The world is filled with an uncountable number of music artists, and still, new acts are being every year.
From Rock music to RnB, many prominent artists in the music industry is selling records, getting endorsed by large organizations, selling show tickets, and making money from music in many ways.
With over $50 billion of annual revenue that comes into the music industry globally, one may wonder how much money really big artists make off the music business, and also who is the wealthiest amongst them.
As new acts are being discovered every day, and the existing ones keep making money off their music, there tends to be a yearly change in the wealth list as some artist overthrow others in terms of how much money they earn and the impact it has on their net worth.
Here’s a list of the top wealthiest musicians in the world, note that the stats and information on this article are public data shared by different sources on the internet.
Table of contents
Top 10 wealthiest music artists in the world
10. Rihanna
The 32 years old Barbarian singer has made a whole lot of money out of her makeup line, Fenty Beauty. It is said that in 2018 the line generated $570 million in sales, which had a tremendous impact on her net worth.
Early this year, Forbes named her the wealthiest female singer in all of America, even when she hasn’t released any new music, gone on tour, or sold any new album in the last three years.
Rihanna has recently also ventured into fashion as she partners with LVHM to produce a luxury clothing line.
She has a net worth of $576 million, making her one of the richest female singers in the world.
9. Bono
Paul David Hewson KBE OL is an Irish musician, popularly known by his stage name Bono lead singer of the U2 band, formed his band at the age of sixteen.
Since then, the singer and his band members have released twelve albums, sold-out live venues, and also won 22 Grammy awards.
Apart from his earnings as an artist, the singer is also a real estate investor and serves on the board of Elevation Partners, a private equity firm. He is also part of a group that invested in Facebook.
He is known for his philanthropic donations to various charities that help fight AIDS and poverty. His current net worth is $700 million.
8. Celine Dion
Celine Dion is a very influential personality in the industry, and she is currently one of the wealthiest female musicians in the world. She is also the richest music artist in Canada of all time with total sales of over 200 million records.
Her incredible and powerful voice on the Titanic soundtrack, took her to the spotlight globally. Celine Dion has released albums both in the French language and English. She has also won numerous contests and awards.
Celine holds up the record for the all-time highest concert residency, where she can charge $500,000 per show in Las Vegas. She performed her 1000th show in Las Vegas in 2016.
Celine Dion is number 8 on this list, with an estimated net worth of $800 million.
7. Dr. Dre
His real name is Ander Romelle Young, but he is popularly known as Dr. Dre from his days as a member of the NWA. The rapper is recognized as one of the most influential people in the formation of hip-hop.
He was a co-owner of the famous Death Row records and now Founder and Ceo of Aftermath Entertainment.
He has reportedly launched several renowned artists into fame, such as Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, and 50 Cent. However, Dr. Dre has only released two albums in his name. One was The Chronic, which sold 6 million copies worldwide.
Dr. Dre and his business partner Jimmy Lovine launched the headphones Beats by Dre in July 2008, which they sold the company to Apple 6years later, for the sum of $3 billion on May 28, 2014. Dr. Dre’s net worth currently stands at $820 million.
5. Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone, often referred to as the Queen of Pop, is an American singer and songwriter. She is also a golden globe winning actress, the owner of Maverick records, author of a series of children books, and owner of various health clubs.
She got her wealth mainly from album sales and tours. Her album sold millions of copies, which made the Guinness World Book of Records recognize her as the best-selling female recording artist of all time in 1998.
Also, the RIAA (The recording industry association of America) listed her as to be the second-highest female certified musical artist in the United States. Her net worth as of 2020 stands at $850 million.
5. P-Diddy
Sean John Combs, aka P-Diddy or Puff Daddy, is a New York-born rapper singer-songwriter and producer. He was born on November 4, 1969, and was raised by his mother after his father was murdered in 1974.
He owns the record label Bad boy entertainment, and is responsible for helping artists such as the Mase and the Notorious BIG start off with their career. He gets his wealth from the music, and also from his Sean John clothing company, perfume company line, and a hit TV show on MTV.
The rapper and men’s fashion designer is known for his very luxurious lifestyle From private jets, to very expensive cars and lavish vacations, he is typically a symbol of wealth himself.
His net worth is currently estimated to be $855 million.
4. Jay Z
Shawn Corey Carter is an American rapper, born on December 4, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York, he is better known as Jay-Z; he has a big influence on upcoming rappers worldwide.
He holds 19 Grammy awards to his name, sold over a hundred million records, and launched a flourishing record label Roc-A-Fella Records. Just in case you didn’t know, Jay-Z was once a Def Jam Recordings President; he is also a licensed agent for sports, working with his own sports company ?Roc Nation Sports?.
Apart from being a globally praised rapper, Jay Z is also known for being very good at investing and business as a whole. He has invested in various businesses over the past years, ranging from liquor, art, and even real estate.
He has stakes in companies like Uber. He also has multiple personal businesses such as the clothing line Rocawear, D’Uss, a cognac he co-owns with Bacardi, and Tidal, a music-streaming service.
His $1 billion net worth makes him part of the very few entertainers to become billionaires and the first hip-hop artist to do so.
3. Andrew Webber
Andrew Llyod Webber was born on 22nd March in 1948 in South Kensington in London, England. He comes from a family of musicians.
His mother, Jean Johnstone, was a pianist and violinist. His father, William, was a composer and organist as well. He is a British composer and impresario of theatre.
He is famous for his creation The Phantom of the Opera, which has become the longest-running Broadway show and has been performed over 10,000 times to date.
The Phantom of the Opera is composed based on the French novel Le Fant me de l Opra by Gaston Leroux. Andrew has won knighthood and a noble title for his nonstop contributions to music. He also holds 3 Grammy awards as well as other awards to his name. He is worth $1.2 billion as of 2020
2. Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney was born on the 18th of June, 1942 in Liverpool, England. In 1957, he worked with John Lennon’s group, known as the Quarrymen, as a co-writer in some of their songs.
He has also worked with other artists such as Michael Jackson, Kanye West.
Paul is a talented multi-instrumentalist, he has written or co-written a total of 32 songs which got to the number 1 peak on the Billboard Hot 100, which has earned him recognition twice in the Guinness book of records.
One for being the most honored music composer and performer, and the other as the most successful songwriter.
1. Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, entrepreneur, and fashion designer.
West is one of the most acclaimed musicians of this generation, having 6 Grammys to his name, and has sold 21 million albums one over 100 million digital downloads worldwide.
He is the husband of the famous and curvy Kim Kardashian. According to Forbes, Kanye makes a majority of his wealth off his Yeezy sneakers. He also owns $21 million in real estate, a car collection worth $3.8 million, and $297,050 worth of livestock.
His net worth amounts to $1.3 billion, making him the number on the list.
