Lady Gaga Is Top Female Music Earner, Says ‘Forbes’

Robbie Daw | December 15, 2011 11:03 am

Lady Gaga knows all about being a fame monster, but turns out she’s quite the cash cow, to boot. Forbes, the publication with a penchant for ranking celebs and their cha-ching, has followed up its World’s Most Powerful Women list with the roundup of Top-Earning Women In Music. See where your favorite money-making divas, such as Grammy nominees Katy Perry, Adele and Taylor Swift, fall on the tally below. Forbes notes that Gaga tops the list with a whopping $90 million in earnings this year “thanks largely to her $1.3 million nightly gross on the road” and endorsement deals with companies like Polaroid, Virgin Mobile, Monster Cable and PlentyOfFish.com.

Coming in behind the Lady at #2 is Taylor Swift, who, at $45 million, took in only half the amount of Gaga’s earnings this year. Still, netting over a million bucks a night for her concerts is nothing to sniff at!

How many of these ladies did you see on tour this year (and thus help out with their ranking on this list)?

FORBES TOP-EARNING WOMEN IN MUSIC 2011

1. Lady Gaga ($90 million) 2. Taylor Swift ($45 million) 3. Katy Perry ($44 million) 4. Beyonce ($35 million) 5. Rihanna ($29 million) 6. Pink ($22 million) 7. Carrie Underwood ($22 million) 8. Celine Dion ($19 million) 9. Adele ($18 million) 10. Britney Spears ($10 million)