BBC
NEW YORK
The words ‘count up the cash’ in the opening of Dr Dre’s Get Your Money Right have never rung more true. Thanks to Apple’s Beats buyout, the rapper’s $620m (£378m) earnings in the last 12 months are the highest of any musician ever evaluated by Forbes.
And they make a lot of rich lists. His total eclipses the mere $60m ($36m) earned by Jay Z, who happens to feature on Get Your Money Right, and Diddy who tied in second place. In fact, Dr Dre’s takings are more than the combined income of all the other 24 names on the list. Drake came in fourth with $33m (£20.2m) which will keep him happy, having told Forbes ‘if I’m not on your list, I’d be gravely disappointed’ in 2013.
Seattle duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s $32m (£19.5m) takes the last slot in the top five, edging out Kanye West’s $30m (£18.3m). Birdman’s $24m (£14.6m), Lil Wayne’s $23m (£14m) and the $22m (£13.4m) wealth of Pharrell Williams place them above Eminem who earned an estimated $18m (£11m) to complete the top 10.
Nicki Minaj is the only female on the list having taken an estimated $14m (£8.5m) despite her departure from American Idol and lack of tour dates. To form the list, Forbes considered income from touring, record sales, publishing, merchandise sales, endorsements and other ventures.