Madonna Forbes List: Tops Highest Paid Musicians of 2013
Even though she's been on the scene for more than three decades, the Material Girl is still making bank.
Forbes has released its list of highest-paid musicians in 2013, and despite skyrocketing ticket sales from musicians nearly half her age, Madonna made the top of the list, coming home with a cool $125 million in 2013 alone. The majority of her money came from her MDNA tour, which grossed a cool $300 million plus. In addition, her Material Girl clothing line is doing well in sales, as is her tour merchandise, and she also has a line of perfumes.
Lady Gaga, who was accused by Madonna of trying to mimic her style earlier this year, came in a very distant second, with a bank of $80 million.
Other artists who made the list include Bon Jovi, Toby Keith, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, and Elton John. Of particular note, though, is the lack of hip-hop acts present on the list: despite the genre's artists various claims and boasts of "ballin'" and other braggadocio of various riches, only three artists -- Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Jay-Z, and Dr. Dre -- made the list, and the vast majority of their money came from business ventures outside of the actual music of hip-hop. Diddy, for instance -- who is hip-hop's highest paid musician, earning $50 million in 2013 (less than half of what Madonna has made), and gaining the #11 spot on the list -- gets the majority of his money from Ciroc Vodka. Jay-Z (#18) has various investments, and Dr. Dre (#20) earns most of his money from the success of the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones line.
In addition to the lack of hip-hop artists, only a handful of country music stars made the list as well. Toby Keith is the genre's front-runner, with only Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, and Tim McGraw joining him on the list.