Next round's on Taylor Swift: She's the world's highest-paid musician

Next round’s on Taylor Swift: She’s the world’s highest-paid musician

Taylor Swift is the world's highest-paid musician for 2016, according to Forbes' new list.

Dec. 2, 2016 7:50 AM PT

Taylor Swift is doing something right. A lot of things, actually: She’s No. 1 on Forbes’ 2016 list of the highest-paid musicians in the world.

Her $170-million take, earned primarily through her recent world tour and various endorsements, also made her the top-earning celebrity back in June, the magazine said. Yes, out of all the world’s celebrities who make money in all the celebrity-type ways, she is the earning-est one in the bunch.

Mind you, Ms. Swift is a mere 26 years old.

Shave off a few years and we find One Direction firmly in the No. 2 spot on those two lists, earning $110 million for the year, largely off the strength of a world tour that ended in late 2015, a few months after the magazine started tracking its 2016 tally.

Hmm. Is that money still split five ways, or is it only four these days? Zayn Malik quit the group in March 2015, a couple of months before Forbes’ 2016 tally began.That said, the band as a whole is looking at a couple more mouths to feed, as Louis Tomlinson welcomed a son in January and Liam Payne has a baby on the way with singer Cheryl Cole.

Hey, kids are expensive.

Female musicians round out the top five, with No. 3 Adele at $80.5 million, No. 4 Madonna at $76.5 million and No. 5 Rihanna at $75 million.

In the living-well-is-the-best-revenge category, DJ and Swift ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris clocks in at No. 9 with an estimated $63-million haul. Alas, while she’s up $90 million over her 2015 number, he’s a few million under his.

And we are pleased to report that this isn’t just a young person’s game. Madonna, Jimmy Buffett, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and AC/DC all made the grade, all logging from $40.5 million (that’s from Mr. “Margaritaville”) to $67.5 million (the “Back in Black” boys).

Forbes’ list, which was released Wednesday, logs the world’s top 30 highest-earning musicians. The magazine tallies pretax income from June 1, 2015, to June 1, 2016, before deducting management fees.

Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ.

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