The Irish rock band tops the list of Forbes' highest-paid musician of this year after raking in a whooping $118 million.

• Dec 5, 2018

AceShowbiz - Even though there are a lot of young world class artists who have a large number of dedicated fans, U2 is apparently still loved by many. The Irish rock band has been named the biggest moneymaker in music industry this year, according to Forbes.

The veteran band has raked in a whooping $118 million within a year largely thanks to their recently-wrapped "Joshua Tree Tour". The trek grossed $316 million, becoming not only their most lucrative tour ever, but also the highest-grossing tour of this year. In addition, their follow up tour and their fourteenth studio album "Songs of Experience" helped the band earn that much of money this year.

Trailing behind U2 is another British act, Coldplay, with earnings of $115.5 million. Much of the band's income comes from their "A Head Full of Dreams Tour" which grossed more than half a billion dollars in its two-year, five-continent run. While the bands managed to top this year's list due to their successful tour, it wasn't the case for Ed Sheeran. Landing on third place, the redhead earned $110 million largely thanks to his billions of streams.

Rounding out the top five were Bruno Mars and Katy Perry. The "Uptown Funk" hitmaker took the fourth spot after raking in $100 million, while the "Teenager" songstress was ranked fifth with $83 million. Even though she didn't manage to top this year's highest-paid musician list, she did rule this year's highest-paid women in music.

Taylor Swift came in sixth position with $80 million as Jay-Z followed closely behind in seventh position with $76.5 million. On the other hand, Guns N' Roses nabbed the eight spot with $71 million. Roger Waters and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs rounded out the top ten, with earnings of $68 million and $64 million respectively.

All in all, the ten highest-paid musicians pulled in a total of $886 million.

1. U2 ($118 million)
2. Coldplay ($115.5 million)
3. Ed Sheeran ($110 million)
4. Bruno Mars ($100 million)
5. Katy Perry ($83 million)
6. Taylor Swift ($80 million)
7. Jay-Z ($76.5 million)
8. Guns N' Roses ($71 million)
9. Roger Waters ($68 million)
10. Sean "P. Diddy" Combs ($64 million)