Waters, formerly of Pink Floyd, which recorded the smash album "The Wall" in the late 1970s, sold more than 1.4 million tickets globally since the start of 2012, according to the magazine "Pollstar," which tracks the live concert business.

Springsteen's "Wrecking Ball" tour, which started in March, was a distant second with $79.9 million.

Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Madonna and Paul McCartney were on the road this year, helping to push ticket sales for the 100 largest U.S. concerts up 1.2 percent, to $1.1 billion, selling a record 18.6 million tickets.

Concert promoters dropped ticket prices by an average of $6.34, to $60.68, the lowest they've been since 2007, Pollster said, citing "today's economic realties."

Cirque du Soleil's touring musical stage show "Michael Jackson: The Immortal" was the hottest ticket in North America, with $78.5 million in sales. Waters was second in the market with $61.9 million.

But the 68-year-old Waters' stay atop of the concert leader board could be short-lived, according to Pollstar.

"While Waters still has a few Walls left to build on his itinerary, Springsteen also has along way to go before the end of the 'Wrecking Ball' tour, and still could finish with the year's top outing," the magazine wrote.

Madonna, who has sold more than $42 million in tickets worldwide, "has yet to hit North America (and) also has an outside shot," it added.

(Reporting By Ronald Grover; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Philip Barbara)

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