Bruce Springsteen was the top-earning musician of 2021, thanks to the sale of his catalogue.
The Boss made a whopping $590 million (all figures U.S.), according to calculations by Zach O’Malley Greenburg for Rolling Stone.
In December, Sony paid a reported $550 million for Springsteen’s publishing rights and master recordings. He also raked in millions from the return of his one-man show on Broadway and his podcast and book collaboration with Barack Obama.
Catalogue sales also put Paul Simon on the list (at No. 3 with $260 million) as well as Ryan Tedder (No. 5, $200 million), Red Hot Chili Peppers (No. 6, $145 million), Lindsey Buckingham (No. 7, $100 million), Mötley Crüe (No. 8, $95 million) and Blake Shelton (No. 9, $83 million).
Jay-Z ranked No. 2 in 2021 with an estimated $470 million haul – thanks to the sale of half of his champagne brand and most of his shares in a streaming service.
With an estimated $250 million in earnings, Ye holds the No. 4 spot. Although his new album Donda helped, most of the rap star’s money came from Yeezy footwear.
Rounding out the Top 10 is Taylor Swift, who earned an estimated $80 million from rerecorded versions of her albums Red and Fearless and endorsement deals with Starbucks and Peloton.
The list was compiled using public documents and insider information about gross income for the calendar year.