The Richest Singers in 2022 — Ranked by Net Worth

Starting our list, Mariah Carey is an icon with 19 number-one hits on the Billboard charts. Carey holds the record for the most chart-topping singles and has supplemented her income with residencies, documentaries and sell-out tours. She is also mom to twins Monroe and Moroccan, who she shares with her ex, Nick Cannon. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mariah Carey has a net worth of $320 million.

Katy Perry’s first album, a gospel album released under the name Katy Hudson when she was a teenager, was a bit of a flop. At 17, the singer moved to Los Angeles and changed her name to Katy Perry. She continued to record new music, but her big breakthrough only came after a few years. “I Kissed a Girl” brought backlash from religious and LGBTQ2S+ groups alike, but also put a voice to Katy "curiosity" around sexuality. In addition to her music, she’s had movie roles, was a judge on American Idol, had a Las Vegas residency, has become known for her quirky style and launched a shoe collection and started a beverage company. According to Celebrity Net Worth, she has an estimated $330 million to her name.

When she was 16, Cher dropped out of school and moved to Los Angeles. There she met Sonny Bono and became his housekeeper. Soon she unofficially married Sonny and started performing with him as well as solo, releasing several smash hits. By the end of the decade, Sonny and Cher had married for real, but their career was in a slump. The 1970s brought TV stardom, a Golden Globe, divorce, marriage to and divorce from Greg Allman and a legal name change to simply Cher. The '80s brought movie stardom, two Oscars, and some of the worst Oscar dresses of all time. Cher’s music career has been a series of slumps and comebacks, but she’s still going strong and racking up the awards, with more than 300 to her name. Wealthy Gorilla estimates her net worth at $360 million.

Toby Keith started playing in local bars while working in the oil fields of Oklahoma. When the oil industry in the state declined, he lost his job, so he focused on music. He moved to Nashville in the early '90s and released his first single in 1993. Over the years, he’s gone on to become one of the highest-paid country stars, had several TV appearances and started making movies. A major contributor to his $365 million fortune, as estimated by Wealthy Gorilla, has been the Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill restaurant chain.

In her early career, Barbra Streisand performed in nightclubs, on Broadway and on television and signed a record deal with Columbia Records. Her movie debut in 1968 earned her an Oscar. Most of her movies at the time were musicals or comedies until she starred opposite Robert Redford in the massively successful romantic drama The Way We Were in 1973. By the '80s, she was directing and producing her own movies. Among the many awards she has to her name are two Oscars, five Emmys, nine Golden Globes, nine Grammys, two special Grammys, a Tony, a Kennedy Center Honors and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. She has an estimated $400 million to her name, according to Wealthy Gorilla.

She may have grown up in one of the coldest cities in Canada, but back in the '90s, Shania Twain was one of the hottest singers in the world. She not only dominated the country music charts, but also successfully crossed over into pop. At the height of her fame, she took a break to deal with a painful divorce and the ravages of Lyme disease and dysphonia on her singing voice. After a documentary series on her life in 2011, she returned with new songs and a Las Vegas residency. She continues to perform and release new music and appear in TV shows and movies. She’s also released two fragrances and an autobiography and, according to Wealthy Gorilla, she has an estimated net worth of $400 million.

Johnny Mathis could have had a very different life and career if he made a different choice when he was 19. He could either travel to New York to record his first album or try out for the United States Olympic team as a high jumper for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Had he chosen the latter, there’s no guarantee that he would have become one of the richest former Olympians, even if he took the gold. He chose the former, though, and two years later he was set to earn $1 million a year. He has recorded 73 studio albums and at one stage had five of them in the charts at the same time. Now 86, he’s cut down on his performances but still travels with his own orchestra. Celebrity Net Worth says that he has an estimated $400 million to his name.

Her fashion choices and high-profile relationships and marriages – she and Ben Affleck became Instagram official last year and they recently tied the knot, some 18 years after they first split up – can sometimes overshadow her career. Still, Jennifer Lopez is one of the wealthiest triple-threat entertainers out there, with a net worth of $400 million, as estimated by Wealthy Gorilla. She started out as a dancer and with small acting roles before her award-winning performance in the Selena biopic made her a star. Her first album was released in 1999 and spawned her first number-one single. After 20 years, her first fragrance is still a top seller, too.

When Garth Brooks first traveled to Nashville to pursue a recording contract, he didn’t even stay for 24 hours before returning to his native Oklahoma. Two years later he tried again and after another two years, he released the album that would kick off a very successful career. He announced his retirement in 2000, wanting to focus on his family instead. It didn’t last long, though: In 2005 he released a new single and performed in a few benefit concerts. A Las Vegas residency, several albums and tours, a stint playing professional baseball, a record label and online music store and a slew of awards later, he is surpassed by only The Beatles in terms of album sales. Wealthy Gorilla estimates his net worth at $400 million.

Taylor Swift was 14 when her family moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee so that she could pursue a career in country music. By this time, she had been working in the entertainment industry for a few years already. At 15, she signed with a new record label and a year later she released her debut album to great critical and commercial success. This kicked off a career marked by hit after hit, sold-out concert tours, over 460 awards and even 58 Guinness World Records. According to Wealthy Gorilla, she has a fortune of an estimated $400 million. And still, she has opened up about suffering from imposter syndrome.

In the '60s, Eric Clapton made a name for himself mainly as guitarist with bands like The Yardbirds and Cream. In the '70s, he had his first successes as a solo artist. During the '80s, he sought treatment for his alcohol addiction and performed at many charity concerts. In the '90s, he poured his grief over his young son’s death into the song “Tears in Heaven” which, along with his Unplugged album, won him six Grammys. He continues to record, tour, perform at benefits and raise funds for the rehab centre he co-founded in Antigua and Barbuda and has a fortune of around $450 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Bob Dylan’s first musical successes came when he was a folk singer in the early 1960s. He nearly caused the end of the world when he went electric in 1965, but once everyone recovered from the shock, they embraced his new sound and he remained one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the decade. He’s been steadily recording, performing and touring ever since and has won 10 Grammys, a special Grammy, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Kennedy Center Honors, a Presidential Medal of Honor and a host of other awards. He’s also the first musician to have received the Nobel Prize for Literature for his song lyrics. According to Wealthy Gorilla, he has an estimated net worth of $500 million.

When he was a teen considering a career in music, Reggie Dwight’s father tried to encourage him to pursue a more conventional career instead. Luckily the boy didn’t listen and soon was a member of a blues group. Everything changed in 1967 when he met Bernie Taupin and changed his stage name to Elton John. Currently on his farewell tour after six decades raking out the hits, he has six Grammys, two Oscars, two Golden Globes, a Tony and a Kennedy Center Honors, among others, to his name. He also has had the right to be called Sir Elton John since 1998. Wealthy Gorilla estimates his net worth at $500 million.

Gloria Estefan was only a toddler when her family fled Fidel Castro’s new regime in Cuba. She became famous as the voice of Miami Sound Machine and in 1989, she went solo. In 1990 she nearly lost it all: She broke her back when a truck collided with her tour bus and it looked like she’d never walk again. Ten months later, though, she was back on stage, not only walking but dancing to her new chart-topping hit. A host of awards later – including three Grammys, five Latin Grammys and a Kennedy Center Honors – she still records. Her $500 million net worth, as estimated by Wealthy Gorilla, comes from her music career, acting and TV appearances, best-selling children’s books and a recipe book, several restaurants and hotels and a stake in the Miami Dolphins.

It’s been 25 years since Destiny’s Child released their debut single. (Feeling old yet?) Beyoncé soon got some acting parts, most notably in Austin Powers in Goldmember. Around the same time, the band took a break and in 2002, Beyoncé featured on future husband Jay-Z’s “03 Bonnie & Clyde.” The rest is history: She has a record-breaking 28 Grammys to her name and also holds the records for the most MTV Video Music Awards, the most NAACP Image Awards, the most BET Awards and the most Soul Train Music Awards. When the latest Beyoncé album dropped in July, she became the first female artist to have her first seven studio albums debut at number one in the United States. Business ventures like her fashion lines also helped her make a fortune of an estimated $500 million, according to Wealthy Gorilla.

The father of Enrique Iglesias and father-in-law of Anna Kournikova, who is one of the richest female athletes in the world, Julio Iglesias may be more familiar to your mother and grandmother. The Spanish singer first became famous in his home country in the 1960s and the rest of Europe in the 1970s – he even participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970 – before making it big internationally with English-language hits in the 1980s, once he’d moved to Miami. While he’s not as prolific with the hits anymore as he was three decades ago, he’s still performing and releasing new music. Wealthy Gorilla estimates his net worth at $600 million.

Topping the list of richest rock stars who are more famous as solo artists than as members of a band, Bruce Springsteen has around $650 million to his name, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The New Jersey native’s first albums were highly regarded by the critics but weren’t really going anywhere on the charts. It was with 1975’s Born to Run that Springsteen started making a name for himself but it was 1984’s Born in the U.S.A. that made him a megastar. A whopping 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes, and Oscar, a Tony, a Kennedy Center Honors and a Presidential Medal of Freedom later and there is no doubt that he is The Boss.

The only people who don’t love Dolly Parton are the people who have never heard of her. The singer has had her songs on the country music charts since the 1960s and soon had her own variety shows. When she starred in her first movie, 9 to 5, she managed to get a triple number one with the theme song by topping the country, pop and adult-contemporary charts. Covers of her songs have been hits for others as well and she’s had 110 singles on the charts. Her business ventures include Dollywood, a popular theme park in Tennessee. She’s known for her philanthropy as well. For instance, a $1 million donation helped develop the Moderna vaccine against Covid-19. Wealthy Gorilla says she's worth $650 million.

Celine Dion was 12 when her family sent a recording of her singing to music manager René Angélil, who then mortgaged his home to fund her first album. Luckily for him it was a huge hit in Quebec and the then 13-year-old Celine was on the road to stardom. By her mid-twenties, she not only had made an international breakthrough into the English-language market but had also married the man who had put so much faith in her talent. At one stage she was selling a record every 1.2 seconds. She’s also made money from her Las Vegas residencies and business ventures like the Nickels restaurant chain and has an estimated net worth of $800 million, according to Wealthy Gorilla.

Madonna is the best-selling recording artist of all time, which has done wonders for her bank balance, giving her a net worth of $850 million, as estimated by Wealthy Gorilla. She was second on the list of richest singers in 2021 too. Of course it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she’s raked in the dollars through her music and concert tours, movies and other business ventures: in one of her early hits she declared that she’s a material girl, after all.

When “Umbrella” became a mega-hit back in 2007, it was clear that Rihanna was going places. One of the best-selling singers of all time, it wasn’t just her music career that has made her what Forbes calls the youngest self-made female billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion. The Barbadian singer launched her first fragrance in 2011 but it’s her revolutionary cosmetics brand Fenty that is the backbone of her business empire.