Madonna, Jonas Brothers Top Secondary-Ticket Sales In StubHub Year-End Report

According to StubHub's annual report for 2008, Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tour was the highest grossing on the secondary-ticket market and the Jonas Brothers sold the most tickets. "Despite the economic woes of the last few months and a lukewarm concert schedule for the year, ticket selling prices actually increased a bit from 2007," said StubHub's Chuck La Vallee. In fact, the average price per ticket rose $3, from $156 to $159. The total dollar gross for the company was also up 40 percent compared to 2007. In an interesting trend, it was the third straight year where six of the 10 biggest tours involved artists who have been around a minimum of 20 years.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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