Musical moneymakers of 2005

The annual Forbes list documenting the most successful performers in music over the last year has been released.

Here's a quick look at the big winners:

The Rocketman might not have a single release this year, but concert tours in sold-out venues across America made sure he raked in the moolah.

9. Dave Matthews Band ($74 million)

The soulful singer-songwriter chugs on merrily, making millions as capacity crowds sing along to his angst-filled songs and funky rhythms.

8. 50 Cent ($79 million)

Concerts supplemented a Billboard-topping album, The Massacre, and a film, Get Rich Or Die Trying. Judging by his bankbooks, the rapper has tried hard enough. And succeeded.

7. Celine Dion ($81 million)

She hasn't even toured, spending all her time singing My heart will go on at the Caesar's Palace casino in Las Vegas. Seems like that is enough.

6. Sir Paul McCartney ($83 million)

Live 8 and beyond, Sir Paul has been a busy Beatle this year, touring with his latest album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard.

5. The Eagles ($84 million)

So they haven't had a new song in what seems like decades, but grizzled audiences love forking out the cash (average ticket price: $108) to listen to these guys croon about desert highways and tequila. And the day their Greatest Hits CD stops selling will actually be the day Hell Freezes Over.

4. Green Day ($99 million)

These punks did it all. A smash hit album, American Idiot, a lyrically conceptual work, became a top seller on the charts, and fans flocked to their tours across the world.

3. Kenny Chesney ($110 million)

Tabloid time doesn't hurt -- which is something this country singer, who was married to Renee Zellweger for three months, would gladly testify to. Even as audiences raved about the wedding and sobbed about the split, they bought tickets.

2. U2 ($150 million)

Coldplay hasn't quite managed to sellout stadiums across the world like these Dubliners, who seem to go from strength to strength. Oh, and they just swept the Grammies.

1. The Rolling Stones ($168 million)

They might be old enough to have fathered our dads, but Mick Jagger and his merry men are raking in the receipts, with unending concert tours and their best reviewed album in decades, A Bigger Bang.