Nickelback Lands in Live Nation

Canada

Nickelback Lands in Live Nation

Tue., Jul. 8, 2008 1:05 PM PDT by David Jenison

AP Photo/William B. Plowman

Nickelback just pulled a Madonna.

The rock band is the latest superstar act to take its business to Live Nation, inking a wide-ranging deal that includes three albums (with an option for a fourth), tours, sponsorships, merchandising, website, licensing, fan club, broadcast rights and just about everything else besides actually writing songs for 'em.

"The Live Nation deal helps us maximize the band's opportunities in all areas of our career," frontman Chad Kroeger says in a statement. "We are extremely confident that Live Nation's complete global team is the world's finest and we are excited to be a part of the Live Nation vision and future!"

We're sure the money didn't hurt, either, Chad. The deal is estimated to be worth between $50 million and $70 million.

Nickelback is one of the few modern rock acts that continues to sell, and how. The Canadian rockers' most recent album, 2005's All the Right Reasons, is the oldest and biggest selling album currently on the Billboard 200. (In its 143rd week, the album sits at No. 90 with nearly 7 million copies sold.)

Overall, the band has sold more than 26 million albums worldwide, and their All the Right Reasons tour grossed $67 million on more than 1.5 million tickets sold. Their tour numbers ranked 20th among all road acts in 2007.

Nickelback is the fourth major artist to sign with the concert behemoth since it launched Live Nation Artists last fall with Madonna as its founding artist. Jay-Z followed and, just last week, Shakira came on board. A U2 deal should be completed shortly, and Live Nation expects at least one more major artist signing before the end of the year.

Shakira's deal is in the range of $70-$100 million, while the Madonna and Jay-Z deals are estimated at $120 million and $150 million, respectively.