Richest women in music
Published 10:02 pm Tuesday, July 12, 2022
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Richest women in music
Some of the wealthiest women in music only need to be introduced by their first names (or their stage names)—think Rihanna, Madonna, or Lady Gaga. To gauge the richest women in music, Stacker looked at Celebrity Net Worth data for singers, rappers, rock stars, and DJs, to rank the top 26 women based on their respective accumulated wealth.
Many successful women in music have made significant money from record sales and touring. Once these performers became household names, some of music’s wealthiest women parlayed their celebrity into other lucrative sources of income.
Sometimes these performers operate in the same musical wheelhouse that made them famous in the first place, appearing as a judge on a reality show like “The Voice” or “American Idol,” for example. In other cases, successful women in music look further afield for financial opportunities, padding their wallets with the help of perfume, makeup lines, or clothing labels. Some artists have even branched out into the film industry, securing starring roles or starting production companies of their own.
Click through for a look at the richest women in music and the many facets that make up their empires.
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#23. Agnetha Fältskog (tie)
– Net worth: $200 million
Agnetha Fältskog is a part of the smash-hit Swedish quartet ABBA. And Fältskog’s net worth isn’t just tied to royalties on songs like “Dancing Queen.” She also has her own production company, which contributes to her net worth.
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#23. Pink (tie)
– Net worth: $200 million
Pink is one of the world’s bestselling artists, with over 90 million records sold. That said, the singer also makes money from endorsements. Some of the companies she has endorsed include T-Mobile and Covergirl.
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#23. Jessica Simpson (tie)
– Net worth: $200 million
Jessica Simpson is a singer with a diverse income portfolio. In addition to music, she appeared in early reality television shows and has her own apparel line, including a line of shoes.
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#23. Ariana Grande (tie)
– Net worth: $200 million
Ariana Grande’s income has typically been tied to her music along with her endorsement deals. The singer recently added another income stream. In 2021, Grande signed with the television show “The Voice” as a celebrity judge, which will give her another source of revenue in the years to come.
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#22. Adele
– Net worth: $220 million
Adele’s fans go crazy for her concerts, which have been a significant source of revenue for the beloved singer, who has made most of her money from a combination of record sales and sold-out concerts. While “30” is technically Adele’s worst-selling album, it sold more than 1 million copies in 2021, making it the bestselling album that year (despite being released near the year’s end in November).
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#19. Tina Turner (tie)
– Net worth: $250 million
A singer and an actress, Tina Turner has amassed wealth via both creative channels. Turner broke the record for having sold more concert tickets than any other solo artist in the world after her 1988 Rio De Janeiro concert.
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#19. Diana Ross (tie)
– Net worth: $250 million
As the lead singer of the legendary group The Supremes, Diana Ross played a significant role in the rise of the bestselling Motown group of all time. And Ross didn’t stop there. After striking out on her own as a solo artist, Ross branched off into the film industry, where she happened to play another famous singer, Billie Holiday, in the 1972 film “Lady Sings the Blues.”
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#19. Bette Midler (tie)
– Net worth: $250 million
Bette Midler may have risen to fame as a singer, but that is far from the only source of her wealth. Midler is a successful actress, known for roles in popular movies from “Beaches” to “Hocus Pocus,” and in 1985, Midler launched a production company, All Girl Productions. She has also tried her hand as a director and writer.
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#17. Anni-Frid Lyngstad (tie)
– Net worth: $300 million
Another member of ABBA, Anni-Frid Lyngstad has an unusual source of wealth beyond record sales. In the 1990s, a decade after the pop group’s split, the singer married into royalty, becoming Princess Reuss and Countess of Plauen.
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#17. Shakira (tie)
– Net worth: $300 million
Shakira has seen success both as a Spanish- and English-language artist. She is rumored to have sold her record catalog for $100 million and to have signed a $300 million deal with Live Nation.
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#15. Mariah Carey (tie)
– Net worth: $320 million
Mariah Carey got rich by making significant deals with record companies. Her deal with Universal was for a rumored $7.5 million per album, and when one deal collapsed, she walked away with $28 million. One of her 1994 hits has become a Christmas classic and can be heard frequently during every holiday season—“All I Want for Christmas Is You” has made Carey more than $60 million in streaming royalties alone.
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#15. Lady Gaga (tie)
– Net worth: $320 million
Lady Gaga is a world-famous singer with a number of smash-hit songs under her belt. On top of her singing-related revenue, the pop star has also made a significant amount of money from merchandise, including a perfume label she launched in 2012 called Fame.
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#14. Katy Perry
– Net worth: $330 million
Katy Perry has made a great deal of money from touring and record sales. Another big source of income for Perry: serving as a judge on the wildly popular show “American Idol,” which she joined the cast of in 2018. Perry is reportedly the highest-paid judge on the show, making $25 million per season.
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#13. Cher
– Net worth: $360 million
Cher is a beloved singer, but she hasn’t let singing be her only source of income or artistic expression. The star has also played leading roles in many films, including “Moonstruck,” for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
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#8. Trisha Yearwood (tie)
– Net worth: $400 million
Trisha Yearwood is an extremely successful country music star. On top of her love of singing, she has also turned her passion for cooking into a revenue stream. Yearwood has a show on the Food Network called “Trisha’s Southern Kitchen” that contributes to her significant net worth.
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#8. Taylor Swift (tie)
– Net worth: $400 million
Taylor Swift’s fans (who call themselves “Swifties”) are famously dedicated to the pop icon and cannot get enough of her music. She has many of the highest-selling records of all time and also has a significant source of revenue coming in from her merchandise line. She holds the record for the highest-grossing tour of all time.
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#8. Shania Twain (tie)
– Net worth: $400 million
Shania Twain is the bestselling female country music star in history. She has sold over 100 million records, which has added considerably to her net worth. Twain penned a 2011 autobiography and has appeared on several TV shows, including “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and “American Idol,” as a guest judge.
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#8. Jennifer Lopez (tie)
– Net worth: $400 million
Jennifer Lopez may say she’s still “Jenny from the Block” but the superstar singer has a number of revenue streams that have contributed to her staggering wealth. Among these is her gig as a judge on “American Idol,” for which she was reportedly paid $20 million per season.
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#8. Barbra Streisand (tie)
– Net worth: $400 million
Barbra Streisand is a beloved singer who has made money in a number of ways beyond belting out tunes. She has taken star turns in many movies and TV shows, which has bolstered her net worth beyond record sales.
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#7. Victoria Beckham
– Net worth: $450 million
Victoria Beckham got her start as Posh Spice in the 1990s group the Spice Girls. In the years since the group dissolved, Beckham has become a fashion designer, launching a line of high-end clothing and accessories—along with a foray into makeup—that has added to her bottom line.
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#5. Gloria Estefan (tie)
– Net worth: $500 million
Much of Gloria Estefan’s fortune has come from music sales and touring. She has found success both as a member of a band and as a solo artist. The popularity of her music is attributed in part to her success with younger audiences.
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#5. Beyoncé Knowles (tie)
– Net worth: $500 million
Beyoncé Knowles is one of the most famous women in the world. She began amassing wealth by turning out smash hit singles and records. She has since gone on to generate a number of other revenue streams, including the fashion line Ivy Park.
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#4. Dolly Parton
– Net worth: $650 million
Dolly Parton created more than 40 Top 10 country music albums. And that isn’t the only source of her wealth. The singer has also found success starring in films and writing books, including one she co-wrote with bestselling author James Patterson.
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#3. Céline Dion
– Net worth: $800 million
Céline Dion is a singer with many world-famous songs, including “My Heart Will Go On” from the wildly popular film “Titanic.” The singer has also amassed a significant amount of money from her residency in Las Vegas, where she makes an estimated half a million dollars per performance.
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#2. Madonna
– Net worth: $850 million
Madonna rose to international fame as a pop icon. In the years since she broke into the music scene, the superstar has expanded her net worth through a number of other endeavors, including acting, publishing deals, and endorsements.
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#1. Rihanna
– Net worth: $1.7 billion
Rihanna is one of the most famous women on the planet thanks to hits, such as “Umbrella,” which she has been turning out for well over a decade. That said, what launched Rihanna into billionaire territory was her lingerie line Savage x Fenty.
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