Forbes released its list of the world’s highest-paid women in the music industry in 2018 on Monday, with Katy Perry sitting at No. 1. The pop singer brought in $83 million pretax during Forbes ‘ scoring period, the report said. The report scored artists based on their performance within 12 months, from June 2017 to June 2018.
Perry earned her new title by performing 80 shows for her Witness tour between June 2017 and June 2018. The shows grossed over $1 million per night. In addition, the “Swish Swish” singer served as a judge on ABC’s 16th season of American Idol, earning Perry over $20 million.
“I don’t feel like my career is a ticking time bomb,” Perry told Forbes in 2015 after she made $135 million in a single year. “I don’t feel like I’ll always have to be feeding the meter of show business.”
Following closely in second place on Forbes ‘ list was Taylor Swift with $80 million. The “Look What You Made Me Do” singer took the world by storm with her sixth studio album Reputation , which she released after a long break from social media. Two million copies of the album were sold in its opening week.
Beyonce ranked in third place with $60 million. Much of the R&B icon’s year was spent caring for her newborn twins Rumi and Sir alongside her husband, hip-hop star Jay Z. However, she “delivered a groundbreaking performance” at Coachella in the spring and dropped a surprise joint album in June with her husband, called Everything is Love, under the name The Carters.
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Swift and Beyonce could have ranked higher on the list, but their tours fell just outside of the time frame used for scoring, E! News reported. The money brought in from Swift’s Reputation tour and Beyonce’s On The Run II tour will be considered in the calculations for Forbes ‘ list in 2019.
The remaining two artists of the top five highest-paid women were Pink with $52 million and Lady Gaga with $5o million. Beyond that, Jennifer Lopez came in sixth with $47 million, followed by Rihanna ($37.5 million), Helene Fischer ($32 million), Celine Dion ($31 million), and Britney Spears ($30 million).
Forbes ‘ list not only considers these women’s dominance in the music world, but also their roles in other industries. Rihanna, for example, released her last album in 2016. However, she has kept her 7th place ranking with her beauty brand, Fenty Beauty, as well as her lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty. Her role in Ocean’s 8 also boosted her ranking.
The same goes for Lady Gaga, who also has not released new music since 2016, instead choosing to pursue acting opportunities. Her starring role in A Star Is Born primarily helped her land in fifth place.
