BONO fronted rock band U2 have been named as the world's highest paid musicians by the Forbes magazine pulling in £120 million ($195) million last year.

The Irish mega-band, fronted by anti-poverty campaigner Bono, made the biggest slice of this year's megabucks payout from live performance.

In 2005 Bono became a leading player in the Make Poverty History campaign aimed at ending the massive wealth imbalance between the west and third world nations.

He said at the time: “I'm going to spend the rest of my life on this, I'm going to make that kind of extreme poverty history.”

Runner-up in the Forbes list were Bon Jovi who earned £77 million ($125 million) largely from their Circle Tour during last year.

Elton John was in third place grossing £61 million ($100 million) for various shows around the world and Lady Gaga was fourth earning £55 million ($90 million) last year.

The full list of Forbes Magazine's top 10 world's highest paid musicians in dollars:

1. U2 ($195 million)

2. Bon Jovi ($125 million)

3. Sir Elton John ($100 million)

4. Lady Gaga ($90 million)

5. Michael Buble ($70 million)

6. Sir Paul McCartney ($67 million)

7. The Black Eyed Peas ($61 million)

8. The Eagles ($60 million)

9. Justin Bieber ($53 million)

10. Dave Matthews Band ($51 million)