Madonna's MDNA Tour Ranks as Most Profitable of 2012

Billboard has announced that Madonna's MDNA tour was named 'the most profitable' tour of 2012. It grossed nearly $228 million.

Madonna's MDNA tour - which immediately grabbed the world's attention with its controversial violent and suggestive spectacles - stopped at 76 concert dates in arenas, stadiums and special outdoor sites throughout Europe and North America. It sold out at nearly every one.

Along with state of the art technical components including the largest video screens ever created, Madonna, her band and her dancers ended up going beyond her Super Bowl performance where she performed to an audience of over 117 million people around the world, the highest number of viewers in Super Bowl history.

Following Madonna was Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band in second, and Roger Waters in third place. She also beat hit artists such as Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Taylor Swift.

Madonna's latest studio recording "MDNA" debuted on iTunes at the #1 spot in over 40 countries. Her newest single "Girl Gone Wild" is #1 on Billboard's Dance Club Songs Chart - her 42nd time in the top slot. She remains the artist with the most #1 songs in the chart's 35-year history.