Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney Have Highest-Grossing Country Tours of 2011

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Another year in the concert industry has closed and is in the books, and the results are out. Taylor Swift and Kenny Chesney enjoyed the highest-grossing tours in country music in 2011.

Swift placed second overall on concert trade Pollstar‘s list of top tours of North America, raking in a whopping gross of $97.7 million with her guest appearance littered Speak Now Tour. Swift placed second only to U2, who collected $156 million in box office receipts for their ’360′ tour. U2 have been around for decades, so the fact that a relative ‘newcomer’ like Swift was nipping at their heels is pretty impressive.

Third place went to Swift’s fellow country music superstar Chesney, a perennial live draw who hauled in $84.6 million for the year.

Swift and Chesney placed ahead of Lady Gaga and Bon Jovi. Not too shabby for the country genre to have two acts in the Top 5. It’s evidence that country music fans turn out in droves to support the acts that they love and take in their live shows.