With Dr. Dre’s earnings at $950 million, he ranked ahead Taylor Swift who earned $825 million and Beyoncé who earned $685 million.
What We Know:
- Dr. Dre’s earnings from 2010 weren’t from music. The only album that Dre released during that time frame was 2015’s Compton. The last time Dre produced a number one record was in 2009 with Eminem’s “Crack A Bottle”. His earnings came from his 20 percent stake in Beats.
- According to Forbes, the way they measure celebrities’ income is by looking at touring data from Pollstar, music consumption numbers from Nielsen, and interviews with managers, agents, and the celebrities themselves. The earnings also don’t deduct living expenses or taxes.
- Dre wasn’t the only hip hop pioneer on the list. Diddy, and hip hop’s first billionaire Jay Z were in the top ten with Diddy earning $605 million and Jay-Z earning $560 million. The reason why these rap legends are worth more then they earned in the past ten years is because of investments, their companies, and their music.
- Dre maybe seeing musical earnings again. It is rumored that he is working with Kanye West on his Jesus Is King Part II album. Back in November both Dre and West made the announcement on social media, and West again shared his excitement about the collaboration at one of his Sunday service in December. “I used to spend all my time trying to make my beats be mixed as good as Dr. Dre, who knew all I had to do was do an album for God and then Dr. Dre would start mixing my beats… Spend your time on God and he will handle the rest,” West said.
You can view the full list of the top-earning musicians of the decade over at Forbes.
