U2, Garth Brooks and Metallica have the topped Billboard's annual 50 Money Makers list for 2018. The rankings are based on the musician's U.S. concert grosses and royalties generated from domestic sales, streaming and publishing in 2017.
According to a study, this year, the artists pay grew by 12.9 percent to $961 million when compared to $851 million last year. Interestingly, no Latin artists made it to the final list as Billboard takes account of the US performances only.
Describing the methodology used to compile the 50 highest paid musicians, Billboard stated, "Money Makers was compiled with Nielsen Music and Billboard Boxscore information, using 2017 U.S. data only. All revenue figures cited are Billboard estimates and may not equal the sum of the subcategories due to rounding."
Here is the list of top 10 musicians 2017:
U2
Genre: Irish rock
Members: Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr.
Take Home Pay: $54.4 million
Last Year Ranking: None
Garth Brooks
Genre: Country Rock
Take Home Pay: $52.2 million
Last Year ranking: 18
Metallica
Genre: Heavy metal
Take Home Pay: $43.2 million
Last Year ranking: 15
Bruno Mars
Genre: R&B, Hip-hop
Take Home Pay: $40.7 million
Last Year ranking: None
Ed Sheeran
Genre: Folk-pop
Take Home Pay: $31.3 million
Last Year ranking: None
Lady Gaga
Genre: Pop
Take Home Pay: $29.7 million
Last Year ranking: None
Billy Joel
Genre: Rock
Take Home Pay: $29.2 million
Last Year ranking: 11
Guns N' Roses
Genre: Heavy metal
Take Home Pay: $27.8 million
Last Year ranking: 2
Roger Waters
Genre: Progressive rock
Take Home Pay: $27.2 million
Last Year ranking: None
Coldplay
Genre: Pop rock
Take Home Pay: $26.5 million
Last Year ranking: 6
Interestingly, U2 also became the highest ranked debutants on the list. The band's Joshua Tree Tour played 28 U.S. dates and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last December.
