Dr. Dre tops Forbes' list of highest-paid musicians for 2012 with $110mn

WASIM KARIM

KARACHI: American rapper turned entrepreneur Andre Romelle Young commonly known as Dr. Dre topped the Forbes 25 highest-paid musicians list for 2012 by grossing $110 million in one year.

Revenues were calculated from May 2011 to May 2012.The list was revealed by Forbes on November 28 2012.

Dr. Dre, 47, earned $110 million without even releasing a new studio album since 1999 from his successful headphone line "Beats by Dre". The handset company "HTC" paid $300 million for a 51 percent stake in the Beats name last year. Dre pulled in $100 pretax directly. In 2012, Dr. Dre also performed at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, and produced songs for Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, The Game, T.I., and Alicia Keys.

Forbes' 25 highest-paid musicians list contains eleven males, seven females, six bands and one vocal pop group.

Roger Waters ranked second with $88 million, legendary crooner Elton John takes the third spot with $80 million and Ireland's U2 ranks fourth with $78 million. Finishing up the top 5 are British boy band "Take That", who pulled in $69 million on their massively successful reunion tour.

Other notable names in the list include Justin Bieber with $55 million in the 10th spot, becoming the youngest artist on the list. Lady Gaga slipped from No.4 to No.13 this year with $52 million.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2012