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CNA Lifestyle

Taylor Swift is the 2nd highest-earning musician this decade. Who’s No 1?

The person at the top of the Forbes list made S$1.29b compared to Swift’s S$1.12b. Beyonce is at No 3.

Taylor Swift is the 2nd highest-earning musician this decade. Who’s No 1?

Taylor Swift performs at the iHeartRadio Wango Tango concert in Carson, California, U.S., June 1, 2019. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/Files

The rapper who topped the list of the highest-earning musicians of the decade, as compiled by Forbes, hasn’t released an album since 2015. But that hasn’t stopped Dr Dre from raking in US$950 million (S$1.286 billion) in the last 10 years.

Most of that comes from his roughly 20 per cent stake in Beats headphones, which was bought by Apple for US$3 billion in 2014.

At No 2 on the list is Taylor Swift, who earned her US$825 million (S$1.117 billion) the traditional way with concert tours, albums and sponsor partnerships. She was also named the highest-paid celebrity of 2019.

Beyonce is at No 3 with US$685 million.

Forbes measured the top earners by looking at touring data from Pollstar, music consumption numbers from Nielsen, as well as interviews with managers, agents and the stars themselves.

And the list only looked at musicians and stars who are alive. If the list had included musicians who had died, Michael Jackson would have come out tops with US$2.37 billion earned in the last decade, which came from royalties and the sale of his Sony/ATV publishing catalogue.

Here’s the list of Top 10 earners:

1.       Dr Dre (US$950 million)

2.       Taylor Swift (US$825 million)

3.       Beyonce (US$685 million)

4.       U2 (US$675 million)

5.       Diddy (SU$605 million)

6.       Elton John (US$565 million)

7.       Jay-Z (US$560 million)

8.       Paul McCartney (US$535 million)

9.       Katy Perry (US$530 million)

10.   Lady Gaga (US$500 million)

Source: CNA/sr

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