So, you're telling me, is this Illinois city a better place for music than a town that calls itself "Music City?" It's kind of weird, but as an avid concert attendee, I, and the rest of the state, will take the good news.

Chicago Ranks High on Global Music Cities List

Timeout just ran through the World's Ten Best Cities for Music Lovers, and I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. Not because London and Berlin were ranked number one and number two, but because Chicago, not Nashville, New York, Seattle, or Los Angeles, was ranked third.

READ MORE: Who’s Playing Chicago This Summer? Full 2025 Outdoor Concert …

How Timeout Picked the Best Cities for Music Fans

According to Timeout, "Data on the number of concerts, music venues, festivals, home-grown artists, and music-related businesses have been analyzed" to determine each city's ranking.

Why Chicago Concert Culture Stands Out

On any given night, a major artist performs in Windy City. You name the day of the week; there's a chance a big name is taking the stage. It's so second nature for headlining tours to come through Chicago that it's stunning when they don't. It makes me think they have other even bigger plans, like playing a major festival like Lollapalooza or the Windy City Smokeout set up.

CHICAGO, IL - AUGUST 02: General view of festival-goers during Lollapalooza 2013 at Grant Park on August 2, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
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READ MORE: Illinois’ Top Summer Event is A Can’t Miss For Music Fans

Big Shows Happen in Chicago Every Single Night

On the heels of this news, it's even weirder to hear the Jonas Brothers opt out of performing at the iconic Wrigley Field in favor of playing at the smaller Credit Union 1 Amphitheater in Tinley Park. Again, the Chicago homer I am, I have to believe there's another reason for the switch: people in Illinois, not just Chicago, show for live music from one of their favorite artists or bands.

What do you think? Does Chicago deserve to be considered the best city for a music lover in America, or is it a town elsewhere?

Check Out the Best-Selling Album From the Year You Graduated High School

Do you remember the top album from the year you graduated high school? Stacker analyzed Billboard data to determine just that, looking at the best-selling album from every year going all the way back to 1956. Sales data is included only from 1992 onward when Nielsen's SoundScan began gathering computerized figures.

Going in chronological order from 1956 to 2020, we present the best-selling album from the year you graduated high school.

Gallery Credit: Jacob Osborn

LOOK: Controversial songs from the year you were born

Stacker celebrates history's most boundary-pushing—and thereby controversial—songs from 1930 through today.

Gallery Credit: Stacker

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