Katy Perry Is 2018’s Highest-Paid Female Artist, Beating Out Beyoncé, Taylor Swift

Katy Perry took home the top honors for 2018 on Forbes’ annual list of the highest-paid women in music. 

The “Chained to the Rhythm” singer took in a whopping $83 million for the year starting June 1, 2017, beating out fellow powerhouses Taylor Swift ($80 million), Beyoncé ($60 million) and Pink ($52 million). 

All the figures are pretax and are based on “Nielsen SoundScan, NPD BookScan, insider interviews and Forbes estimates,” according to the outlet. The magazine didn’t deduct fees from agents, lawyers and managers. 

As Forbes pointed out, Perry nailed the No. 1 spot because her Witness world tour earned roughly $1 million a night and she raked in over $20 million for her role as a judge on “American Idol.” 

One of the main reasons Swift didn’t outrank Perry (despite the incredible success of Swift’s album “Reputation” and the subsequent equally successful tour by the same name) is that her tour dates were outside the period for the list. 

Take a look at the rest of the 2018 list: 

1. Katy Perry ($83 million)
2. Taylor Swift ($80 million)
3. Beyoncé ($60 million)
4. Pink ($52 million)
5. Lady Gaga ($50 million)
6. Jennifer Lopez ($47 million)
7. Rihanna ($37.5 million)
8. Helene Fischer ($32 million)
9. Celine Dion ($31 million)
10. Britney Spears ($30 million)

Last year, Beyoncé had the No. 1 spot on the list after earning $105 million pretax, largely because of the immense popularity of her “Lemonade” album and Formation tour, which grossed a quarter of a billion dollars. 

Adele took second place in 2017, with $69 million in earnings, and Swift scored third with $44 million.

Head over to Forbes to read more about the annual list.