BEIJING, Feb. 17 -- The Rolling Stones may be old but they are far from over the hill, as they proved by becoming the top-selling musical act in the United States last year.

    According to the Forbes magazine, the four-decade-old band led by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards generated US$168 million in record and concert ticket sales last year, beating stiff competition that included Irish rock group U2 and British star Elton John.

    The respected U.S. financial magazine¡¯s list of the top money-makers in U.S. music showed that the veteran British rockers had outclassed U2¡¯s sales of US$150 million, and left country singer Kenny Chesney in a distant third place with US$110 million.

    ¡°In the Stones¡¯ case, as with many of the acts that made this year¡¯s top 10, the fact that the group doesn¡¯t sell much music is irrelevant ¡ª their big money came almost entirely from touring,¡± Forbes said in its article.

    The magazine pointed out that the best-selling albums of 2005 sold for around US$13 per CD, while a concert ticket often costs well over US$100.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)