Taylor Swift has topped Forbes Magazine’s list of the highest paid celebrities under the age of 30, earning an estimated 57 million dollars for the year ending in May. The 22-year-old singer beat out teen heartthrob Justin Bieber who snagged second place with 55 million dollars.
Each of the Grammy-winning singer’s three albums has gone platinum at least four times, and the You Belong With Me singer rakes in 1 million dollars per concert on top of her lucrative CoverGirl cosmetics contract, Forbes said.
Bieber, 18, got second place with his earning from music sales, sold-out concerts and endorsements for products like the skincare line Proactiv.
The Canadian crooner, whose video for Baby is the second most watched on YouTube, also boasts of an enviable investment portfolio with stakes in the popular start-up companies Tinychat and Spotify, Forbes said.
Rihanna, 24, edged out last year’s first place winner Lady Gaga, 26, for third place with 53 million dollars.
The Barbados-born singer earned her impressive haul from her recent Talk That Talk album, an 85-night concert tour and endorsement deals with Vita Coco coconut water and Nivea lotion.
Gaga got dropped to fourth place this year because the list’s May deadline hit before she embarked on her latest world tour, Forbes said.
The Poker Face singer had earned an estimated 52 million dollars, down from 90 million dollars last year.
Singers Katy Perry, 27, and Adele, 24, came in fifth and sixth with estimated earnings of 45 million dollars and 35 million dollars respectively.
Twilight actress Kristen Stewart, rapper Lil Wayne and Twilight actors Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattison rounded out the list with earnings between 26.5 million dollars and 34.5 million dollars.
“We’re seeing this confluence of talented young female stars. They have such distinct personalities and sounds, they can all co-exist without cannibalizing each other,” the New York Daily News quoted list author Dorothy Pomerantz as saying.
Pomerantz said that Swift embodies youth, innocence and the struggle of being a teen while Rihanna is the edgy bad girl and Adele is all about stripped-down “heartfelt” vocals.
She also attributed young female singers’ wealth to benefit from bigger endorsement contracts in the areas of beauty, health and fashion.
This year’s list did not include athletes as it has in the past.
“Athletes are at the height of their career when they’re under 30, so they tend to earn a lot more,” Pomerantz said.
“We do a lot of athlete lists, so we wanted this list to focus on Hollywood and entertainment,” she added. (ANI)
