Earlier in the week, Billboard unveiled its annual list of the 40 highest paid musicians. As many probably guessed, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift earned the most in 2013, with scores of country and pop acts following closely behind.
Swift’s Grammy-nominated album Red garnered nearly $9 million in 2013, and as of February of this year, has sold over 4 million copies in the United States alone. However, the Pennsylvania native cemented her number one spot by raking in an estimated $30 million from merchandising and touring. Country music star Kenny Chesney wasn’t far behind, only to be followed by the multi-talented Justin Timberlake, who has been coasting off the success of his most recent efforts.
To view the full list, peek below the jump–true enough, many of these artists I expected to see, but a few definitely surprised me.
01. Taylor Swift – $39,699,575.60
02. Kenny Chesney – $32, 956,240.70
03. Justin Timberlake – $31,463,297.03
04. Bon Jovi – $29,436,801.04
05. The Rolling Stones – $26,225,121.71
06. Beyoncé – $24,429,176.86
07. Maroon 5 – $22,284,754.07
08. Luke Bryan – $22,142,235.98
09. Pink – $20,072,072.32
10. Fleetwood Mac – $19,123,101.98
11. Justin Bieber – $18,873,458.41
12. Bruno Mars – $18,839,681
13. One Direction – $18,041,472.69
14. Jason Aldean – $17,896,191.98
15. George Strait – $16,002,761.63
16. Jay Z – $15,652,428.82
17. Michael Bublé – $14,478,084
18. Mumford & Sons – $14,172,940.87
19. Dave Matthews Band – $13,932,731.14
20. Rihanna – $12,794,186.16
21. Paul McCartney – $13,769,479.16
22. The Eagles – $13,026,210.18
23. Celine Dion – $12,755,539.71
24. Trans-Siberian Orchestra – $12,473,798.20
25. Phish – $12,406,611.95
26. Kanye West – $11,574,833.92
27. Blake Shelton – $10,349,774.77
28. John Mayer – $10,010,017.17
29. New Kids on the Block – $9,938,526.59
30. Zac Brown Band – $9,888,213.32
31. Imagine Dragons – $9,448,031.68
32. Jimmy Buffett – $9,404,015.71
33. Elton John – $9,369,224.53
34. Rascal Flatts – $9,215,475.78
35. Rush – $9,050,583.42
36. Miranda Lambert – $8,831,605.89
37. Lil Wayne – $8,788,416.66
38. Tim McGraw – $8,761,716.61
39. Eminem – $8,524,782.99
40. Carrie Underwood – $8,051,483.5
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It’s nuts to see bands like Dave Mathhews Band and Phish still raking in cash like that. I mean, I remember their prime and it certainly has passed.