U2 Raked In $108 Million U.S. Last Year

You know that vault full of change Scrooge McDuck has in DuckTales? Well, U2 could build one of those right now because they're truly swimming in dough.

The Irish quartet have topped Billboard.com's list of the top money makers of 2009, raking in a total of $108,601,283 U.S. (about $114.3 million Canadian) last year.

Singer Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. might have spent $750,000 U.S. (about $789,000 Canadian) per show on their 360 Tour, but they sold more tickets than they ever have according to Billboard.com. Their merchandise and website also helped them make even more money.

Bruce Springsteen ranked second on Billboard.com's list, but trails nearly $50 million U.S. behind U2 with a total of $57,619,037 U.S. (about $60.6 million Canadian), part of which was accumulated during his tour in support of last year's Working On A Dream. The Boss also sold two million downloads.

Madonna rounds out the top three and made $47,237,774 U.S. (about $49.7 million) last year. She was still touring behind 2008's Hard Candy and scaring people with her challah arms, and her albums also sold well.

AC/DC, Britney Spears, Pink, the Jonas Brothers, Coldplay, Kenny Chesney and Metallica finished the top 10.

Nickelback finished just outside the top 10 at #12, having made $23,674,124 U.S. (about $24.9 million Canadian) last year. According to Billboard.com, that means a million of you decided it was a good idea to see Chad Kroeger and company live, and 1.4 million of you bought Dark Horse.

Canada is further represented on the list by Leonard Cohen, who finished 39th with a total of $9,511,958 U.S. (about $10.01 million Canadian) We'd say he's more than made up the $5 million U.S. he says his manager took from his retirement fund.

Here's Billboard.com's top 10 money makers of 2009 (all amounts are in U.S. dollars):

1. U2 — $108,601,283
2. Bruce Springsteen — $57,619,037
3. Madonna — $47,237,774
4. AC/DC — $43,650,466
5. Britney Spears — $38,885,267
6. Pink — $36,347,658
7. Jonas Brothers — $33,596,576
8. Coldplay — $27,326,562
9. Kenny Chesney — $26,581,141
10. Metallica — $25,564,234