In our list of the 10 richest musicians in the world, you will see musicians from various genres who have been not only successful but also very good at making money. Some on this list may not be great at making music, but when it comes to money, they have a talent for growing it.
10. Bono (U2)
Paul David Hewson, also known as Bono is known for fronting super successful Irish band U2. He is worth 700 million dollars but his money did not come from his career as an established rock star. Most of his income came from his real estate business.
9. Madonna
Who can forget the material girl? Madonna’s career as a pop star spanned 30 years and she also acted in movies. But her net worth of over 800 million dollars was not dependent on her entertainment work. She also has many businesses of her own.
8. Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre is worth about 820 million dollars. He is one of the most influential people in the hip-hop industry and is a musician, actor, and also businessman. He is also a producer and the founder of Beats by Dre with Jimmy Lovine.
7. Sean Combs (P. Diddy)
P. Diddy is a rapper, a record producer, and fashion designer who is worth over 900 million dollars. He launched his own record label in 1993, runs a vodka company and a string of media networks, all of which contributed to his whopping net worth.
6. Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert may not be familiar to most of us but he is incredibly talented. Alpert is known as the trumpeter who led the Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass band in the 1960s. The band outsold the Beatles by more than 13 million albums. Alpert would go on to release 28 albums, of which 14 became platinum, and 15 went gold.
His net worth of over $900 million came from being a co-founder of A&M Records he co-founded with Jerry Moss. A&M was sold to PolyGram in 1989 for 500 million in cash. Additionally, Alpert and Moss sued PolyGram in 1998 and won 200 million dollars in payout.
5. Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney is one of 2 surviving members of the enormously famous Beatles. He is worth over 1.28 billion dollars. His fortune is built from his career in the music industry, both as a solo artist and with The Beatles. He made money from touring, songwriting and understanding the importance of publishing rights.
4. Jay Z
The next billionaire musician is Jay Z who has a net value of 1.4 billion dollars. He is an accomplished American hip-hop artist who knows how to grow his money. He has stakes in companies such as Uber, milk-alternative company Oatly, insurance startup Ethos, and in Elon Musk’s SpaceX. With his wife Beyonce, they have both heavily invested in art and real estate over the years which contributed to their fortunes.
3. Andrew Llyod Webber
The composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is well-known for being involved in the marketing campaigns of his musicals. Thanks to his involvement in various projects, Webber has amassed a fortune of 1.5 billion dollars.
2. Rihanna
Rihanna is a worldwide sensation of the 21st century in the music world known for her distinctive voice and fashion taste. She is valued at over 1.7 billion dollars thanks to her cosmetics company Fenty Beauty, in which she has a 50% stake.
1. Kanye West
Kanye West is the richest musician on this list with over 1.8 billion dollars. The hip-hop superstar who had married and divorced Kim Kardashian made his money largely from the line of sneakers he produces with Adidas Yeezy.