Rihanna sales helped put the O2 ahead of Madison Square Garden in 2011

GEORGE MICHAEL and Rihanna helped Dublin’s O2 gross more than $50 million last year and beat off the likes of New York’s Madison Square Garden to be the fifth best-attended music arena globally.

According to figures compiled by Pollstar, 670,846 people attended the Live Nation-operated venue in 2011, compared with 616,874 for Madison Square Garden.

Pollstar, a US-based trade publication which has been compiling figures on the music industry for the past 30 years, said gross receipts from gigs at the O2 in Dublin last year topped $50.7 million (€36.26 million).

The 670,846 passing through its turnstiles represents a 2 per cent increase on the 656,174 tickets that were sold at the venue in 2010.

The most popular music arena in the world last year was the O2 in London, where 1.92 million fans attended concerts. Madison Square Garden was ranked eighth.

The 14,500-capacity O2 in Dublin is owned jointly by Dublin businessman Harry Crosbie and the Los Angeles-based concert promoters Live Nation Inc, which counts U2, Madonna and the Rolling Stones among its acts.

The venue staged 82 box-office gigs last year and Pollstar says the average gross per concert was more than $1 million and the docklands venue was filled to 90 per cent capacity on average over the year.

The figures are based on returns from the concert venue operator and they show that the most lucrative night at the O2 last year was either of the two November shows performed by George Michael – each of which grossed $1.38 million in receipts.

Gross receipts for concerts are shared among the promoter, artist and venue operator, and the figures do not include revenues from merchandise or food and alcohol.

The top grossing run at the Dublin venue was not recorded by a pop star but by singers from the hit US television series Glee, which grossed $3.57 million for its four sold-out shows last July.

Irish band Westlife’s sold out five-night run in April grossed $3.3 million. Comedian Peter Kay’s grossed $3 million over six nights, also in April.

The X FactorLive's five shows grossed $2.58 million, according to the data, with Roger Waters's two performances in May bringing in $2.3 million, putting it ahead of Kylie, who grossed $2.1 million from her two shows in March.

Two separate performances by Rihanna in October and November grossed $2.1 million.

The main promoters behind the concerts last year were Aiken Promotions and MCD Productions.

The former Point Theatre closed in August 2007 to allow renovations be carried out and the €80 million 02 venue reopened in December 2008. Mobile phone company O2 agreed to pay €25 million for the naming rights of the revamped venue in a 10-year deal.