Taylor Swift the only woman in 10 highest paid artistes of 2021, Bruce Springsteen tops list

Taylor Swift earned US$80mil in 2021. Photo: AFP

With concerts and festivals continuing to be cancelled in the second year of the pandemic, 2021 meant a loss of income for many musicians. Some, of course, still managed to pull through. Rolling Stone magazine recently released its annual list of the highest paid artistes over the past 12 months. And the list has a few surprises in store.

Bruce Springsteen is at the top of the list, with revenues estimated by the publication at US$590mil (RM2.47bil). The Boss owes this top spot to the sale of his music rights to Sony for half a billion dollars. This is, to date, a record transaction for a catalog of recorded music and compositions. The income of the American rockstar also took off thanks to the podcast Renegades: Born In The USA and the book of the same name that he released with former president Barack Obama.