Dr. Dre Tops List Of Highest Paid Musicians Of 2012

Hip-hop icon Dr. Dre topped Forbes’ list of the 25 highest-paid musicians of 2012, released Nov. 29. Although he hasn’t released a studio album since 1999, Dre’s $110 million in gross income stemmed mainly from his Beats headphones. According to Forbes, Dre collected $100 million pretax when HTC paid $300 million for 51 percent of Dre’s Beats headphones company last year, at the beginning of Forbe’s scoring period. Dre and his partners later bought back half of what they had sold. He also performed with Snoop Dogg at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival—in a performance made famous for the hologram of 2Pac—and produced music for artists such as 50 Cent, T.I. and Alicia Keys.

British rockers dominated the Top Ten, and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters reined No. 2 on the Forbes list with $88 million in earnings, thanks to the highly successful The Wall tour, which consisted of 68 shows. Elton John came in at No. 3 with $80 million in large part due to his busy touring schedule.

Irish rockers U2 fell from last year’s top spot to No. 4 on the list with total earnings of $78 million earned wrapping up the band’s three-year 360 tour. The top five was rounded out with 1990s British boy bank Take That, which—after reuniting in 2005—earned $69 million from eight shows at London’s Wembley Stadium. The concerts became the highest-grossing single stadium tour ever.

American veteran rockers Bon Jovi came in at No. 6 with $60 million in gross earnings for the 2012 period, followed closely by pop princess Britney Spears who grossed $58 million. Spears, who has had her share of troubles in recent years, proved she had staying power in 2012 with a blockbuster album and a multimillion dollar contract to judge the “X Factor.”

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and crossover artist Taylor Swift tied for eighth highest earnings with $57 million each, and Canadian pop superstar Justin Bieber and country star Toby Keith tied for tenth place, each earning $55 million.

Forbes based the rankings on total earnings between the period of May 2011 and May 2012. Each year it compiles its list of highest-paid musicians based off of estimates of artist’s music sales, live shows, endorsements and merchandising.

[Image via Jason Persse/Flickr]