Published Saturday, 17 July 2010
The Irish outfit, who have been staging their groundbreaking 360 tour performing under a giant "claw", were rocking all the way to the bank.
They were estimated to have raked in $130m dollars (£84.9m), according to Forbes.com, including ticket and merchandise sales and a steady-selling back catalogue.
Despite their huge success, Bono's bad back disrupted some of the band's concert plans, including being forced to pull out of playing this year's Glastonbury Festival.
Heavy metal group AC/DC, folk rocker Bruce Springsteen and Material Girl Madonna - whose songs featured on the hit sitcom Glee - also appeared highly in the round-up, showing experience counts.
Newcomer Lady Gaga, who has also been undertaking a tour recently, was one of the few members of the younger generation of artists to make the top 10.
Beyonce Knowles beat her hip hop star husband Jay-Z, with the couple coming in third and sixth place respectively.
Despite a turbulent few years, comeback queen Britney Spears was in fifth place, with her earnings put at $64m dollars (£41.8m).
Coldplay came in equal 10th place, thanks to money made while still touring in support of their 2008 album Viva La Vida.
Here are the top earning musicians of 2010 and the amounts they are estimated to have made according to Forbes.com:
1. U2 - $130m (£84.9m)
2. AC/DC - $114m (£74.5m)
3. Beyonce Knowles - $87m (£56.8m)
4. Bruce Springsteen - $70m dollars (£45.7m)
5. Britney Spears - $64m (£41.8m)
6. Jay-Z - $63m (£41.1m)
7. Lady Gaga - $62m (£40.5m)
8. Madonna - $58m (£37.9m)
9. Kenny Chesney - $50m (£32.6m)
10. Black Eyed Peas - $48m (£31.3m)
10. Coldplay - $48m (£31.3m)