The "Material Girl" is still on top.
Forbes Magazine named Madonna the highest-paid musician of 2013. The 55-year-old diva earned $125 million from June 2012 to May 2013 thanks to her highly-successful MDMA tour that grossed $305 million, along with sales of her Material Girl clothing line and Truth or Dare fragrance.
"Madonna is living up to her nickname: the Material Girl tops our list of the top-earning musicians by a wide margin," Forbes said.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stephanie Germanotta, came in second with a yearly income of $80 million. The magazine pointed out that the singer grossed more than $160 on her latest tour that was cut short because of a hip injury.
The singer reportedly took in $160 million from touring, which had to be cut short due to a hip injury. Forbes states that if the singer/songwriter had been able to finish out her tour, she could have possibly pulled in $200 million.
Lady Gaga received negative press in 2011 to charges that her hit song "Born This Way" sounded much like Madonna's 1989 hit "Express Yourself," according to E! News.
Bon Jovi, came in third with $79 million. The veteran rocker concerts gross more than $3 million per city.The biggest surprise on the list might be country singer Toby Keith, who ranked in $65 million not only from music and ticket sales but from his 18 restaurants and his brand of mescal.
"The beauty is where it synergizes with my label," Keith tells Forbes. "I don't have to look for a place [for my acts] to play. It's cost-effective as crap ... they're in Toby's house. They're drinking Toby's liquor. That's Toby's act. And then we're moving to the next town."
According to Forbes, the 10 highest-paid musicians are:
1. Madonna - $125 million
2. Lady Gaga - $80 million
3. Bon Jovi - $79 million
4. Toby Keith - $65 million
5. Coldplay - $64 million
6. Justin Bieber - $58 million
7. Taylor Swift - $55 million
8. Elton John - $54 million
9. (tie) Beyoncé, Kenny Chesney - $53 million
Rapper and music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, the top ranked hip-hop artist at No. 11 with $50 million in income, earns the bulk of money from a deal with Ciroc vodka, Forbes said.
Forbes compiled the list of the 25 highest-paid musicians by estimating income for the 12 months between June 2012 and June 2013 using data from the trade publication Pollstar, trade organization RIAA, and information and sales tracking system Nielsen SoundScan.
The magazine also consulted with industry lawyers, managers and some of the musicians.
