Appearing in the December 29, 2014 issue, Forbes announced the “The World’s Highest-Paid Musicians Of 2014” Wednesday (Dec. 10). Drake, Justin Bieber, Jay Z and Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and J.Lo all made the list. Hip-hop, pop and rock are represented in the top three. Find out who was music’s top earner inside.
With the sale of Beats to Apple for $3 Billion, cofounder Dr. Dre took home $620 million this year before taxes, making him the world’s top-earning musician of 2014. His earnings also marks the largest single-year haul of any musician, ever!
Beyonce is the No. 2 earner, pulling in $115 million in 2014. Most of her lucrative earnings came courtesy of her Mrs. Carter Show tour, her surprise album, and endorsements from Pepsi and H&M.
Jay Z is locked in a three-way tie with Diddy and Bruno Mars at No. 12, earning $60 million a piece. See the Top 30 top earners of 2014 below.
#1: Dr. Dre, $620M
#2: Beyoncé, $115M
#3: The Eagles, $100M
#4: Bon Jovi, $82M
#5: Bruce Springsteen, $81M
#6: Justin Bieber, $80M
#7: One Direction , $75M
#8: Paul McCartney, $71M
#9: Calvin Harris, $66M
#10: Toby Keith, $65M
#11: Taylor Swift, $64M
#12: Jay Z, Diddy, Bruno Mars $60M
#15: Justin Timberlake, $57M
#16: Pink, $52M
#17: Michael Bublé, $51M
#18: Rihanna, $48M
#19: Rolling Stones , $47M
#20: Roger Waters, $46M
#21: Elton John, $45M
#22: Kenny Chesney, $44M
#23: Katy Perry, $40M
#24: Jason Aldean, Jennifer Lopez, $37M
#26: Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, $36M
#28: Muse, Luke Bryan, $34M
#30: Lady Gaga, Drake $33M
[Forbes]
