Dr. Dre beats Taylor Swift for Forbes' top music earner of the decade

Dr. Dre beats Taylor Swift for Forbes' top music earner of the decade

Even though Dr. Dre hasn’t released a new album since 2015’s Compton, he beat out heavy hitters Taylor Swift and Beyoncé for the top spot on Forbes‘ Top Earning Musician of the Decade list.

The rapper and producer can thank his 20 percent stake in headphone maker Beats Electronics for the bulk of his $950 million in estimated earnings. Dre and business partner Jimmy Iovine sold the company to Apple for $3 billion in 2014.

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Swift came in second place with earnings reportedly around $825 million, with Beyoncé trailing behind with $685 million. Rounding out the top five are: U2 with $675 million, and Sean “Diddy” Combs who made an estimated $605 million.

Forbes only counts musicians that are still alive for its list, mentioning that Michael Jackson would beat everyone if they did not. Jackson earned an estimated $2.37 billion in the 2010s, including $750 million made by the estate’s sale of half his Sony/ATV publishing catalog in 2016.

Head to Forbes to see the full top 10 list.

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