Hydro World's Second-Busiest Arena

Glasgow's SSE Hydro venue is now officially the world's second-busiest live entertainment arena, according to the latest industry rankings.

The 13,000-capacity building was beaten to the top spot by London's O2 arena in the list compiled by Pollstar, a trade publication for venues and tours.

Based on arena attendance for concerts and special events, the Hydro was ranked higher than the Phones 4U Arena in Manchester and Madison Square Garden in New York.

It was previously third and fourth in the publication's quarterly calculations during 2014 but the latest poll covers attendance for the whole year.

The venue opened in September 2013 and has hosted performances by Rod Stewart, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Prince, Dolly Parton and Kings of Leon as well as the MTV Europe Music Awards.

The stage version of the television comedy Still Game played 21 performances at the venue during a three-week run last year. The show had originally booked just four dates from September 30 to October 3 but sold out in hours.

It also staged the gymnastics and netball competitions during the Commonwealth Games last summer and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award ceremony in December.

Events planned for the venue this year include One Direction, Taylor Swift, Elton John and Take That.

Peter Duthie, chief executive of the SSE Hydro and SECC, said: To be positioned as the second busiest arena globally just fifteen months after opening is absolutely outstanding.

We wouldn't have received this accolade without the support of the artists, their promoters, our staff and of course the 1,045,344 fans that visited us last year.

Looking ahead we won't be slowing down, with over 90 performances already confirmed for 2015. The SSE Hydro is truly a world-class events venue with a world-class reputation''.