Forbes list of the world's highest-paid musicians

The highest-paid musicians in the world have been reported annually by Forbes since 1987. For measurement, the magazine used pretax earnings—before deducting fees for agents, managers or lawyers. Most of the lists were estimated within a June-to-June scoring period, except for 1999–2000 and 2021 onwards when a calendar year period was used instead.

U2 became the annual highest-paid musician five times, more than any other act. They were also the highest-paid music group in a record eight different years. Michael Jackson became the first musician to earn over $100 million in a year (1989), and has become the highest-paid male soloist a record seven times. Dr. Dre currently holds the record for the highest annual earnings for a musician, collecting $620 million in 2014, mainly through the sales of his headphone-manufacturing company, Beats Electronics.

Madonna is the first woman in music to earn $100 million for a year (2009) and has become the highest-paid female musician a record 11 times. Taylor Swift remains the female musician with the highest official annual earnings ever with $185 million in 2019, breaking the previous record set by herself in 2016 with $170 million.

Highest-paid musicians by year

+Key Indicates the year's highest-paid celebrity (all fields of entertainment) Indicates the year's highest-paid musician overall

+Highest-paid musicians of the year Year Musician Nationality Earnings Adjusted earnings(in dollar) 1987 United States $56 million $ million 1988 * United States $97 million $ million 1989 * United States $125 million $ million 1990 United States $100 million $ million 1991 New Kids on the Block * United States $115 million $ million 1992 New Kids on the Block United States $62 million $ million 1993 Guns N' Roses United States $53 million $ million 1994 Pink Floyd United Kingdom $62 million $ million 1995 United Kingdom $130 million $ million 1996 United Kingdom $130 million $ million 1997 United Kingdom $98 million $ million 1998 United Kingdom $57 million $ million 1999 Backstreet Boys United States $60 million $ million 2000 United Kingdom $70 million $ million 2001 colspan="5" 2002 U2 Ireland $69 million $ million 2003 United Kingdom $66.5 million $ million 2004 United States $64 million $ million 2005 Madonna United States $50 million $ million 2006 U2 Ireland $110 million $ million 2007 United Kingdom $110 million $ million 2008 United Kingdom $115 million $ million 2009 Madonna United States $110 million $ million 2010 U2 Ireland $130 million $ million 2011 U2 Ireland $195 million $ million 2012 United States $110 million $ million 2013 Madonna * United States $125 million $ million 2014 * United States $620 million $ million 2015 United States $135 million $ million 2016 * United States $170 million $ million 2017 Diddy * United States $130 million $ million 2018 U2 Ireland $118 million $ million 2019 * United States $185 million $ million 2020 United States $170 million $ million 2021 United States $435 million $ million 2022 Genesis United Kingdom $230 million $ million 2023 colspan="5" 2024 colspan="5" 2025 Canada $298 million $ million

Group

+Highest-paid music groups of the year Year Music group Nationality Earnings Adjusted earnings(in dollar) 1987 U2 Ireland $37 million $ million 1988 U2 Ireland $42 million $ million 1989 Pink Floyd United Kingdom $56 million $ million 1990 United Kingdom $88 million $ million 1991 New Kids on the Block * United States $115 million $ million 1992 New Kids on the Block † United States $62 million $ million 1993 Guns N' Roses † United States $53 million $ million 1994 Pink Floyd † United Kingdom $62 million $ million 1995 † United Kingdom $130 million $ million 1996 † United Kingdom $130 million $ million 1997 † United Kingdom $98 million $ million 1998 † United Kingdom $57 million $ million 1999 Backstreet Boys † United States $60 million $ million 2000 † United Kingdom $70 million $ million 2001 colspan="5" 2002 U2 † Ireland $69 million $ million 2003 † United Kingdom $66.5 million $ million 2004 United Kingdom $51 million $ million 2005 Eagles United States $45 million $ million 2006 U2 † Ireland $110 million $ million 2007 † United Kingdom $110 million $ million 2008 † United Kingdom $115 million $ million 2009 Coldplay United Kingdom $70 million $ million 2010 U2 † Ireland $130 million $ million 2011 U2 † Ireland $195 million $ million 2012 U2 Ireland $78 million $ million 2013 Bon Jovi United States $79 million $ million 2014 Eagles United States $100 million $ million 2015 One Direction United Kingdom / Ireland $130 million $ million 2016 One Direction United Kingdom / Ireland $110 million $ million 2017 Coldplay United Kingdom $88 million $ million 2018 U2 † Ireland $118 million $147 million 2019 Eagles United States $100 million $ million 2020 Jonas Brothers United States $68.5 million $ million 2021 Red Hot Chili Peppers United States $116 million $ million 2022 Genesis † United Kingdom $230 million $ million 2023 colspan="5" 2024 colspan="5" 2025 Coldplay United Kingdom $105 million $ million

Male

+Highest-paid male solo musicians of the year Year Musician Nationality Earnings Adjusted earnings(in dollar) 1987 † United States $56 million $ million 1988 * United States $97 million $ million 1989 * United States $125 million $ million 1990 † United States $100 million $ million 1991 United States $60 million $ million 1992 United States $51 million $ million 1993 Prince United States $49 million $ million 1994 United States $41 million $ million 1995 United States $67 million $ million 1996 United States $90 million $ million 1997 United Kingdom $63 million $ million 1998 Master P United States $56.5 million $ million 1999 Germany $6 million $ million 2000 United States $35 million $ million 2001 colspan="5" 2002 United Kingdom $30 million $ million 2003 United Kingdom $59 million $ million 2004 † United States $64 million $ million 2005 Prince United States $49.7 million $ million 2006 United States $55 million $ million 2007 United Kingdom $53 million $ million 2008 United States $48 million $ million 2009 United States $70 million $ million 2010 United States $70 million $ million 2011 United Kingdom $100 million $ million 2012 † United States $110 million $ million 2013 United States $65 million $ million 2014 * United States $620 million $ million 2015 United States $90 million $ million 2016 United States $70 million $ million 2017 Diddy * United States $130 million $ million 2018 United Kingdom $110 million $ million 2019 United States $150 million $ million 2020 † United States $170 million $ million 2021 † United States $435 million $ million 2022 Sting United Kingdom $210 million $ million 2023 colspan="5" 2024 colspan="5" 2025 † Canada $298 million $ million

Female

+Highest-paid female musicians of the year Year Musician Nationality Earnings Adjusted earnings(in dollar) 1987 Madonna United States $47 million $ million 1988 Madonna United States $46 million $ million 1989 Madonna United States $43 million $ million 1990 Madonna United States $62 million $ million 1991 Madonna United States $63 million $ million 1992 Madonna United States $48 million $ million 1993 Madonna United States $37 million $ million 1994 United States $57 million $ million 1995 United States $63 million $ million 1996 United States $32 million $ million 1997 Canada $65 million $ million 1998 Canada $55.5 million $ million 1999 Canada $48 million $ million 2000 United States $38.5 million $ million 2001 colspan="5" 2002 United States $58 million $ million 2003 Cher United States $33.1 million $ million 2004 Canada $28 million $ million 2005 Madonna † United States $50 million $ million 2006 Canada $40 million $ million 2007 Madonna United States $72 million $ million 2008 Beyoncé United States $80 million $ million 2009 Madonna † United States $110 million $ million 2010 Beyoncé United States $87 million $ million 2011 United States $90 million $ million 2012 United States $58 million $ million 2013 Madonna * United States $125 million $ million 2014 Beyoncé United States $115 million $ million 2015 † United States $135 million $ million 2016 * United States $170 million $ million 2017 Beyoncé United States $105 million $ million 2018 United States $83 million $ million 2019 * United States $185 million $ million 2020 United States $72 million $ million 2021 United States $52 million $ million 2022 United States $92 million $ million 2023 colspan="5" 2024 colspan="5" 2025United States $202 million $ million

Highest-paid musicians by decade 2010s

+Top 10 highest-paid musicians of the 2010s decade Rank Musician Nationality Earnings Adjusted earnings(in dollar) 1 Dr. Dre United States $950 million $ million 2 Taylor Swift United States $825 million $ million 3 Beyoncé United States $685 million $ million 4 U2 Ireland $675 million $ million 5 Diddy United States $605 million $ million 6 Elton John United Kingdom $565 million $ million 7 Jay-Z United States $560 million $ million 8 Paul McCartney United Kingdom $535 million $ million 9 Katy Perry United States $530 million $ million 10 Lady Gaga United States $500 million $ million

See also Forbes Top 40 – list of highest-paid celebrities (1987–1998) Forbes Celebrity 100 – list of most powerful celebrities (1999–2014) and highest-paid celebrities (2015–2020) Forbes list of the world's highest-paid dead celebrities List of music artists by net worth

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References

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