Katy Perry tops Taylor Swift, earns title of Forbes' Highest-Paid Woman in Music

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ABC/Craig SjodinKaty Perry and Taylor Swift are said to have finally buried the hatchet, but we can’t help but wonder what Taylor thinks of the fact that Katy has overtaken her on Forbes‘ annual list of the Highest-Paid Women in Music.

Katy tops this year’s list, having raked in $83 million during the scoring period of June 1, 2017 through June 1, 2018.  Katy made bank by performing 80 shows on her Witness tour during that time, grossing over $1 million per night.  She also earned big bucks as a judge on ABC’s American Idol.

As for Taylor, she comes in at #2 with $80 million in earnings, thanks to sales of her album Reputation and her tour in support of it.  Forbes notes, however, that Taylor would have been #1 but for the fact that most of her tour dates took place after the June 1 cutoff.

Beyoncé‘s #3 on the list with $60 million, though like Taylor, she didn’t really start raking in the money until after June 1, when she and her husband JAY-Z released their joint album and kicked off their sold-out On the Run II tour.  She’ll rank higher in 2019.

The rest of the top 10 ranges from Pink, who makes her money by touring and album sales, to Rihanna, who made the bulk of her money this past year from her Fenty Beauty line of cosmetics, her Savage X Fenty lingerie line, and her side acting career. List-maker Lady Gaga has also branched out into acting, while Jennifer Lopez has her hands in all sorts of side businesses.

Some artists who pulled in double-digit millions of dollars this year, but not quite enough to make the top 10, including Mariah Carey, Madonna, Ariana Grande and Janet Jackson.

Here’s the rest of Forbes‘ list:

1. Katy Perry ($83 million)
2. Taylor Swift ($80 million)
3. Beyoncé ($60 million)
4. Pink ($52 million)
5. Lady Gaga ($50 million)
6. Jennifer Lopez ($47 million)
7. Rihanna ($37.5 million)
8. Helene Fischer [Russian-German singer] ($32 million)
9. Celine Dion ($31 million)
10. Britney Spears ($30 million)

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