It’s easy to forget that pop stars actually came from somewhere and weren’t just manufactured in the basement lair in Los Angeles where Ryan Seacrest built the Kardashians. Just like you and I, however, even the best-selling musicians of our time were born and grew up somewhere, including the crusty nowhere states that make up the vast majority of this country.
Digg has a full roundup of the top-selling artists to have hailed and escaped from each and every state, proving that greatness (or whatever you call Brad Paisley) can even emerge from the depths of states like West Virginia. The top-selling artist from each state this year was determined based on 2019 concert ticket sales using data provided by ticket marketplace Vivid Seats. For individual musicians, Digg defined state of origin based on each artists’ city of birth, while bands were defined by the city where they “got their start.”
Rock and pop artists are among the best-selling throughout the country, with rock musicians taking the top spot in 13 states and pop artists taking over another 12. A smattering of country artists also made the list, claiming unsurprising states including Texas (George Strait), Tennessee (Florida Georgia Line), Georgia (Jason Aldean) and Oklahoma (Garth Brooks).
One standout TIL takeaway: one of the few hip-hop artists to make the list, Wiz Khalifa, comes to us from North Dakota. The more you know.
Here’s the full list of the top-selling musician from each state:
Alabama: Al Green
Alaska: Portugal the Man
Arizona: Dierks Bentley
Arkansas: Al Green
California: Billie Eilish
Colorado: The Lumnineers
Connecticut: John Mayer
Delaware: George Thorogood
Florida: Ariana Grande
Georgia: Jason Aldean
Hawaii: Bruno Mars
Idaho: Built to Spill
Illinois: Chicago
Indiana: Janet Jackson
Iowa: Slipknot
Kansas: Kansas
Kentucky: Chris Stapleton
Louisiana: Lauren Daigle
Maine: Patty Griffin
Maryland: Maggie Rogers
Massachusetts: Aerosmith
Michigan: Bob Seger
Minnesota: Bob Dylan
Mississippi: Jimmy Buffett
Missouri: Michael McDonald
Montana: Reggie Watts
Nebraska: Jojo Siwa
Nevada: Five Finger Death Punch
New Hampshire: Ray LaMontagne
New Jersey: Jonas Brothers
New Mexico: Beirut
New York: Billy Joel
North Carolina: Luke Combs
North Dakota: Wiz Khalifa
Ohio: The Black Keys
Oklahoma: Garth Brooks
Oregon: Modest Mouse
Pennsylvania: Pink
Rhode Island: Mike Stud
South Carolina: Hootie and The Blowfish
South Dakota: The Spill Canvas
Tennessee: Florida Georgia Line
Texas: George Strait
Utah: Donny and Marie Osmond
Vermont: Phish
Virginia: Dave Matthews Band
Washington: Heart
West Virginia: Brad Paisley
Wisconsin: Bon Iver
Wyoming: Teenage Bottlerocket
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