Dr. Dre Is World’s Highest-Paid Musician, Justin Bieber & Taylor Swift Crack The ‘Forbes’ Top 10

Carl Williott | November 29, 2012 12:54 pm

It has been a good year for Dr. Dre. Like, $110 million good. But in case you weren’t aware of just how good that is, well, he has landed on another Forbes list of wealthiest something-or-others, this time topping the mag’s roster of the 25 highest earners in music this year. A couple months ago the publication named Dre the fifth highest-paid celebrity and then they titled him Cash King as the wealthiest person in hip-hop. WE GET IT, Forbes, Beats by Dre are selling like $300 hotcakes for your ears.

As for the rest of the list, the top 10 has some expected names (U2, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber) and some surprising ones (Take That!?). Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Beyonce all broke the top 20. Shockingly, though, Jay-Z only came in at 20th, slightly ahead of his pals Kanye West and Coldplay. Check out the full list after the jump.

Forbes‘ 25 Highest-Paid Musicians of 2012:

1. Dr. Dre ($110 million) 2. Roger Waters ($88 million) 3. Elton John ($80 million) 4. U2 ($78 million) 5. Take That ($69 million) 6. Bon Jovi ($60 million) 7. Britney Spears ($58 million) 8. Paul McCartney ($57 million) 8. Taylor Swift ($57 million) 10. Justin Bieber ($55 million) 10. Toby Keith ($55 million) 12. Rihanna ($53 million) 13. Lady Gaga ($52 million) 14. Foo Fighters ($47 million) 15. Diddy ($45 million) 15. Katy Perry ($45 million) 17. Kenny Chesney ($44 million) 18. Beyonce ($40 million) 19. Red Hot Chili Peppers ($39 million) 20. Jay-Z ($38 million) 21. Coldplay ($37 million) 22. Adele ($35 million) 22. Kanye West ($35 million) 24. Michael Buble ($34 million) 25. Sade ($33 million)