The 40 Greatest Live Acts of All Time

As voted for by Absolute Radio listeners

The Greatest Live Acts of All Time

Author: Scott ColothanPublished 27th Aug 2025

Following thousands of votes, music legends Queen were crowned the Greatest Live Act of All Time by Absolute Radio listeners!

Held in association with the Teenage Cancer Trust, The Greatest Live Acts of All Time poll was held back in May 2020, and the results were revealed by Danielle Perry during a three-hour Bank Holiday Monday special on Absolute Radio — and it was a closely fought contest for the top spot.

Fronted by arguably the greatest showman of all time, the late-great Freddie Mercury, and blessed with phenomenal musicians in Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor, it’s little surprise that Queen have come in at number one.

Queen crowned Greatest Live Act

Queen’s performance at Live Aid has widely and rightfully been proclaimed as one of the greatest live performances ever, and over a 16-year period from 1970 to Freddie Mercury’s final tour in 1986, Queen were truly imperious in the live arena.

After a five-year collaboration with Paul Rodgers in the noughties, over the past decade and a half Queen have been performing with Adam Lambert, who is helping bring the band’s timeless anthems to a new generation of fans.

Queen’s Roger Taylor says of their win: “Wow that really is the most incredible news! An absolute honour to hear that Queen have been voted the best live act of all time. We’re thrilled. Thank you so much Absolute Radio listeners, it’s much appreciated. We really hope in all this horrible time that we are going to be performing for you next year. In the meantime, see you on the other side, and we look forward to that!”

Close behind Queen in second spot are rock titans Foo Fighters – a band who effortlessly consume vast stadia with their cavalcade of rock anthems, flawless musicianship and Dave Grohl’s mesmeric aura.

Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl

With his sprawling three-hour sets often nothing short of a religious experience, the boss himself Bruce Springsteen came in at number three ahead of Teignmouth purveyors of brilliantly bombastic rock and gloriously overblown stage shows, Muse.

Not too far behind in fifth spot at Irish music giants U2. A truly incredible live force, Bono, The Edge, Larry and Adam have been setting the benchmark for lavish stage productions for decades from the 165-foot-wide (50 m) LED screen and giant lemon on the PopMart Tour in 1997/8 to the giant structure dubbed The Claw on the epic U2 360° Tour from 2009 to 2011 – the second highest grossing concert tour ever.

And that's before we mention their ‘Achtung Baby’ residency inside an iconic $2.3 billion 'Sphere' in Las Vegas, in 2023/24 (after this poll was held).

Completing the Top 10 are five highly influential acts from different sides of the music spectrum; rock torchbearers The Rolling Stones, serial anthem makers Coldplay, rock-pop heroes Fleetwood Mac, the late-great Prince and hard-rock juggernauts AC/DC.

Check out the full Top 40 Greatest Live Acts as voted by Absolute Radio listeners below!