1. From an earnings perspective, however, there’s no question over the winner of this battle’s latest round. The honor goes to Madonna, who pulled in $125 million over the past year, making her the highest-paid musician in the world. The bulk of Madge’s millions came from the tail end of her MDNA Tour, which grossed $305 million. She augments her income with heady merchandise sales at concerts, as well as her Material Girl clothing line and Truth or Dare fragrance.
2. Gaga ranks second with $80 million; she grossed over $160 million on her latest tour before succumbing to a hip injury. Had she been able to finish, she would have likely topped $200 million. Her ARTPOP album was released after the end of our scoring period, but should give her a boost on next year’s list. She could easily reach the No. 1 spot with a successful set of concerts, the main driver for most major artists’ earnings.
3. Bon Jovi ranks third with $79 million, most of it from the appropriately named Because We Can tour.
4. Road warrior Toby Keith pulled in $65 million to land the No. 4 slot.
5. Coldplay parlayed seven-figure nightly grosses into a $64 million payday. The pop-rockers have long been compared to Irishsupergroup U2, and this year Coldplay out-earned itspredecessors on the strength of a world tour thatpulled in more than $3 million per city. The band hasascended the ranks of our list with a little help from some superstar friends.
6. The Canadian crooner Justin Beiber has toured the world and
earned another $58 million (that sum would have been even higher if we hadn't credited him with a double-digit million-dollar merchandise advance last year). He also owns stakes in startups including Enflick, Tinychat and Spotify.
7. Taylor Swift($55 million). Swift released her fourth studio album, Red, in October 2012 and sold 1.2 million copies in week one. The album's first single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," became her first to top Billboard's Hot 100 chart. She parlayed that success into endorsement deals with Diet Coke, Sony and Covergirl, not to mention big bucks on the road.
8. Elton John ($54 million)
9. Beyoncé ($53 million tie). After a year off following the birth of baby Blue Ivy, Beyoncé is back on the road with her Mrs. Carter World Tour—a nod to husband Jay Z, whom she out- earned once again—and makes it back to the upper reaches of our list. In addition to grossing over $2 million in every city she plays, she still collects cash from old hits and non-musical ventures including new deals with Pepsi and H&M, as well as her House of Dereon clothing line.
10. kenny chesny ($53 million)
11. Diddy ($50 million) Hip-hop’s richest man pulled in another $50 million over the past year (“You started learning how to count right, I see,” he told FORBES earlier this year). The bulk came from his wildly successful Ciroc vodka deal. Other ingredients in his cash cocktail: record label Bad Boy, clothing line Sean John and marketing firm Blue Flame. His Revolt TV network, launched in October with 25 million subscribers, should provide a big boost to future earnings. €€€€€
12. Sir Paul McCartney - $47 million
13. Calvin Harris - $46 million
14. Jennifer Lopez - $45 million
15. Roger Waters - $44 million
16. Muse - $43 million (tie)
16. Rihanna - $43 million (tie)
18. Jay Z - $42 million
18. One Direction - $42 million (tie)
20. Dr. Dre - $40 million
20. Red Hot Chili Peppers ($40 million, tie)
22. Rolling Stones - $39 million (tie)
22. Katy Perry - $39 million (tie)
24. Tim McGraw - $33 million (tie)
25. Pink - $32 million (tie)
25. Tiësto - $32 million (ti
sum1 shuld plz tell me wat apen to my Jay z dat he had to b d no 18th in d list. I no gree
ReplyDeleteAccording to Forbes list jay z happens to be the 3rd among the richest hip hop artist in the world.... And only God knows if he is using his own money to invest.
ReplyDelete