Madonna has topped Forbes' list of highest-paid musicians.Surely it should be "highest-paid artist." Sure, she can pick up a guitar, but I'm just having some issues classifying her as a "musician." She always seems more interested in flashing the gusset onstage instead of seductively fingering an instrument.
That aside, the 55-year-old singer is still the queen of pop according to the magazine, earning $125 million from June 2012 to May 2013 thanks to her sell-out MDMA Tour, miles ahead of her nearest rival Lady Gaga, who raked in a mere $80 million due to her hurty hip. Next in line were Bon Jovi, country singer Toby Keith, with Coldplay coming in fifth place.
Despite lacklustre sales of her latest album, Madonna made her fortune from fans paying $100 a ticket to see her tour - which grossed $305 million - as well as from merchandise sales, a clothing line, fragrance and investments in companies like Vita Coco.
This comes as little surprise, since Madonna had already been crowned the world's highest-earning celebrity by Forbes in August, with filmmaker Steven Spielberg , author E.L. James, radio personality Howard Stern and X Factor boss Simon Cowell rounding out the top five.
It's OK, Gaga, all is not lost; the omnipotent ones in Forbes reckon you could easily top the highest-paid musicians list next year because your current earnings were affected by the aforementiond hip injury, which forced you to cut her Born This Way Ball tour short. Had she completed the tour, she could potentially have made $200 million.
Bon Jovi placed a comfortable third with $79 million courtesy of their Because We Can tour and sales from concert and online merchandise. Toby Keith and his reportedly never ending tour earned him $65 million, with Coldplay just behind at $64 million.
The top ten was rounded out as follows:
Justin Bieber ($58 million)
Taylor Swift ($55 million)
Sir Elton John ($54 million)
Beyonce ($53 million)
Kenny Chesney ($53 million).