Madonna tops 2013 Forbes list of highest-paid musicians

PanARMENIAN.Net - The queen of pop is still on top, as Madonna earns the title of world's highest-paid musician of 2013, Daily Mail reported.

According to Forbes Magazine, the 55-year-old diva earned $125 million from June 2012 to May 2013 thanks to her highly-successful MDMA Tour.

The tour, which grossed $305 million, was able to carry the singer all the way to the bank, despite lackluster album sales and the inability of her single Give Me All Your Luvin to chart in any significant way.

The publication states that it 'took into account concert ticket sales, royalties for recorded music and publishing, merchandise sales, endorsement deals, and other business ventures.'

In addition to her tour, Madonna's other endeavors include merchandising from her concert, her clothing line and her perfume, all of which helped the songstress dominate the list of top earners. Lady Gaga came in second with a yearly income of $80 million.

The Mother Monster took in $160 million from touring, which had to be cut short due to a hip injury. Forbes states that if the singer/songwriter had been able to finish out her tour, she could have possibly pulled in $200 million.

However, if sales for her latest album ARTPOP and its accompanying tour are successful, Gaga could easily top the list next year.

In third place are Jersey rocks and '80s icons Bon Jovi, who nabbed $79 million for the year thanks to their Because We Can tour and sales from concert and online merchandise.

Country crooner Toby Keith and his non-stop touring pulled in a whopping $65 million, earning his the fourth spot on the Forbes list.

In fifth place were rockers Coldplay, with $64 million. During their tour, the Paradise singers were able to bring in more than $3 million per city.

Recent bad boy Justin Bieber made the Forbes list with a sixth place take of $58 million. The Canadian performer was able to add to his substantial earnings thanks to wise investments in Enflick, Tinychat and Spotify.

Songstress Taylor Swift made the list with a seventh place spot thanks to an annual gross of $55 million.

The We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together singer recently signed a handful of endorsement deals with Covergirl, Sony and Diet Coke to help pad her earnings.

In eighth place was Sir Elton John with $54 million, edging out Beyonce and Kenny Chesney, both of whom came in at ninth and tenth place with $53 million.