Forbes has released its annual data, ranking the highest-paid musicians of 2018.
According to Forbes , the 10 highest-paid musicians pulled in $886 million, about the same as 2017’s combined tally.
Forbes also mentioned that although the first four names on the list can all be broadly defined as pop, the rest offer a wide range of genres. There’s hip-hop (Jay-Z), country (Luke Bryan), electronic (Calvin Harris) and even heavy metal (Metallica).
“There is not, however, much gender balance,” writes Zack O’Malley Greenburg of Forbes. “Just 6 of the top 30 are women, led by Katy Perry (No. 5).”
She is one of the hardest-working names in Forbes’ rankings.
“She played 80 dates during our scoring period, grossing over $1 million per night. She’s followed closely by Taylor Swift (No. 6), who started her Reputation Stadium Tour at the tail end of our 12-month range.”
There were quite a few well-known near misses as well.
“Rihanna, J. Cole, Dr. Dre and Nas all earned over $30 million, but not quite enough to crack our top 30. And some on the list could have ranked higher under a different classification system: Jay-Z and Beyoncé both made the cut as solo acts while touring and releasing a joint album; together, the Carters earned $136.5 million, more than any single act on our list.”
The World’s Highest-Paid Musicians of 2018:
1. U2 ($118 million)
2. Coldplay ($115.5 million)
3. Ed Sheeran ($110 million)
4. Bruno Mars ($100 million)
5. Katy Perry ($83 million)
6. Taylor Swift ($80 million)
7. Jay-Z ($76.5 million)
8. Guns N’ Roses ($71 million)
9. Roger Waters ($68 million)
10. Diddy ($64 million)
11. Beyoncé ($60 million)
12. Kendrick Lamar ($58 million)
13. The Weeknd ($57 million)
14. The Eagles ($56 million)
15. Depeche Mode ($53 million)
16. Pink ($52 million, tie)
16. Luke Bryan ($52 million, tie)
18. Jimmy Buffett ($51 million)
19. Lady Gaga ($50 million)
20. Calvin Harris ($48 million)
21. Paul McCartney ($47.5 million)
22. Drake ($47 million, tie)
22. Jennifer Lopez ($47 million, tie)
22. Foo Fighters ($47 million, tie)
25. Elton John ($46 million, tie)
25. Metallica ($46 million, tie)
27. Garth Brooks ($45.5 million, tie)
27. The Chainsmokers ($45.5 million, tie)
29. Billy Joel ($43.5 million)
30. Rolling Stones ($39 million)
