Madonna beats Lady Gaga to become Forbes highest-paid musician

Madonna has beaten Lady Gaga to the title
of highest-paid musician in the world,
according to Forbes magazine .
The 55-year-old singer is still the queen
of pop according to the magazine, earning
$125 million from June 2012 to May 2013
thanks to her sell-out ‘MDMA Tour’, miles
ahead of her nearest rival Lady Gaga, who
raked in $80 million.
Rockers Bon Jovi and country singer Toby
Keith were next, with Coldplay coming in
fifth place.
Despite lacklustre sales of her latest
album, Madonna made her fortune from
fans paying $100 a ticket to see her tour –
which grossed $305 million – as well as
from merchandise sales, a clothing line,
fragrance and investments in companies
like Vita Coco.
This comes as little surprise, since
Madonna had already been crowned the
world’s highest-earning celebrity by
Forbes in August, with filmmaker Steven
Spielberg , author E.L. James , radio
personality Howard Stern and ‘X Factor’
boss Simon Cowell rounding out the top
five. However, the magazine estimates
Lady Gaga could easily top the highest-
paid musicians list next year because her
current earnings were affected by her hip
injury, which forced her to cut her ‘Born
This Way Ball’ tour short. Had she
completed the tour, she could potentially
have made $200 million.
Bon Jovi placed a comfortable third with
$79 million thanks to their ‘Because We
Can’ tour and sales from concert and
online merchandise. Toby Keith and his
constant touring earned him $65 million,
with Coldplay just behind at $64 million.
The top ten was rounded out by Justin
Bieber ($58 million), Taylor Swift ($55
million) and Elton John (54 million),
followed by Beyonce and Kenny Chesney ,
both of whom brought home $53 million.
Here is the full list below…
No. 1: Madonna ($125 million)
No. 2: Lady Gaga($80 million)
No. 3: Bon Jovi ($79 million)
No. 4:  Toby Keith ($65 million)
No. 5: Cold Play ($64 million)
No. 6: Justin Bieber($58 Million)
No. 7: Taylor Swift($55 million)
No. 8: Elton John($54 Million)
No. 9: Beyoncé($53 million, tie)
No. 9: Kenny Chesney($53 million, tie)
No. 10: Sean Diddy Combs($50 million )
No. 11: Paul McCartney($47 million)
No. 12: Calvin Harris($46 million)
No. 13: Jennifer Lopez($45 million )
No. 14: Roger Waters($44 million )
No. 15: Muse($43 million, tie )
No. 15: Rihanna($43 million, tie )
No. 17: Jay Z($42 million, tie )
No. 18: One Direction($42 million, tie )
No. 19: Dr. Dre($40 million, tie)
No. 19: Red Hot Chili Pepper($40 million,
tie)
No. 20: Rolling Stones ($39 million, tie)
No. 20: Katy Perry($39 million, tie)
No. 21: Tim McGraw($33 million)
No. 22: Pink: ($32 million, tie)
No. 23: Tiesto($32 million, tie)