Highlights

• Taylor Swift crossed the billion dollar mark in net worth in October, officially becoming a billionaire musician.
• Beyoncé's net worth reached $800 million in December, bringing her closer to the billion dollar mark, and making her one of the richest singers in the world.
• Jay-Z remains the world's wealthiest musician with a net worth of $2.5 billion, surpassing others by nearly a billion dollars.

Philosopher Plato is credited with saying: “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”

Music is an important element of everyday life; it can uplift our mood, amend our way of thinking, and frequently soothe us in hard times. The late painter Jean-Michel Basquiat once purportedly mused that while art decorates space, music "decorates time."

Some of the most famous musical artists are extremely successful due to hard work; they know how to appeal to their audience through song, as well as through a personal connection with fans.

Where skill and fame exist, money follows – and in this article, we'll examine which artists have earned the most.

10 Madonna

Madonna's Net Worth (Estimated): $580 Million

Madonna ("The Undisputed Queen Of Pop'") has been creating catchy lyrics and beats for more than four decades.

Madonna is the Guinness World Record holder for "Best Selling Female Recording Artist Of All Time."

The seven-time Grammy Award winner has been nominated for 817 awards in her career, and she has won 430 awards.

Madonna has been touring for decades, and has played more live concerts than any female musician; a huge part of her wealth comes from her tours.

In the course of her lengthy career, she has earned $1.2 billion on touring alone, which means "the Queen of Pop" is the highest-grossing solo touring artist of all time.

Madonna also owns Maverick Records, and some health clubs.

9 Bono

Bono's Net Worth (Estimated): $730 Million

One more veteran musician, and one more story of over four decades of glorious music.

Paul David Hewson, better known as Bono, is the lead singer of the staple Irish rock band U2.

U2 has received 22 Grammy Awards, has been included in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, sold more than 170 million albums, and performed on 28 tours.

Music is not the only source of Bono's, as his investment firm "Elevation Partners" owns a 2.3 percent share of Facebook.

8 Beyoncé

Beyoncé's Net Worth (Estimated): $800 Million

Beyoncé is often described as the greatest female singer of her generation.

At the Grammys, she has been nominated for 79 awards and won 28 awards in total, which is a record (and likely to increase over time).

Beyoncé is a multi-talented singer, and almost all of her songs are hits.

Beyoncé is the owner of Parkwood Entertainment, an American management, production, entertainment company and record label.

She also owns Ivy Park, an apparel brand, and is a genius business manager in addition to her performing skills.

7 Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert's Net Worth (Estimated): $850 Million

With an inspiring journey of more than six decades in the music industry, 88 year old trumpeter and singer Herb Alpert is still performing on the stage and entertaining his fans.

Herb Alpert is the only musician in the world to hit the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as a singer in 1968 and as a trumpeter in 1979.

The "This Guy’s In Love With You" singer has won nine Grammy Awards, and sold 72 million copies of his music worldwide.

Music is a huge contributor to Alpert's fame, but for his wealth, his record label A&M played a big part.

The veteran musician and his partner Jerry Moss sold A&M records for $500 million; later they sued for an alleged contract breach, and got $200 million more.

Herb Alpert's talent is not limited to music; he can paint and sculpt, too:

6 Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett's Net Worth (Estimated At The Time Of His Death): $1 Billion

Sadly, Jimmy Buffett has gone on, having passed away in September 2023 ... but his musical legacy and devoted base of fans will always remain.

The American singer and songwriter released 30 albums in his lifespan; eight were certified gold, and an astonishing nine albums were certified platinum or multi-platinum.

In total, he sold over 20 million albums.

Jimmy Buffett’s most famous songs (“Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger In Paradise”) made him a billionaire – and he wisely leveraged public adoration of his songs to launch a restaurant chain named after the latter song.

After establishing a solid foundation in the hospitality business, he expanded his business to various hotels and casinos. Jimmy Buffett also wrote popular books, further boosting his fortune.

5 Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Sean Combs' Net Worth (Estimated): $1 Billion

Sean Love Combs (known as Puff Daddy, or Diddy) is a multi-talented individual.

He is a well-known creator of rap music, sang evergreen songs, is a skilled actor, shaped musical songs as a record producer, and is also a billion-dollar entrepreneur.

In the course of Diddy's musical career, he won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards. Eleven of his songs reached the top spot on musical charts.

Combs earns significant income from Combs Wine and Spirits, but the majority of his wealth comes from Bad Boy Records.

The company has sold 500 million records and produced 38 platinum albums.

4 Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift's Net Worth (Estimated): $1.1 Billion

Taylor Swift is the most in-demand American singer, and a smart business executive to boot.

She has won several major awards in her musical career, including twelve Grammy Awards, 29 Billboard Music Awards, and 40 American Music Awards.

Swift is the only female artist to have gathered 100 million Spotify monthly listeners, according to the Guinness World Records website.

2023 was the most successful year of Taylor Swift's career to date. She sold a "record fastest" 2.4 million tickets for her Eras Tour in a single day; the tour became the highest-grossing live tour of 2023.

Swift also released a concert movie (to go with her tour) on October 13th. The film banked $129 million dollars worldwide in just a week.

On October 27th, Taylor Swift's net worth officially hit $1 billion; as of January 2024, it had risen to $1.1 billion.

3 Sir Paul McCartney

Sir Paul McCartney's Net Worth (Estimated): $1.2 Billion

Sir Paul McCartney is a legendary singer from the greatest band of all time, The Beatles. He was the bass player, a primary songwriter, and shared lead vocalist duties with John Lennon.

After The Beatles split up, he formed another band and went solo, and again achieved massive success. His songs hit the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart 32 times.

McCartney has won 18 Grammy Awards. He is still doing concerts at the age of 81, and his fame has not faded away; he still sells out his concert dates in minutes.

The primary source of Paul McCartney's wealth is his music, and he earned $105 million dollars from 16 performances in 2023.

Also, Sir Paul receives tens of millions of dollars from Beatles' residual album sales every year.

His performance in solo sales and through merchandise sales also added to his wealth.

He also invested in MPL Ventures, the plant-based food company Tindle, and a music tech start-up.

2 Rihanna

Rihanna's Net Worth (Estimated): $1.4 Billion

Robyn Rihanna Fenty (known mononymously as Rihanna) is among the most prominent singers of the 21st century, and the wealthiest female musician in the world right now.

Updated, June 2024: Rihanna's Fenty Beauty empire continues to grow, and on June 4th, fans of the game-changing brand got some huge news.

Rihanna's Fenty Beauty took the cosmetics world by storm upon its launch in September 2017, in large part due to the brand shaking up the industry with its impressively inclusive shade range.

In a June 4th Instagram post, Rihanna announced the imminent launch of Fenty Hair, writing:

"[A] new family is moving in! @fentyhair is pullin up and it’s time to finally have the hair experience you’ve been waiting for. [You] know how much switching my hair up matters to me.

"I’ve had almost every texture, color, length, from weaves to braids to natural - so I am launching a flexible line of products for not only every hair want, but every single product is designed to strengthen and repair all types of hair, which is what we truly need! It’s time to play and get stronger by the style 💁🏿‍♀️[.]"

Fenty Hair launches on June 13th, but RiRi gave us a sneak peek in the form of a reel:

The "Caribbean Queen" has won nine Grammy Awards, and 13 American Music Awards.

She has sold more than 250 million copies of her songs all over the world, and more than 10 million albums in the United States.

Rihanna is known for her humanitarian causes, as she is the founder of the nonprofit Clara Lionel foundation.

Most of her wealth comes from her music and her fashion house, Fenty; Rihanna also holds the distinction of being the first Black woman to head a luxury brand under LVMH.

1 Jay-Z

Jay-Z's Net Worth (Estimated): $2.5 Billion

Shawn Corey Carter (best known as Jay-Z) is the world's wealthiest musician, surpassing others by nearly a billion dollars.

He achieved the distinction of becoming the first billionaire musician in 2019, and has consistently maintained his position as the richest musician.

Jay-Z is a legend in the musical arena; he has won 24 Grammy Awards, and holds the record for most solo number one albums (14) on the Billboard Hot 200.

Jay-Z is the first living artist to be included in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

In addition to his musical acumen, Jay-Z is an immensely talented businessperson who has founded several highly profitable ventures.

His clothing retail brand, Rocawear and luxury bar chain the 40/40 Club are multi-million-dollar enterprises; Carter is also a partner with LVMH in the liquor business, and holds a significant stake in the prominent streaming platform Tidal.