Justin Bieber Silly Bandz!

Silly Bandz are the crazy right now. My son came home with a few of these squiggly wristbands in the shape of a few animals. He loves them, They are actively traded in the schoolyard, and sometimes kids are eager to trade just about anything to get a hold of them.

Celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker have been spotted wearing them, and Justin Bieber just launched his own variety of Silly Bandz: Justin Bieber Silly Bandz!

The Silly Bandz fad in the U.S. has already slowed a bit, but Google has touted them as a sought-after stocking stuffer this Christmas. I suspect we’ll see it on my son’s wish list as well.

More about the Silly Bands (sorry: Silly Bandz) from a parenting perspective , on parentcentral.ca.

A lot of that income comes from touring, merchandising sales, product endorsements and sales of their catalogs, although that last ingredient has taken a nose-dive the past decade.

Here are the rock bands and solo artists that added most to their bottom line between June 2009 and June 2010:

1. U2 - $130 million
2. AC/DC – $114 million
3. Beyoncé Knowles – $87 million
4. Bruce Springsteen – $70 million
5. Britney Spears – $64 million
6. Jay-Z – $ million
7. Lady Gaga – $62 million
8. Madonna – $58 million
9. Kenny Chesney – $50 million
10. Coldplay (Tie) – $48 million
11. Toby Keith (Tie) – $48 million
12. Black Eyed Peas (Tie) – $48 million

U2 sold 1.3 million tickets during their worldwide at an average price of $94 a seat – and that’s only in North America…

AC/DC has been a steady high-earner for years and years. Did I head “Iron Man”?

Beyoncé was the endorsement Queen of this list: more than half of her total earnings came from endorsements with companies ranging from Nintendo to L’Oreal and of course her growing fashion line “House of Dereon”.

Oops – she did it again. Britney is back, and is in the top 5 of top-earning artists. And her image seems to be OK again too, looking at high-profile endorsement deals with Elizabeth Arden and the Britney for Candie’s clothing line. Hope she spent that money wisely…

Jay-Z had a new album (Blueprint 3) tour, as well as investments in the 40/40 nightclub chain, the Broadway show “Fela!” and the New Jersey Nets basketball team.

Lady Gaga had a worldwide tour with million-dollar endorsements from Polaroid, Virgin Mobile, Viva Glam and Monster Cable.

Madonna is still hip after all these years. She had her own episode in the Fox hit sitcom Glee, increasing her profile to a whole new audience.

Kenny Chesney is the 500 pound gorilla in the Country world. His closest competitor, Keith Urban, didn’t come close. And sponsorships from strong brands like Corona and MasterCard helped too, of course.

Black Eyed Peas also had a good number of endorsement deals, including Target, Honda, Bacardi and Apple.

You can read more about Forbes’ list in this picture gallery.