Billboard Live Music Awards


The Billboard Live Music Awards is an annual meeting sponsored by Billboard magazine that honors the top international live entertainment industry artists and professionals. Established in 2004, it has thus been described as "part industry conference, part awards show".
The last such annual event appears to have been in 2019; it is unclear if the conference and awards have, or will, continue past that year.
Many of the awards are based on Billboards Boxscore chart tracking concert, comedy and other live entertainment attendance and gate receipts, and on real box office performance. As a result, the awards often equate to commercial success. The "top tour" superlative award is also given on the basis of fan polls. The "Legend of Live" and Humanitarian awards are given to individuals for their ongoing contributions to the live entertainment touring industry.

History

The conference and awards are held in November of each year, traditionally at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan in New York City but, since 2016, at hotels in the Los Angeles area. The conference usually takes place over two days and is attended by figures from the music and concert industry. Each year features a keynote speaker from the performance industry, who in the past have included the likes of Gene Simmons of Kiss and 3 Doors Down.
While recorded music has an established awards structure headed by the Grammy Awards and also featuring the American Music Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards, live performance music has not had the same. The Billboard Touring Awards are an attempt to fill that gap. Billboard previously attempted to enter the awards arena for recorded music with the charts-based Billboard Music Award, which lasted from 1990 through 2006, returning in 2011. Those awards featured two slots for Concert Venue Award and Touring Venue Award, but were not otherwise live-performance-based.
Award names and awards given themselves have varied somewhat each year, with for example the Top Comedy Tour and Concert Marketing and Promotion Awards being added in 2007 and the Fans Choice being added in 2008, both being determined by fan vote. There are typically three nominees in each category.
Repeat winners in the awards have been common, with country artist Kenny Chesney winning Top Package Tour six consecutive years through 2009 and Bonnaroo Music Festival winning four times as well starting in 2004.

Winners

2019

The sixteenth annual edition of the awards took place on November 5, 2019, at the Montage Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills, California.

2018

The fifteenth annual edition of the awards took place on November 13, 2018, at the Montage Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills, California, in proceedings hosted by comedian Roy Wood Jr.

2017

The fourteenth annual edition of the awards took place on November 15, 2017, at the Montage Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills, California, in proceedings hosted by Hasan Minhaj.

2016

The thirteenth annual Billboard Touring Awards took place on a single day, November 9, 2016, this time at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

2015

The twelfth annual Billboard Touring Awards took place on a single day, November 19, 2015, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.

2014

The eleventh annual Billboard Touring Awards took place on over two days in November 19–20, 2014, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.

2013

The tenth annual Billboard Touring Awards took place on over two days in November 13 and 14, 2013, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.

2012

The ninth annual Billboard Touring Awards again took place on over two days in November 2012 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, despite the aftereffects of Superstorm Sandy.

2011

The eighth annual Billboard Touring Awards took place on over two days in November 2011 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.

2010

The seventh annual Billboard Touring Awards took place on November 3 and 4, 2010, at the Sheraton Hotel in New York City, NY.

2009

The sixth annual Billboard Touring Awards took place November 4 and 5, 2009, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. The winners were:

2008

The fifth annual Billboard Touring Awards took place November 20, 2008 in New York City.

2007

The 2007 awards were held on November 15, 2007. Awards were based on box office performance from January 1, 2007, through September 30, 2007.

  • The Police Reunion Tour – The Police
  • *FutureSex/LoveShow – Justin Timberlake
  • *Flip Flop Summer Tour – Kenny Chesney
  • Flip Flop Summer Tour – Kenny Chesney with Sugarland, Pat Green, Brooks & Dunn and Sara Evans
  • *Back to Basics Tour – Christina Aguilera with The Pussycat Dolls and Danity Kane
  • *Soul2Soul II Tour – Tim McGraw and Faith Hill with Lori McKenna, Halfway to Hazard, Lance Miller and Taylor Swift
  • Justin Timberlake
  • *Christina Aguilera
  • *Maná
  • '''The Earth Tour: 21 Nights in London – Prince at The O2 Arena, London, United Kingdomdouble dagger

    • 2006

    The 2006 awards were held on November 9, 2006, in New York City.

    2005

    The 2005 awards were termed the Billboard Roadworks '05 Touring Awards.

  • U2
  • *Kenny Chesney
  • *Dave Matthews Band
  • Somewhere in the Sun Tour – Kenny Chesney with Gretchen Wilson, Uncle Kracker and Pat Green
  • *Anger Management Tour (3rd Edition) – Eminem with 50 Cent, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, G-Unit, D12, Obie Trice, Stat Quo, Lil Scrappy, Pitbull and Ludacris
  • *Ozzfest
  • Devils & Dust Tour – Bruce Springsteen
  • *Afterglow Live – Sarah McLachlan
  • *Shangri-La – Mark Knopfler
  • Rascal Flatts
  • *Coldplay
  • '''Vertigo Tour – U2 at the Croke Park, Dublin, Irelanddouble dagger|alt=Winner

    • 2004

    The first annual Billboard Touring Awards were held November 8–9, 2004, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, as the culmination of the first Billboard Backstage Pass Conference. The winners were announced in advance of the awards ceremony. The awards were not well known or publicized much during this time.