NEW YORK, United States, Thursday July 14, 2016 – Barbados’ pop princess Rihanna has claimed 13th place on Forbes annual list of the world’s highest-paid celebrities, coming in way behind first-placed Taylor Swift, but well ahead of such entertainment heavyweights as Katy Perry and Calvin Harris.
The Bajan superstar hauled-in a whopping US$75 million over the past year, Forbes magazine disclosed on Monday. According to Forbes: “Though Rihanna’s latest album, ‘Anti,’ has sold less than any No. 1 album in history, the Barbados native is still topping the charts.
“The 28-year old recently scored her 21st top five single, tying Elvis Presley’s chart record. “When RiRi is not churning out radio hits and touring, she pads her paycheck through endorsement deals with Dior, Puma, Samsung and Stance,” the magazine added.
The “Work” girl achieved her highest ranking on the Forbes list in 2014 when she took eighth place. First-placed Swift topped the annual list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities with a massive $170 million.
The 26-year-old singer-songwriter swept past fellow chart-topping pop stars Adele at No. 9 with $80.5 million, Madonna at No. 12 with $76.5 million, and Katy Perry at No. 63 with $41 million.
The “Blank Space” hitmaker’s “1989” World Tour alone raked in more than $200 million last year.
Her DJ ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris landed at No. 21 on the magazine’s list with $63 million, while her current squeeze, British actor Tom Hiddleston, failed to make the list.
Other top 10 earners included One Direction, including band member Harry Styles – another of Swift’s former romantic interests, who came in at No. 2 with $110 million; actor-comedian Kevin Hart at No. 6 with $87.5 million and self-proclaimed ‘king of media’ Howard Stern at No. 7 with $85 million.
Author James Patterson placed third with $95 million. Kim Kardashian-West is featured on the magazine’s cover. She took 42nd place with $51 million, 40 percent of which came from her mobile game “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood,” according to Forbes.
Beyonce and Jay Z are this year’s highest-paid celebrity couple, with $107.5 million over the past year. “The world’s 100 highest-paid celebrities pulled in $5.1 billion pretax over the past 12 months, more than the GDP of Belize, Gambia and Bhutan combined,” Forbes said.
Magazine editor Zack O’Malley Greenberg said live entertainment continues to be a major cash draw. “From soccer games in Spain to concerts in China, fans are willing to shell out to see big names – and this is driving the celebrity economy to ever greater heights,” he said in a statement.