Are you surprised?
Forbes just joined in on the decade recap fun by sharing a list of the 2010’s top paid musicians. Dr. Dre sits very comfortably at #1 after raking in $950 million. It seems somewhat unfair or inaccurate when Dre is included in the musician lists, since he amassed the majority of his wealthy through business ventures rather than traditional music-related mediums. He sold Beats By Dre to Apple for $3 billion in 2014 and still kept a roughly 20% stake in the company.
A more surprising fact to glean from this list might be that Taylor Swift (#2) topped Beyoncé (#3). Swift tours more frequently and on larger scales than Bey tends to, which can account for much of the discrepancy in their earnings. Swift was also named the world’s top-earning entertainer of 2019 after her Reputation Stadium Tour grossed a U.S. record of $266 million.
While Michael Jackson’s name is absent from the list, Forbes noted that he would have surpassed all the other musicians if posthumous earnings were taken into consideration. His estate cashed in a total of $2.37 billion this past decade.
See the full list below:
10. Lady Gaga, $500 million
9. Katy Perry, $530 million
8. Paul McCartney, $535 million
7. JAY-Z, $560 million
6. Elton John, $565 million
5. Diddy, $605 million
4. U2, $675 million
3. Beyoncé, $685 million
2. Taylor Swift, $825 million
1. Dr. Dre, $950 million
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