The whale eyeballs that Madonna grounds into a fine paste to keep up her core strength don’t come cheap. Girl’s gotta make that dough, and in 2013, she did: Madge leads the list of the highest paid musicians of 2013, according to Forbes, with $125 million, or over $40 million higher than Madonna Jr., Lady Gaga.
Rounding out the top-five are the bland likes of Bon Jovi, Toby Keith, and Coldplay, followed by Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, who I’m surprised isn’t higher, considering she starred in every other soda commercial this year. (In case you’re curious, Forbes “took into account concert ticket sales, royalties for recorded music and publishing, merchandise sales, endorsement deals, and other business ventures.”) Elsewhere, Diddy made more than a Beatle, Muse is still inexplicably popular, and Katy Perry is worth as much as the Rolling Stones.
Here’s the full list.
01. Madonna – $125 million
02. Lady Gaga – $80 million
03. Bon Jovi – $79 million
04. Toby Keith – $65 million
05. Coldplay – $64 million
06. Justin Bieber – $58 million
07. Taylor Swift – $55 million
08. Elton John – $54 million
09. Beyonce – $53 million
09. Kenny Chesney – $53 million
11. Diddy – $50 million
12. Paul McCartney – $47 million
13. Calvin Harris – $46 million
14. Jennifer Lopez – $45 million
15. Roger Waters – $44 million
16. Muse – $43 million
16. Rihanna – $43 million
18. Jay Z – $42 million
18. One Direction – $42 million
20. Dr. Dre – $40 million
20. Red Hot Chili Peppers – $40 million
22. The Rolling Stones – $39 million
22. Katy Perry – $39 million
24. Tim McGraw – $33 million
25. Pink – $32 million
25. Tiësto – $32 million
Meanwhile, your friend’s band made $2.18, which still ranks them higher than Lauryn Hill.
(via Getty Image, via CoS)
