Taylor Swift is 2011 Highest Earning Artiste

Taylor Swift was the world's highest earning music star in 2011, making $35.7m. The country singer grossed $88m in total - which amounted to a personal fortune of $29.8m - from her Speak Now Tour as well as touring across Asia and Europe, selling over 1.8m albums and gaining income from song writing royalties.

Irish rockers U2 followed closely behind the 22-year-old beauty on the 2012 Billboard Money Makers List with a fortune of $32.1m, mainly drawn from their huge 360° shows, the highest-earning tour of 2011.

The Sweetest Thing band grossed more than $293m 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 $763m 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 $23.1m 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.