Highest annual earnings for a musician ever (female)
Who
Taylor Swift
What
185 million US dollar(s)
Where
United States ()
When

According to Forbes’ The Celebrity 100 list of the highest-paid entertainers of 2019, singer Taylor Swift (USA) earned $185 million (£146.6 million) between 1 June 2018 and 1 June 2019. Swift also holds the record for the highest annual earnings among all celebrities over the same period. Her income was boosted by 2018's Reputation stadium concerts, which became the highest-grossing tour in US history. By its final date, on 21 November 2018, it had taken $266.1 million (£207.3 million).


This means that Swift bettered her own record annual takings (in 2015–16) of $170 m (then £116.3 m) reported by Forbes on 1 June 2016, which at the time surpassed the $135 m (then £85.9 m) earned by fellow American pop star Katy Perry (b. Katheryn Hudson) in the 12 months leading up to 1 June 2015.

The all-time record for annual earnings by a musician is currently held by hip-hop musician/producer Dr Dre (USA, b. Andre Young), who raked in estimated pre-tax earnings of $620 m (then £378 m) in the 12 months to 1 June 2014, in large part down to the 2014 sale of Beats Electronics – the headphone-manufacturing company he founded with Jimmy Iovine – to Apple for $3 bn (£1.8 bn).