Famous musicians lead notoriously glamorous lives abounding in world tours, glitzy parties and palatial estates. But underneath all the pomp and extravagance, how much are these celeb performers actually worth? In some cases, they’re worth much less than you might have thought — and in other cases, so much more.
While you probably expect some of the musicians on this list to be wealthy, you might be surprised to find out that they’re all worth at least multiple hundreds of millions. Some have even crossed over into the elite ranks of billionaires.
Last updated: Aug. 27, 2020
Known as the Godfather of Heavy Metal, Ozzy Osbourne was a co-founder of Black Sabbath in 1970. With his wife, Sharon, he co-founded Ozzfest, a metal festival tour. He has sold more than 100 million albums and is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Black Sabbath, and in the UK Music Hall of Fame as a group and solo artist.
At just 26 years old, Justin Bieber already has sold 150 million records globally. His debut album, “My World,” has been certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Bieber is estimated to earn $80 million each year from concerts, music sales, endorsements, merchandise and other ventures.
Business Insider ranks Mariah Carey as No. 14 on the list of the bestselling musical artists in history. Her debut album was No. 1 on the charts and was followed by several more successful albums. With her 2008 album “E=MC2,” Carey became the artist with the second-most No. 1 singles in pop music history, after The Beatles — and more than any other solo artist ever.
Lady Gaga released her debut album, “The Fame,” in 2008 and it quickly rose to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. Since then, she has also been a record producer, a fashion designer and an actress. She won an Oscar for best original song for “Shallow” from “A Star is Born,” in which she also had a starring role.
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“Jenny from the block,” as Jennifer Lopez has been dubbed, has done alright for herself. Her $400 million net worth comes from her singing career as well as her work as an actress, record and television producer, songwriter and entrepreneur. She was a judge on television’s “American Idol” for several years, where she reportedly earned $12 million a year.
Singer, songwriter, film director and producer, actor, screenwriter, author — there’s not much that Barbra Streisand hasn’t done, and there are almost no showbiz awards she hasn’t won. She is the only person ever to receive all of the following types of awards: Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe, Cable Ace, National Endowment for the Arts and Peabody awards, as well as the American Film Institutes Lifetime Achievement honor and the Film Society of Lincoln Center Chaplin Award.
Taylor Swift has received nearly every award the music industry has to offer. She has made headlines for her blockbuster stadium tours and her endorsement deals, but she also brings in big bucks from smart negotiations with her record label and streaming services. In 2018, she left her first label, Big Machine, to sign with Republic Records in a deal that included ownership of all her master recordings under the label. Most recently, she released the instant classic album “Folklore” after writing and recording it all during lockdown. She also has vast real estate holdings in Rhode Island, New York City, Los Angeles and Nashville, Tennessee.
While she started her career as a Spice Girl, it’s safe to say that most of Victoria Beckham’s fortune did not come from touring and recording as Posh Spice. She is a fashion designer, model and businessperson. British Glamour magazine named her woman of the year and entrepreneur of the year, and she has graced the cover of Vogue more than once. Oh, and her husband is retired soccer star David Beckham.
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Celine Dion has become one of the most successful artists in pop history. She recently ended a Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace that paid her a reported $500,000 per performance, with 70 shows per year. Her Vegas days may be over, but the Canadian diva hasn’t quit performing, and her Courage World Tour is set to resume in 2021.
Beyoncé started her music career as the lead singer of Destiny’s Child, who had several chart-topping records. She then went on to a successful solo music career and added actor, producer and entrepreneur to her resume. Her personal net worth of $500 million is independent of that of her husband, rapper Jay-Z, whose own net worth is double that.
Emilio Estefan is a musician, actor, record producer and entrepreneur. He was a member of the Miami Sound Machine with his wife, Gloria Estefan, and branched out into record, film and television production. He was named producer of the year at the Latin Grammy Awards in 2000. In 2015, the Estefans received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
Elton John ranks third on the list on Billboard’s top 125 musical artists of all time. In the 1990s, he was infamous for his epic spending sprees but has since reeled it in and made savvy investments in art and real estate. He’s now worth a tidy half-billion dollars.
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Bruce Springsteen — aka The Boss — has released 19 studio albums and has sold more than 120 million albums globally. He has 20 Grammys, four American Music Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Springsteen is still churning out new tunes, but he’s also been reissuing some of his best material on vinyl.
Madonna is the most successful female artist of all time, according to the Guinness World Records. She has released 15 studio albums in a career spanning nearly 40 years. Her concerts have grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide. She has a significant art collection that includes works by Picasso and Diego Rivera.
Known for his feel-good, island lifestyle-inspired music, Jimmy Buffett has amassed a cult-like following of fans who call themselves “Parrot Heads.” In addition to his notable hits “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” Buffett owns the Margaritaville Café restaurant chain and licenses the Cheeseburger in Paradise (CIP) concept to the parent company of Outback Steakhouse. There are now over 30 CIPs in the world.
A singer and songwriter, Julio Iglesias has released nearly 80 albums that have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. In addition to his earnings from record sales and concert tours, he has a real estate portfolio that is valued at $200 million to $300 million. He and the late fashion designer Oscar de la Renta co-owned the airport in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
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Rihanna is a singer, actor, songwriter and fashion designer. In addition to her music career, she has a makeup line, Fenty Beauty, which generated $570 million in revenue in 2018. She owns 15% of the line, which is a partnership with luxury brand LVMH. Forbes named her the world’s richest female musician and valued Fenty Beauty at more than $3 billion.
Bono, with his band U2, has released 12 albums and won 23 Grammys. Bono is a social activist and has performed at Live Aid, Band Aid and Live 8 concerts. He is also a savvy investor, with a large portfolio of real estate and an interest in Elevation Partners, a private equity firm.
Sean Combs, who has gone by Diddy, P. Diddy, Puff Daddy and more, is a rapper, actor, record producer, fashion designer and entrepreneur. In addition to his own music career, Diddy owns Bad Boy Entertainment Worldwide, which includes his record production company, a movie production company, two restaurants and two clothing lines. Diddy also has made a splash in the fitness water business, backing the brand AQUAhydrate with Mark Wahlberg.
Celebrity rapper, actor, producer and entrepreneur Dr. Dre started out as a DJ in South Central, Los Angeles, and was a member of N.W.A. in 1988 when they released “Straight Outta Compton.” Though he’s considered a musical legend, most of his net worth comes from the sale of his Beats by Dre premium headphone company to Apple for $3 billion. His 25% stake in the company netted him $750 million before taxes.
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Best known for his jazz band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, which rose to fame in the 1960s, Herb Alpert also co-founded A&M Records with trumpeter Jerry Moss. In 1989, Alpert and Moss sold A&M to Polygram Records for $500 million. Now 85, Alpert still performs in concert.
Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, is a rapper, songwriter and entrepreneur as well as a record, film and television producer. He co-founded Rocawear clothing with Damon Dash, who later left the business. The company rights were sold to Iconix Brand Group for $204 million in 2007. He is the majority owner of Tidal, a music streaming service, and the co-founder of the 40/40 Club nightclub franchises. He also has multiple lucrative endorsement contracts. He is often quoted as saying that he’s not a “businessman, (he’s) a business …man.”
It’s probably no surprise that Paul McCartney is high up on this list, but the size of his net worth is staggering. From his time with The Beatles in the 1960s to his solo career since then, he’s released 25 studio albums. He still tours and earns royalties from his and The Beatles’ song catalog, bringing up his net worth every year.
Andrew Lloyd Webber might be the richest musician some of you have never heard of — but you’ve heard much of his work. Lloyd Webber, along with lyricist Tim Rice, collaborated on many Broadway musicals, including “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Lloyd Webber also composed the music for “Cats” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” He has won seven Tony and three Grammy awards to go along with an Academy Award and the Kennedy Center Honors award.
When Forbes featured Kanye West on its cover in 2019, the magazine cited him as a multimillionaire, rather than as a billionaire — a detail that apparently peeved West enough to let Forbes know in a disgruntled text in which he called out the business magazine for being “disrespectful.” Forbes now recognizes West’s billionaire status, but it’s still not to the artist’s liking, as it says he is worth $1.3 billion. According to Forbes, West texted, “It’s $3.3 billion since no one at Forbes knows how to count.” Celebrity Net Worth reports the number is actually $3.2 billion. At any rate, West can claim billionaire status. The hip-hop legend has amassed his fortune through his music, along with his royalty arrangement with Adidas, his Yeezy apparel line and other business endeavors.
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Nicole Spector contributed to the reporting for this article.
Net worths were sourced from Celebrity Net Worth unless otherwise noted and are accurate as of Aug. 20, 2020.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Taylor Swift and 24 More of the Richest Musicians
