstar, the trade publication that covers every aspect of the worldwide music concert industry, has recently released its Top Acts of the Decade list. As the first decade of the 21st Century comes to a close, the magazine has compiled its year-end research from 2000 to 2009 to discover the highest-grossing touring artists of North America.  

Coming in at number one is no other than Dave Matthews Band, beating Madonna, U2 and The Rolling Stones. While the latter three held high-grossing tours every few years, Dave Matthews took the gold for consistent annual live outings. Coming in at a close second and third were Celine Dion and Kenny Chesney for relentless performances since 2003. Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and the Eagles also made the Top 50 chart.  

The band has grossed more than $500 million in the last decade of touring, proving that high-grossing concerts with all the bells and whistles of extreme egos can be overrun by down-to-earth consistency. Previous winners of the now prestigious and infamous award include Prince and Paul McCartney, showing that a world tour or new album release aren’t a sure thing to sell tickets.