U2 Top Biggest Earners List in the US

Their last album, 2009's 'No Line On The Horizon,' may have been their lowest-selling record to date, but U2 can at least console themselves in the knowledge that their spectacular 360° tour helped make them the biggest-earning act in the US last year.

The tour, which features the largest concert stage ever constructed, began in Barcelona, Spain last year before moving on to North America. Combining touring receipts, record sales and royalties, U2 generated $109m (£71m) according to Billboard's Top 40 Money Makers List.

The news will come as some relief to Bono and co. 'No Line On The Horizon' was released to mixed reviews and could manage only one-third of the sales of their previous album, 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' (2005) and a quarter of 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' (2000).

Snapping at the Irish rockers' heels were Bruce Springsteen ($57.6m/£38.1m), Madonna ($47.2m/£31.2m), AC/DC ($43.6m/£28.9m) and Britney Spears ($38.8m/£25.7m). Coldplay were the highest-earning British act in the US last year with total receipts of $27.3m (£18.1m).

Billboard's Top 40 Money Makers list is now in its fourth year and although the exact methodology of how they collate the figures is a closely-guarded secret, it is believed to total every revenue-generating avenue from touring through to record sales and publishing.