The United States is the birthplace for rock ‘n‘ roll, from Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Sister Rosetta Tharpe pioneering the genre from America’s south, to Cleveland DJ Alan Freed coining the term itself. The States drew the blueprints for punk in Detroit and New York City, grunge in Seattle and even death metal in Florida, remaining a global force for all things rock today.
The United States is the birthplace for rock ‘n‘ roll, from Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Sister Rosetta Tharpe pioneering the genre from America’s south, to Cleveland DJ Alan Freed coining the term itself. The States drew the blueprints for punk in Detroit and New York City, grunge in Seattle and even death metal in Florida, remaining a global force for all things rock today.
One question remains: Who rocks the hardest in the U.S.? Thanks to info given to Loudwire exclusively by Vivid Seats chronicling 2015 to present, we’ve got the answers.
The Internet has made the world a smaller and smaller place with each new development. Concentrated local scenes turned into national phenomena, giving anyone the opportunity to discover new music, and ultimately, to see a band live when they stopped by on tour.
Which state in the U.S. loves rock and metal the most? We compared the population of each state to the number of hard rock and metal concerts that take place there each year. After comparing all 50 states, the number one rock ’n’ roll state was North Dakota.
Not trailing far behind was South Dakota, which hosts the second-most concerts per capita of any state. Utah, Nevada and Idaho rounded out the top five, but you can see the full map below.
For as much as North and South Dakota love their metal, no prominent bands have actually come from the Dakota territory. Perhaps the biggest band to come from North Dakota is Egypt, while Blacklite District could be considered South Dakota’s most successful metal act.
As for which states have the most total rock and metal shows each year? The biggest states in the union racked up the highest numbers, with California hosting the most gigs annually. You can see the second highest number of shows in Texas, followed by the densely populated New York.
Florida is the fourth most populated state, but it ranks as No. 8 when it comes to rock and metal shows. Michigan actually has just half the residents of Florida, but more shows are held in the northern state than the southern one. Must be that Detroit Rock City
We also rounded up ticketing info from Vivid Seats, painting a picture of which rock and metal bands sell the most tickets across the U.S. Unsurprisingly, the top-selling metal band was Metallica, followed by Tool and Iron Maiden. On the hard rock spectrum, Guns N’ Roses was the highest-selling band, right before AC/DC. That makes Axl Rose the MVP of rock concerts in the U.S.
View all Hard Rock concert tickets on Vivid Seats!