U2, katy perry top forbes list of highest paid musicians

IRISH rock band U2 topped the 2018 Forbes magazine list of the highest-paid musicians on Tuesday thanks in part to the groups successful Joshua Tree world tour celebrating their classic 1987 album.

That tour helped the band collect $118 million (about R1.65 billion) in pre-tax earnings from June 1, last year, to June 1, this year, the magazine said.

The performances featured well-known hits from The Joshua Tree album including Where the Streets Have No Name, With or Without You and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.

Meanwhile, Katy Perry (5th overall) has been named Forbes magazine’s highest-paid woman in music in 2018, beating the likes of Taylor Swift and Rihanna to the title.

The Roar hitmaker has topped the business publication’s annual list with earnings of $83m before tax with the 80 dates of her huge Witness world tour contributing the bulk of the cash receipts.

Meanwhile, Katy’s role on the judging panel for American Idol reportedly netted her a further

$20m.

The numbers are calculated using “pre-tax earnings from June 1, last year to June 1, this year, before deducting fees for agents, managers, lawyers and estate executors”. Following Katy in second place on the list is Taylor Swift, who banked $80m over the year thanks to her hit album Reputation.

The LP sold 2 million copies in its opening weekend, and the Blank Space hitmaker was also helped by her subsequent stadium tour in support of the LP.

Forbes suggested Taylor could have landed in the top spot if more of her live dates had fallen within the 12 month period. Rounding off the top five after Katy and Taylor are Beyoncé ($60m), Pink ($52m) and Lady Gaga ($50m), with Jennifer Lopez ($47m) just missing out in

6th place. | Reuters and IOL