FORBES' RICHEST MUSICIANS: FOLLOW THE MONEY
Taylor Swift topped Forbes' list of the Top 30 Highest Paid Musicians of 2016, published this week and based on receipts from June of 2015 through June of this year. With $170m, the Big Machine megastar significantly outgrossed #2 act One Direction and more than doubled the earnings of #3-ranked Adele (though the latter, unlike most artists on the list, raked in the bulk of her take from recording money).
Madonna ($76.5m) and Rihanna ($75m) round out the Top 5. You can peruse the entire list yourself, but here are a few more interesting data points:
Diddy earned $62m, good for a Top 10 spot, to which he will undoubtedly toast with a glass of Ciroc (RiRi's earnings, too, were goosed by significant endorsements).
Rock icons flexed bigtime earning power, led by #7 AC/DC ($67.5m), #8 The Rolling Stones ($66.5m), #11 Bruce Springsteen ($60.5m), #12 Paul McCartney ($56.5m) and #24 Elton John ($42m).
EDM sent one ambassador, in the form of #9 Calvin Harris ($63m), the smash DJ/producer/artist whose profile was undoubtedly boosted still further by his erstwhile association with the person at #1.
U2 and The Weeknd tied for 15th place with $55m, just ahead of Beyoncé and Jay Z.
Country is represented by touring behemoths Garth Brooks (#6), Kenny Chesney (#13), Luke Bryan (#19), Toby Keith (#22) and Jimmy Buffett (#27).
And what is Bigbang, the #23 music act that outpaced #25 Katy Perry and #30 Drake, you ask? They're a South Korean boy band whose concerts look like this.
