Taylor Swift named top music money maker with $35.7M

Taylor Swift was the world’s highest earning music star on 2011, making $35.7 million.
The ‘Mine’ hitmaker grossed $88 million in the US - which amounted to a personal fortune of $29.8 million - from her ‘Speak Now’ Tour as well as touring across Asia and Europe, selling over 1.8 million albums and a further 7.8 single track downloads, and gaining income from song writing royalties.
Irish rockers U2 follow closely behind the 22-year-old beauty on the 2012 Billboard Money Makers List, with a fortune of $32.1 million, mainly drawn from their huge 360 Degrees shows, the highest-earning tour of 2011.
The ‘Sweetest Thing’ band grossed more than $293 million from 44 concerts throughout the three-year tour, which was watched by nearly three million people, and saw them beat a record set by The Rolling Stones for highest grossing tour ever, taking $763 million in total.
Kenny Chesney, Lady Gaga and hip-hop star Lil Wayne also made up the top five.
‘Lollipop’ hitmaker Wayne pulled in more than $23.1 million last year, while Sade, Bon Jovi and Adele - who has to curtail her touring commitments in October after suffering problems with her vocal cords - also made up the top 10.

2012 Billboard Money Makers list, Top 10:
1. Taylor Swift, $35,719,902
2. U2, $32,116,315
3. Kenny Chesney, $29,837,103
4. Lady Gaga, $25,353,039
5. Lil Wayne, $23,178,722
6. Sade, $16,382,809
7. Bon Jovi, $15,835,856
8. Celine Dion, $14,261,515
9. Jason Aldean, $13,409,011
10. Adele, $13,081,909
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Adele makes Billboard history, named top artist

Well, Adele may be in the middle of recovering from throat surgery, and dealing with a cancelled tour, but the chanteuse just got some great news. She's made history! She just became the first female to be named "top artist" by Billboard. She's also got the top album, "21" and a hit single, "Rolling in the Deep." All in one year! (Oh, and those six Grammy nominations aren't too shabby either._

The girl is only 23. How do you top this? The other thing that sets Adele apart? She never seems to be involved in any scandals. Some of the artist in Billboard's Top 10 haven't had the same luck. The list includes Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Bruno Mars.

Adele told Billboard in an interview, "I think one of the things that sets me apart from other artists who have had the same kind of success is that my life isn't speculated about." She continued, "I'm incredibly private but I'm also incredibly honest, and I think that creates a kind of 'meet in the middle' respectable ground." Talented and smart and off the paparazzi's radar. It's a recipe for success.