Photo Credit: Yvette de Wit
Who were the highest-paid entertainers in 2022? If you answered Taylor Swift, you would be partially right—she’s number nine on the Forbes list. Take a peek.
Fans attempting to secure tickets to Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour caused Ticketmaster to crash. And while Forbes estimates that her back catalog made up 70% of her pay this year, she’s ranked only at the ninth spot. So who beat out Taylor Swift as the highest-paid performer of 2022? Genesis’ music rights sale to Concord Music Group helped the prog-rock group top the charts.
Sting took the #2 spot for his catalog sale–both solo and with The Police–to Universal Music in February. The rest of the top spots are occupied by actors, directors, and animators. It’s not until the #7 spot that the Rolling Stones clock in for their $136 million grossing tour and record royalties. After Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny rounds out the top ten list thanks to his massive tour around the world.
Forbes estimates most of his income comes from his El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo and The World’s Hottest Tour. These tours were the Puerto Rican rapper’s first time playing in some of the largest stadiums across the world—resulting in some massive problems. His Mexico City performance was so botched that Ticketmaster was forced to issue an apology.
Forbes Highest-Paid Entertainers of 2022 List
- Genesis — $230 million
- Sting — $210 million
- Tyler Perry — $175 million
- Trey Parker & Matt Stone — $160 million
- James L. Brooks & Matt Groening — $105 million
- Brad Pitt — $100 million
- Rolling Stones — $98 million
- James Cameron — $95 million
- Taylor Swift — $92 million
- Bad Bunny — $88 million
Forbes says it used pre-tax earnings minus fees for representation to reach these figures. That doesn’t include the cost of managers, lawyers, agents, or any business operations for these artists. It’s an impressive list, but it’s interesting to see only a handful of the biggest stars in music on the list.