Michael Jackson has become the annual highest-earning male solo artist a record 7 times throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Rihanna and Paul McCartney are the only two singers to have wealth in terms of billions. For Rihanna it's mainly from her business but for Paul McCartney it is purely from music. Check out this list of top 10 richest singers in the world 2023.
Rihanna – $1.4 Billion
Robyn Rihanna Fenty, or Rihanna, as we all know her, is the richest female singer in the world.
Beatles' legend Sir Paul McCartney is the wealthiest British music star, with a fortune of £950million, placing him ahead of the King and many successful business tycoons.
As a New York Motor Freight heiress, Shevell alone is worth an estimated $220 million. Trailing McCartney and Webber is pop star Rihanna at $573 million, Elton John at $442 million and Rolling Stone Mick Jagger at $349 million.
McCartney — whose wealth includes the fortune of his wife, American trucking heiress Nancy Shevell — and Webber each have a net worth of $983 million. Elton is at #4 with a net worth of just under $442 million, thanks to his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, his biopic, Rocketman, and his new autobiography, Me.
The Bodyguard soundtrack by Whitney Houston (with various artists) is the best-selling album credited to a woman; its sales are over 50 million copies since its release in November 1992.
Madonna is believed to have sold the most records among any female music artists in history, with 300 million records sold worldwide.
Paul McCartney – $1.2 Billion
As a solo artist alone, he has sold over 100 million records worldwide, and the royalties from his extensive catalog of music which include those for some of the most iconic songs in the history of popular music.
In 1893, the Hill sisters needed a song for their kindergarten class to sing on birthdays. Fast forward 120 years and "Happy Birthday" is by far the richest and most profitable song of all time. The Ownership of "Happy Birthday" has changed hands a few times in the last 100 years.
While a good portion of her net worth is from her music, Rihanna became a billionaire thanks to her fashion and makeup line Fenty. The company is valued at nearly $3 billion, and Rihanna owns half of it. Add that on to her music career, and Rihanna is one of the youngest billionaires in the world.
Sir Paul McCartney was the richest musician in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2022.
The Beatles, unsurprisingly, lead the way with a record 20 No. 1s, all earned between 1964 and 1970. The Fab Four also scored 34 top 10s (second only to Madonna's 38), hitting No. 1 in over half their visits to the top 10.
Mariah Carey (USA) has topped the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on 19 different occasions.
Garth Brooks is the artist with the most diamond albums.
Whitney Houston 'I Will Always Love You'
This single spent 14 weeks at number one making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. It also holds the record for being the best-selling single by a woman in music history.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, British rock band The Beatles are top of the list for best-selling artists worldwide, with 183 million units certified sales. Second is Garth Brooks with over 157 million units sales, followed by Elvis Presley with 139 million units.
Most number one singles by a songwriter (US/UK)
McCartney is credited as the writer on 32 number one hits in the US to Lennons 26 (with 23 co-written), whereas Lennon authored 29 UK number ones to McCartney's 28 (25 co-written).
Paul McCartney formed the band Wings with his wife Linda in 1971, and they would go on to perform the best commercially of all the ex- Beatles acts. By the time of their split in 1981, the band had won six Grammy Awards, while selling some 14 million records, earning seven platinum and nine gold discs along the way.
Net Worth: $410 Million
The group has released over 14 albums and has sold more than 120 million records worldwide. Bon Jovi has also won numerous awards and accolades, plus a place in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Bono – US$700 million
British media reported that a sizeable chunk of Bono's fortune may have come from his investment firm Elevation Partners' 2.3 per cent share in Facebook, bought back in 2009. By 2015, the firm's stake was already worth just under US$1 billion.