Justin Bieber took home the biggest earnings of his career thanks to streaming, fashion deals and a whopping 105 live shows.
Forbes has revealed its annual list of the highest-paid musicians, with artists including Coldplay, Beyonce, Diddy and Justin Bieber all among the top earners.
Diddy [Sean Combs] was named the highest earner, raking in $130m thanks to his deal with Ciroc vodka, the sale of one-third of Sean John for $70m, and a Bad Boy Family Reunion tour.
The business mogul, rapper and actor was followed by Beyonce, who should be happy in the knowledge that she took home $105m in earnings thanks to her Formation World Tour, which wrapped up in late 2016 and so fell into the Forbes scoring period. The entire tour grossed a whopping $250m.
Drake, The Weeknd and British band Coldplay made up the rest of the top five, earning between $94 – $84m each.
The youngest on the list was Justin Bieber, who earned the biggest annual figure of his career thanks to 105 live shows that took place during the Forbes scoring period. He also reaped the rewards of a lucrative Calvin Klein endorsement deal, a series of ‘JustMoji’ icons, and more than a billion streams – many of which will have come from his massive hit collaboration on “Despacito” with Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi.
See the top 10 in full below:
1) Diddy ($130m)
2) Beyonce ($105m)
3) Drake ($94m)
4) The Weeknd ($92m)
5) Coldplay ($88m)
6) Guns N’ Roses ($84m)
7) Justin Bieber ($83.5m)
8) Bruce Springsteen ($75m)
9) Adele ($69m)
10) Metallica ($66.5m)
To work out the list of the world’s highest-paid musicians, Forbes looks at pre-tax income from 1 June 2016 through to 1 June 2017, without removing fees charged by agents, managers and lawyers.