Kanye West has topped this year’s list of highest-paid musicians in the world after his recent status as a billionaire.
Forbes on Thursday dropped its annual list of the world’s highest-paid celebrities, and West does not only lead all musicians in earnings, but he is also the second-highest-paid celebrity overall.
Even though West is far behind sister-in-law Kylie Jenner who tops the main celebrity list with $590 million, West is at number two with $170 million, which is more than double the $81 million figure Elton John earned as the next musician on the list.
Forbes says West collected most of his earnings from his Yeezy sneakers deal with Adidas. “He gets an annual royalty from Adidas, which makes Yeezy shoes. The Yeezy brand pulled in an estimated $1.3 billion in sales in 2019. Separately, West also has a Yeezy apparel line. He owns his brands outright,” the magazine writes.
This April, the 42-year-old rapper and fashion designer was not happy with Forbes when it named him a billionaire. The magazine valued his net worth at $1.3 billion but West said he believed his net worth to be around $3.3 billion.
Meanwhile, most of the artists on the 2020 list made a large percentage of their income from touring and live performances. Analysts are now wondering what would become of the next list since tours and other live performances have been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Amid talks about how artists can diversify their revenue streams as West does, check out the full list of the highest-paid musicians for 2020:
- Kanye West $170 million
- Elton John $81 million
- Ariana Grande $72 million
- Jonas Brothers $68.5 million
- Chainsmokers $68 million
- Ed Sheeran $64 million
- Taylor Swift $63.5 million
- Post Malone $60 million
- Rolling Stones $59 million
- Marshmello $56 million
- Shawn Mendes $54.5 million
- Jay-Z $53.5 million
- Billie Eilish $53 million
- BTS $50 million
- Drake $49 million
- Jennifer Lopez $47.5 million
- Pink $47 million
- Rihanna $46 million
- Luke Bryan $45.5 million
- Backstreet Boys $45 million
- Phil Collins $45 million
- Blake Shelton $43.5 million
- Celine Dion $42 million
- The Eagles $41 million
- Metallica $40.5 million
