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Who are the musicians who made the most money last year? Here are the rankings

This ranking was made by the former correspondent of Forbes Zack O'Malley Greenburg, an expert on the recording industry, who collected data on the earnings of big music stars.

The ranking was then published in major music publications, such as Rolling Stone, but not only that: waiting for the 2022 update, let's find out who earned the most in 2021.

The list takes into account not only earnings from songs and concerts, but also considers the sale of music rights and revenues from the various activities started by artists beyond their music careers.

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10. Taylor Swift, $80 million
Taylor Swift is the only woman on this list, which was composed by Zack O’Malley Greenburg, a former Forbes correspondent and record industry expert. The singer has earned $80 million from the re-release of two of her most beloved albums, as well as from her collaborations with Peloton and Starbucks.
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9. Blake Shelton, $83 million
Country music icon Blake Shelton has sold the rights to his songs, but much of the income comes from his role as a judge at talent show music The Voice US.
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8. Motley Crue, $95 million
The historic band heavy metal reached nearly $100 million in revenue through the sale of its rights to the record company BMG.
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7. Lindsey Buckingham, $100 million
Lindsey Buckingham, a founding member of Fleetwood Mac, sold the rights to some of his most famous works in 2021: we are talking about 160 songs, sold to Hipgnosis.
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6. Red Hot Chili Peppers, $145 million
The Red Hot also sold the rights to Hipgnosis: to these revenues are added those from the band's tour led by Anthony Kiedis.
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5. Ryan Tedder, $200 million
The singer owes much of his earnings to his role as a highly successful songwriter, having written hit for Adele, Lil Nas X and Taylor Swift. In addition, Tedder released Human, his fifth album with OneRepublic.
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4. Kanye West, $250 million
Through his activities outside of music Kanye West, who recently changed his stage name to Ye, has reached $250 million in revenue. Not only that, rapper also released the hugely successful song Yeezy, along with the album Donda.
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3. Paul Simon, $260
The historic member of the duo Simon & Garfunkel sold his music catalog in 2021 to Sony: we are talking about more than 400 songs, including those of his group and solo releases. After a tour to say goodbye to his audience, in 2018 Simon retired from music and public life to devote himself to his family.
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2. Jay-Z, $470 million
Jay-Z ranks second in this ranking due to the sale of his historic company at Champagne, Armand de Brignac. Revenues are also due to his testimonial role with Puma and Tiffany & Co.
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1. Bruce Springsteen, $550 million
At the top of the list is Bruce Springsteen. The rocker reached a profit of nearly half a billion dollars from the sale of his music catalog to Sony: The deal was the most expensive ever in terms of selling rights to his own songs.
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