“You’re gonna hear me roar!” singer Katy Perry said in her 2013 hit “Roar,” but she may as well sing this once again as she is this year’s highest-paid woman in music despite her glaring absence from the top charts, red carpets, and awards show. The singer earned a whopping $83 million from June 2017 to June 2018.
In 2015, Perry graced the cover of Forbes Magazine where she revealed that she wasn’t afraid of being left out in the shadow. She then said that she didn’t feel she had to feed show business since she already made an ever-lasting mark on the industry – and she was not speaking without proof, that year she earned an eye-popping $135 million, the highest amount earned by any female music artist in 2018.
Katy Perry
Now, the 34-year-old, whose real name is Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, proved that hard work really does pay off. Forbes releases its annual lists of the richest people in the world, announcing Perry as the top female earner in the music industry with $83 million. This amount was more than enough to dethrone “Formation” artist, Beyoncé. Last year, the “Hot n Cold” singer only placed ninth after raking in $33 million.
In comparison to 2017 figures, Perry managed to amass $52 million more than her last year’s earnings, most of which can be credited to the 80 dates of “Witness: The Tour,” which sat well on the scoring period. Forbes reported that she received $1 million for every night she performed, meaning the majority of her earnings came from the tour.
It is worth noting that although the “Witness” album came out strong by landing on the top spot on the Billboard 200 when it was just freshly released in June last year, the euphoria didn’t last long as it dropped to the 13th spot within a week. Apart from sliding down the charts, it sold a disappointing 840,000 copies. Of her overall earnings, Perry got $20 million for her judging work on ABC’s “American Idol,” where her antics have always been celebrated.
Taylor Swift
Following closely is Taylor Swift which is an odd coincidence because the two had been embroiled in a long-simmering feud which has become one of the most discussed topics on entertainment sites. The country singer-turned-pop-star earned $80 million, just a wee bit short of Perry’s net revenue.
That said, a lot of people remarked that Perry’s spot will not last long as Swift is obviously just $3 million away from stealing the throne. More so, the 29-year-old’s album, “Reputation,” which was released in November last year, sold an eye-popping two million copies, definitely a successful comeback for the blonde singer after taking a hiatus from social media for a year.
In totality, “Reputation” sold 4.5 million copies, which, compared to Perry’s numbers, was, by far, more impressive. Swift made some pretty impressive earnings from her tour as well. With the success of her album, why didn’t she claim the top spot?
This was precisely because some of her “Reputation” tour dates fell outside June 2018, hence it wasn’t counted in her earnings. Had her performance taken place within the timeframe, she could have easily snatched the top earner spot among female musicians. For next year, Swift is quite a contender and may easily beat Perry because after Forbes published the list, the former signed a huge deal with Universal Music Group.
Beyonce
This was huge because it could rake in $200 million, which meant taking the spot next year was already on the horizon. As for the third placer, it’s none other than Queen Bey, who was last year’s No. 1 because of her “Formation” tour.
Beyonce netted $60 million, or $20 million short than her predecessor, despite being unfelt for most of the scoring year linked to the arrival of twins Sir and Rumi. However, she made a loud comeback with her Coachella performance this year and a joint album with husband Jay-Z released six months ago. The power couple’s tour, “On The Run II,” will be accounted for in next year’s scoring.