Music

Dr. Dre is the highest paid musician of 2012 thanks to his headphones

by Nicole Villeneuve

Forbes has released their annual list of the highest paid musicians of the year, and Dre’s placement at the top comes as a bit of a surprise—until you remember those headphones.

While three of the rest of the top five are no surprise, Take That remind us all that the ’90s are never quite far enough away and that we still miss Robbie Williams. The British boy band grossed $61 million from their eight shows at London’s Wembley Stadium alone.

Meanwhile Beyonce makes more than Jay-Z and Sade made this list and it’s 2012, in case you didn’t notice. Check out the full list below and read more about the business of being a star at Forbes.

Highest-Paid Musicians of 2012:
1. Dr Dre – $110 Million
2. Roger Waters – $88 Million
3. Elton John – $80 Million
4. U2 – $78 Million
5. Take That – $69 Million
6. Bon Jovi – $60 Million
7. Britney Spears – $58 Million
8. Paul McCartney – $57 Million (tie)
9. Taylor Swift – $57 Million (tie)
10. Justin Bieber – $55 Million (tie)
11. Toby Keith – $55 Million (tie)
12. Rihanna – $53 Million
13. Lady GaGa – $52 Million
14. Foo Fighters – $47 Million
15. Diddy – $45 Million (tie)
16. Katy Perry – $45 Million (tie)
17. Kenny Chesney – $44 Million
18. Beyoncé – $40 Million
19. Red Hot Chili Peppers – $39 Million
20. Jay-Z – $38 Million
21. Coldplay – $37 Million
22. Adele – $35 Million (tie)
23. Kanye West – $35 Million (tie)
24. Michael Bublé – $34 Million
25. Sade – $33 Million