AC/DC Makes FORBES Magazine's List Of Highest-Paid Musicians

June 16, 2011

Anglo-Australian hard rockers AC/DC have made Forbes magazine's new list of the 25 highest-paid musicians. According to Forbes, the numbers encompass all pretax income earned from May 2010 to May 2011, before subtracting agent and manager fees. The totals were compiled with the help of data from Pollstar, RIAA and others, as well as interviews with industry insiders including lawyers, managers, concert promoters, agents and, in some cases, the musicians themselves.

Forbes' list of the world's 25 highest-paid musicians:

01. U2 ($195 million)
02. BON JOVI ($125 million)
03. Elton John ($100 million)
04. Lady Gaga ($90 million)
05. Michael Buble ($70 million)
06. Paul McCartney ($67 million)
07. BLACK EYED PEAS ($61 million)
08. EAGLES ($60 million)
09. Justin Bieber ($53 million)
10. Dave Matthews Band ($51 million)
11. Toby Keith ($50 million)
12. Usher ($46 million)
13. Taylor Swift ($45 million)
14. Katy Perry ($44 million)
15. Brad Paisley ($40 million)
16. Tom Petty & the Heartbreaks ($38 million)
17. Jay-Z ($38 million)
18. AC/DC ($35 million)
18. Sean "Diddy" Combs ($35 million)
18. Beyonce ($35 million)
18. Tim McGraw ($35 million)
18. MUSE ($35 million)
23. Rascal Flatts ($34 million)
24. Kenny Chesney ($30 million)
25. Rihanna ($29 million)

AC/DC earned AUD 131.4 million (approximately USD $127 million) in 2009-10 (up from AUD $105 million [approximately USD $102 million] the previous year) to land at the second place on a list of Australia's richest entertainers, according to Business Review Weekly magazine.

AC/DC was honored in the "Top Boxscore" category at the Billboard Touring Awards, which were handed out at a special reception in New York on November 4, 2010. The awards are primarily based on global box office numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore from October 1, 2009, through September 30, 2010.

The "Top Boxscore" award recognizes the highest-grossing single engagement for the time period. Two of the Boxscore finalists were from AC/DC: a three-night, sold-out stand at ANZ Stadium in Sydney and three more sellouts at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne; both were in February. The third finalist for Top Boxscore was the Download festival in the U.K.

Pollstar magazine, which tracks the concert business, revealed that AC/DC's "Black Ice" trek was the No. 1 tour for the first nine months of 2010, with ticket sales of 1,820,962.

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