Being a music star has its perks: not only do you have millions of adoring fans and can go to any event or restaurant you like, but you can also make a ton of money while doing it.
That’s especially clear on Friday after Forbes released its annual rankings of the highest-earning musicians in the world.
There are plenty of familiar faces on its list, including pop stars, aging rock icons, and a power couple who tied each other in the rankings (you can probably guess who they are).
Let’s take a quick look at the biggest earners in music in 2019, courtesy of Forbes’ calculations:
Taylor Swift, who released her latest album, “Lover,” in August, made $185 million this year and grabbed the top spot overall. This was the second time in five years that Swift was named Forbes’ highest-earning musician.
Looks like Kanye West’s pivot towards religion — a la Bob Dylan in the late ’70s — didn’t hurt business. West brought in $150 million in 2019, according to Forbes. The veteran rapper, as usual, had several projects in the works: a new album, his “Sunday Service” religious gatherings, and his shoe deal with Adidas to name just a few.
The red-haired Englishman released his fourth studio album this year, which included his chart-topping single, “I Don’t Care,” which featured Justin Bieber. Sheeran also had a cameo in “Yesterday,” The Beatles-inspired film directed by Danny Boyle. He raked in $110 million overall.
So what if The Eagles haven’t put out a new album in more than a decade? They’re still able to draw huge crowds, which they did while touring in 2019 — helping push them to a cool $100 million in earnings.
Elton John made $84 million, and it’s easy to see why: Sir Elton is not only working on his seemingly-never-ending finale tour, “Rocketman,” a biopic on his life came out in May and his autobiography “Me,” which was released this fall.
Beyonce had another massive year, earning $81 million in 2019. That tied her with someone she know’s pretty well as the sixth highest-paid artist of the year…
Who else could it be? Jay-Z just turned 50, but he’s not slowing down, apparently, matching his wife with an $81 million payday this year.
Like most years this decade, 2019 went pretty well for Drake. He earned $75 million, Spotify said he was the most-streamed artist of the decade, and his Toronto Raptors won the NBA title.
Rapper-turned-media-mogul Diddy, who now runs Revolt TV, can afford to get his friends and family nice holiday gifts: he pulled in $70 million, per Forbes, this year.
“Fade to Black” was more like “Fade to Green” in 2019 for Metallica, with the longtime metal icons earning $68.5 million.
