Billboard's 2018 Money Makers: 50 Highest-Paid Musicians

Not only is U2 the top Money Maker of 2017, the veteran Dublin rockers are also the highest-ranking newcomers to this year’s list. The bulk of the band’s $54.4 million in take-home pay came from its Joshua Tree Tour, which played 28 U.S. dates, including a headlining slot at the Bonnaroo music festival. Bono & Co.’s recorded work generated $2.4 million of the act’s total take, but even that revenue got a boost from its live show. U2’s 2017 album, Songs of Experience, was bundled with ticket sales for its 2018 Experience + Innocence Tour, which helped it debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last December, the band’s eighth chart-topper. The LP generated 186,000 equivalent album sales in its first week of release, the most of any rock album for the year.