Despite not releasing any album, US hip-hop superstar and business mogul, Sean Combs, popularly called P. Diddy, has emerged Forbes highest earning musician for the year.
Forbes says Diddy has used a combination of charisma, smarts and showmanship to elevate himself from modest means to the top of an empire that encompasses music, spirits, clothing, television and more.
“Diddy is the top-earning musician on the planet, pulling in a career-best 130 million dollars pretax this year.
“His total got a boost from his Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour, his Ciroc vodka deal and the sale of one-third of his Sean John clothing line for an estimated 70 million dollars.”
Speaking earlier this year, Diddy said:
“I’m the average person”
“I started looking at business at the age of 12, from delivering newspapers to working in gas station bathrooms, or even doing things like being a background dancer or a stylist.
“Whatever I could do to get close to the industry,” he said.
The rapper and actor was followed by Beyonce, who took home $105m in earnings, thanks to her Formation World Tour, which wrapped up in late 2016 and so fell into the Forbes scoring period. The entire tour grossed a whopping $250m.
Drake, the world’s acclaimed most-streamed artist in recent years, rounds up the top three with 94 million dollars, much of it from his Boy Meets World Tour.
Drake, The Weeknd and British band Coldplay made up the rest of the top five, earning between $94 – $84m each.
The youngest on the list was Justin Bieber, who earned the biggest annual figure of his career thanks to 105 live shows that took place during the Forbes scoring period.
He also reaped the rewards of a lucrative Calvin Klein endorsement deal, a series of ‘JustMoji’ icons, and more than a billion streams – many of which will have come from his massive hit collaboration on “Despacito” with Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi.
Here is the top 10 below:
1) Diddy ($130m)
2) Beyonce ($105m)
3) Drake ($94m)
4) The Weeknd ($92m)
5) Coldplay ($88m)
6) Guns N’ Roses ($84m)
7) Justin Bieber ($83.5m)
8) Bruce Springsteen ($75m)
9) Adele ($69m)
10) Metallica ($66.5m)
The highest earning artistes list is generated considering pretax income from June 1, 2016 through June 1, 2017, fees charged by agents, managers and lawyers inclusive.
