2017.06.12 - Forbes - Guns N' Roses, Kylie Jenner Join The World's Highest-Paid Celebrities

Celebrity 100 Newcomers: Guns N' Roses, Kylie Jenner Join The World's Highest-Paid Celebrities

By Hayley C. Cuccinello

After three decades, six studio albums and seven tours, Guns N’ Roses has made Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list of the world’s top-earning entertainers for the first time. The American band, which landed at No. 12, earned $84 million in the past 12 months, pre-taxes and management fees. That cash came courtesty of the five-continent Never In This Lifetime Tour, reuniting classic members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan for the first time since 1993.

Guns N’ Roses has placed on other FORBES lists, including Top 40 Highest-Earning Entertainers, which was discontinued in 1999 to make way for the Celebrity 100. Fellow music legend Billy Joel (No. 82, $35 million) also joins the Celebrity 100 for the first time despite being a member of the Top 40 for several years. Another surprise newcomer is Dolly Parton (No. 71, $37 million), who enters the list 50 years after releasing her first album.

This year, we welcome 15 newcomers to our ranks, who raked in $644 million combined. Music acts and athletes dominate the roster, with six members each. The other three slots are occupied by one TV host, a comedian and a reality star. Only three of the 15 newcomers are female, reflecting the gender imbalance of the Celebrity 100, which itself mirrors a vast pay gap throughout the entertainment industry.

The influx of professional athletes and music legacy acts is partly due to our relatively new Celebrity 100 methodology. Until 2015, the rankings had been calculated based on a complex combination of factors, including social media following and magazine covers; now we simply look at earnings. Younger Hollywood and music stars were generally favored by the old formula; now legacy performers have a better chance of reaching the highest ranks.

Most of our athletes made the cut by inking lucrative contract extensions. Colts quarterback Andrew Luck ($50 million, No. 37) signed a five-year, $123 million contract extension in 2016 while Train Blazers point guard Damian Lillard ($38.4 million, No. 64) saw the value of his five-year deal increase to $140 million, thanks to a rise in the NBA salary cap. MMA star Conor McGregor ($34 million, No. 89) let many of his endorsement deals lapse, but still increased his earnings by headlining two of the bestselling UFC fights ever on pay-per-view. The Irishman’s earnings could more than double next year as he stands to earn $75 million from a potential boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

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Full article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2017/06/12/celebrity-100-newcomers-guns-n-roses-kylie-jenner-join-the-worlds-highest-paid-celebrities/

Forbes/Blabbermouth, Dec. 8, 2017 (later article on the same subject):
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Guns N' Roses, Metallica Among Highest-Paid Musicians Of 2017

Metallica and Guns N' Roses have made Forbes magazine's Highest-Paid Musicians Of 2017 list.

The data was compiled over a year's time, based on pretax earnings between June 1, 2016, to June 1, 2017. Guns N' Roses earned a cool $84 million during that time, while Metallica pocketed $66.5 million.

To form the list, Forbes considered pretax income from June 1, 2016 through June 1, 2017, and did not take out fees charged by agents, managers and lawyers. The magazine gathered data from Nielsen SoundScan, Pollstar, the RIAA and interviews with industry insiders.

Forbes's top 10 highest-paid musicians of 2017 are:

01. Diddy ($130 M)
02. Beyoncé ($105 M)
03. Drake ($94 M)
04. The Weeknd ($92 M)
05. Coldplay ($88 M)
06. Guns N' Roses ($84 M)
07. Justin Bieber ($83.5 M)
08. Bruce Springsteen ($75 M)
09. Adele ($69 M)
10. Metallica ($66.5 M)

https://blabbermouth.net/news/guns-n-roses-metallica-among-highest-paid-musicians-of-2017