Beyond the Charts - Articles - Zimbio: The Highest-Paid Musicians of 2012 Probably Aren't Who You'd Expect

Beyond the Charts - Articles - Zimbio

The Highest-Paid Musicians of 2012 Probably Aren't Who You'd Expect Nov 29th 2012, 20:12 (Photos: Getty Images) If you look at Billboard's most popular acts over the last couple of years, you'll see a lot of relatively young, fresh names — Rihanna, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, Chris Brown, etc. — and, as such, those musicians are making millions. But when it comes to the BIG big bucks, the field is dominated by old school acts. Based on Forbes calculations of pretax earnings, not a single one of the top-five highest-paid musicians of the year even released an album in 2012. Believe it or not, Dr. Dre, who hasn't put out new music since the '90s, tops the list, earning upwards of $110 million thanks mostly to his Beats by Dre headphones line. Pink Floyd founding member Roger Waters tapped into the nostalgia market by taking The Wall on tour again, grossing $88 million for the 69-year-old rock legend. The next two spots on the list went to Elton John and U2, who earned $80 million and $78 million, respectively. Perhaps the most surprising name on the list is Take That, landing just behind U2 with $69 million. The British boy band's reunion tour grossed a record-setting $61 million for just eight dates at Wembley Stadium alone, while dozens of other dates brought in even more cash. (Maybe Justin Timberlake should reconsider that N*SYNC reunion after all.) After Bon Jovi in the sixth spot, the names on the highest-paid list get more contemporary. Rounding out the top-10 are Britney Spears ($58 million), Paul McCartney ($57 million), Taylor Swift ($56 million), and Justin Bieber and Tobey Keith, tied at $55 million. Check out the full list here.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions