Born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, this rapper/lyricist is known my his moniker, Eminem. The rap artist broke the chains of poverty and now one of the richest rappers in the world. Like Snoop Dogg, who we mentioned before, Eminem’s fate was sealed when he met Dr. Dre. In 1997, under Dr. Dre’s mentorship, he began to slowly rise to fame, but he didn’t have an easy path by any means. Ironically, he faced much scrutiny and discrimination for being a white rapper in a majorly black and brown industry, which he depicted in first motion picture 8 Mile. Throughout his career, Eminem has sold nearly 50 million albums in the United States alone, and 100 million albums worldwide. Having bagged 15 Grammy wins (43 Grammy nominations) and an Oscar award for Best Original Song for “Lose Yourself” from his “8 Mile”, he among the most celebrated rappers in history.
Eminem might have dabbled with TV and film a bit, but the vast majority of his wealth comes from his legendary music catalog. According to Forbes, he’s the best selling rapper of all time. So although Eminem doesn’t have huge business ventures like his mentor Dr. Dre, he knows what he’s strongest in, music. And he surly makes it work for him. Along with his track sales, performances, and arena tours, he also owns Shady Records, which a relatively successful record label. Needles to say, his bank account is solid.
$80 Million
Onika Tanya Maraj, known professionally as Nicki Minaj, the rapper, singer and songwriter, was born in Trinidad and raised in Queens, New York City. Minaj has received numerous awards and accolades, including six American Music Awards, 11 BET Awards, 4 Billboard Music Awards, 4 MTV Video Music Awards, a Billboard Women in Music Rising Star Award, and 10 Grammy Award nominations. The Hip Hop/Pop superstar has sold over 20 million singles as a lead artist, 60 million singles as a featured artist, and 5 million albums worldwide, ranking her among of the best-selling music artists in the world.
With all of her accomplishments, it's not uprising that sh'es also one of the highest paid in her genre. Minaj is listed as No. 15 on Forbes Magazine’s Hip-Hop Cash Kings, currently, the only woman on the list. Besides music, Minaj first made her debut in a motion picture in 2012 in the animated film Ice Age: Continental Drift, and in 2013, she was a judge on the twelfth season of American Idol. She has played supporting roles in the films The Other Woman (2014) and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016). She has a stake in streaming service Tidal and is a philanthropist who has awarded dozens of college tuition scholarships to her fans.
$305 million
Also known as the goddess of pop, Cher has made her way in a male-dominated industry. She is known for her unique distinctive voice and for having worked in many different areas of entertainment throughout her 60-year career.
Cher has won an impressive amount of awards during the last six decades. She has a Grammy Award and an Emmy Award - she also has an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, among several others. She has sold over 100 million records worldwide. Cher has become one of the best-selling music artists in history. Additionally, she’s the only artist to date to have a number-one single on a Billboard chart for six consecutive decades!
$160 million
With a whopping net worth of $160 million, Miley Cyrus has created an empire for herself in the entertainment industry, as both a singer and actress and songwriter. It all began in 2003, when she starred as Young Ruthie in Tim Burton's 'Big Fish'. Things began to really turn around soon after that, when she won the part in the Disney series, 'Hannah Montana'. In 2006, the Hannah Montana soundtrack reached number one on the Billboard 200.
Three more soundtracks later, Miley was once again topping charts, and at 16, she was the youngest performer in history to have four albums at number one. And that was all just her career as a kid. As an adult she has become bigger than life itself. Her music has become more influenced by hip hop with the help of producers like Pharrell Williams and Mike WiLL Made-It. In 2020, 'She Is Miley Cyrus' hit the shelves.
$1.2 billion
Paul McCartney gained worldwide fame as the bass guitarist and singer of The Beatles, often considered the most popular and influential band in the history of popular music. His partnership with John Lennon is the most successful in history. After the band broke up in 1970, Paul pursued a solo career and formed the band Wings.
McCartney is often considered the most successful composer and performer of all time. Over 2,000 artists have covered his song "Yesterday", making it the most covered song in music history. He has also been named a two-time inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Beatles in 1988, and as a solo artist in 1999), and an 18-time Grammy Award winner. McCartney has written, or co-written, 32 songs that have reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2009, he had 25.5 million RIAA-certified units in the United States. On another note, McCartney was knighted for services to music in the year 1997.