Dr. Dre beats out Taylor Swift as top music earner of the decade as Forbes announces top celebrity earner
- Rapper made $950M over the past 10 years with Beats
- He sold the company to Apple in a $3 billion deal five years ago
- Swift raked in $825 million on the heels of a 10-year stretch
Nobody forgot about Dre this decade, as Dr. Dre beat out Taylor Swift for the title of music’s top earner of the decade.
The 54-year-old artist, according to Forbes, was the highest-earning artist of the past decade thanks to his headphone company Beats.
The rapper, whose full name is Andre Romelle Young, made $950 million over the past 10 years with his 20 percent ownership of Beats.
King of the hill: Dr. Dre beat out Taylor Swift for the title of music’s top earner of the decade, garnering $950 million over the past 10 years with his 20 percent ownership of Beats. He was snapped last year in LA
Dre, whose last album release came four years ago with 2015’s Compton, sold the company to Apple in a $3 billion deal five years ago.
Swift was second on the list, raking in $825 million on the heels of a 10-year stretch that saw her career soar into the stratosphere.
The 30-year-old’s lucrative catalog has been in the headlines for much of this year after music manager Scooter Braun in June announced he’d bought the rights to her first six albums from Scott Borchetta, the owner of Swift’s original label, Big Machine Label Group.
The Shake It Off singer has been outspoken against the sale, and has talked about the possibility of rerecording her past songs to devalue Braun’s investment.
Raking it in: Taylor Swift was second on the list, ranking in $825 million on the heels of a 10-year stretch that saw her career soar into the stratosphere
Earning big: Beyonce came in third with $685 million, making big bucks with a multimedia music empire that earns via tours and corporate sponsorships
Beyonce came in third with $685 million, like Swift, making big bucks with a multimedia music empire that earns via tours and corporate sponsorships.
Others to populate the list include U2 in fourth place with $675 million; and Diddy in fifth with $605 million. The numbers are compiled using Pollstar touring stats, Nielsen totals and information from industry professionals, according to Forbes.
Because the list only ranks living artists, Michael Jackson was not included, or he would have ranked atop with $2.37 billion in total numbers over the past 10 years since his June 25, 2009 death.