Forbes’ does what they do best: count other people’s money. And when all the number-crunching was done, the title of highest paid musician for 2012 went to none other than Dr. Dre, who ironically made the bulk of his bread outside of the recording booth, courtesy of, you guessed it, his line of Beats headphones, earphones and accessories.
“Hip-hop superproducer Dr. Dre leads the pack this year with $110 million, thanks largely to his Beats headphone line. He collected $100 million pretax when handset maker HTC paid $300 million for a 51% stake in the company last year, at the beginning of our scoring period; he and his partners later bought back half of what they sold.
‘The brands are so aligned, Dre and Beats, it’s just who he is,’ says Kevin Liles, former president of Def Jam Recordings, who now manages acts ranging from Young Jeezy to Trey Songz. ‘If you look at the biggest earners, the guys have been doing it for 20 years … what’s happening now is people are really telling their truth.’”
What’s even more impressive is how far Dre was ahead of the second best earner on the list, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, who did well for himself ($88 million) but still trailed by nearly $30 million.
Full list of musical money-makers below.
01. Dr Dre – $110 Million
02. Roger Waters – $88 Million
03. Elton John – $80 Million
04. U2 – $78 Million
05. Take That – $69 Million
06. Bon Jovi – $60 Million
07. Britney Spears – $58 Million
08. Paul McCartney – $57 Million (tie)
08. Taylor Swift – $57 Million (tie)
10. Justin Bieber – $55 Million (tie)
10. Toby Keith – $55 Million (tie)
12. Rihanna – $53 Million
13. Lady GaGa – $52 Million
14. Foo Fighters – $47 Million
15. Diddy – $45 Million (tie)
15. Katy Perry – $45 Million (tie)
17. Kenny Chesney – $44 Million
18. Beyoncé – $40 Million
19. Red Hot Chili Peppers – $39 Million
20. Jay-Z – $38 Million
21. Coldplay – $37 Million
22. Adele – $35 Million (tie)
22. Kanye West – $35 Million (tie)
24. Michael Bublé – $34 Million
25. Sade – $33 Million
