Musicians Who Made the Most Money in 2001

As the year winds down and rock stars laugh all the way to the bank, it turns out a number of '80s bands/artists and '80s influenced made it to the list. Keep in mind, that tickets prices were amazingly high this year. Not to mention the gross amount of corporate take-overs of beloved concert venues and halls.

Dave Matthews Band had a good year rocking in their tour with a tidy sum of about $60 million and the overdone duo of  Elton John and Billy Joel, grossed about $57 million.

Some other toppers were Madonna , Janet "Ms. Jackson if you're Nasty", Eric Clapton, Aerosmith and surprisingly Neil Diamond.

One would think Madonna's tour should have made a much higher spot on the countdown considering she was sold out on each stop and her ticket prices were completely stratospheric, remember she only had a 20 city stop in the USA and not many more around Europe.

The story is also similar for Ms Jackson, her tour still goes on and let's remember that many artists decided to cancel their shows in the wake of the September 11th tragedies in New York City, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon. Aerosmith also had to cancel some shows on their "Just Press Play" tour which a writer dubbed "Just Press Pause" which was - and still causes a chuckle - very funny.

Teen bands *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys (who got their start in the '80s pop bands obviously) are the runners-up. They still made a healthy stadium sized $87 million and $82 million, respectively.

Backstreet probably would have topped powerhouses *NSYNC but they also cancelled a number of shows due to A.J. McClean's drinking breakdown.

In the top spot is - surprise! - is U2. Their Elevation Tour and close fan contact got them nearly $110 million, far blowing away their closest competitors. According to PollStar it is the second biggest tour of all-time, right behind The Rolling Stones' 1994 tour, which made the aging group $121.2 million.

Chances are Matchbox 20 is also included in the moneymakers of 2000. They put on an amazing live show.  They also claim among their influences tons of '80s bands and songs.

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