The Richest Lead Singers

[Nickdfresh]

Sir Paul McCartney: £497m
Bono Vox: £372m
Jimmy Buffett: £248m
Sir Elton John: £199m
Mick Jagger: £189m

The rest here.

[binnie]

I'd imagine it's very hard to calculate these things.

Surprised at how high Sting is on that list. Maybe he's not on my radar, but has he really done much in the way of high earners since 1990? (Police renunion aside). Same with David Bowie - was he ever a huge stadium tourer?

[envy_me]

Good for Paul! He deserves every penny! LOVE that man!

[Dave's Bitch]

I would not say Gene Simmons is really a lead singer

[FORD]

Bono Vox?

I don't think he's used "Vox" since...... well, since he recorded THIS.....

[VHscraps]

I'd imagine it's very hard to calculate these things.

Surprised at how high Sting is on that list. Maybe he's not on my radar, but has he really done much in the way of high earners since 1990? (Police renunion aside). Same with David Bowie - was he ever a huge stadium tourer?

Bowie is interesting - sometime in the last ten years he floated his future royalties (or his back catalogue, whatever way you look at it) on the NY stock exchange. I remember at the time he garnered an immediate sum in the region of £65m (UK pounds). I wonder if he retains some shares and trades 'em ...!

[VHscraps]

I am British - so, who is Dave Matthews, and how can he have earned $155m from being a lead singer if I have never heard any of his records / songs or seen him on TV / heard him on the radio!? Ditto Jimmy Buffett. I mean - who the fuck is he?

I'm not omniscient, but I have followed what goes on in rock music for a few decades ...

Spamulus Flatulus is probably richer than some of the lower ranked here on this list.

[FORD]

Dave Matthews is one of those neo-hippie jam band guys. I think he also does the occasional acoustic tours where it's just him and one other guy playing guitars. I wouldn't consider myself a big fan of his work, but it's alright to listen to when you're in a certain mood.

Kinda similar with Buffett.... He's really only had two bonafied hit records that I can remember - Margaritaville and Cheeseburger in Paradise - but he's got a fairly sizeable cult following (they call themselves "Parrotheads") and sells out his concert tours even without being on the radio for the last 30 years. Of course it doesn't hurt when your uncle is named Warren Buffett and he gives you investment tips either.

Ironically, both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar are Buffett fans. Sam's entire Cabo Wabo schtick was completely ripped off from Jimmy, and Dave played a cover of Buffett's "Tin Cup Chalice" with his band when they did a series of live radio appearances in 2002. Unfortunately this performance seems to have disappeared from YouTube.

[DONNIEP]

I had to sit thru a Dave Matthews concert one time surrounded by a buncha damn hippies. The only reason I went was because the semi-depressed chick I was dating was a huge fan.

I may be in the minority here but I love Jimmy Buffett. Went to my first Buffett concert in '89 and I loved it. Some of the people at the shows are a little wacky but it's a fun show.

[FORD]

I may be in the minority here but I love Jimmy Buffett. Went to my first Buffett concert in '89 and I loved it. Some of the people at the shows are a little wacky but it's a fun show.

I've heard he puts on a great show, but I haven't gotten around to seeing him yet. One of these days......

[Nitro Express]

Did you know Jimmy Buffet is a member of The Bohemian Club? I shit you not. The guy hangs with the Bush family.

[envy_me]

He is so fantastic! I literally love this guy. Not just his talent, but what an incredible person he is. My dad used to play this song when I was little.

[DONNIEP]

I've heard he puts on a great show, but I haven't gotten around to seeing him yet. One of these days......

You really should go to a show. These people show up hours before the show and they grill in the parking lot and have blenders and all kinds of stuff. It's a fun summertime show.

[VHscraps]

Further to earlier post about Bowie - I half-remembered it. He sold stocks in his future royalty earnings for $55m in 1997, and was the first of several performers to do so. This article mentions James Brown - netted $100m, and Iron Maiden (no figure mentioned)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IDEA KEEPS STARS ROLLING IN ROYALTIES

The Guardian
By Emma Brockes
July 1999

Two years ago, David Bowie struck a deal on Wall Street that brought him $55 million overnight and a credibility among bankers he was never likely to achieve as Ziggy Stardust.

The "Bowie Bonds" were a radical innovation: shares sold in Bowie's talent, namely the projected royalties of his first 25 albums in the next 15 years. He had, in effect, floated himself on the stock exchange and, with this, gained greater control of his royalties.

Bowie got the applause, but the man behind the deal was a 36-year-old broker who has just pulled off the same trick for James Brown --- this time to the tune of $100 million. His name is David Pullman, he comes from New York, and he has a flair for drama to rival that of his clients.

"Your dad wants you to be a doctor because he says business is bad; your mom wants you to be an attorney because she'd like to divorce her husband. I wanted something bigger," Pullman said.

"After I was in Time magazine, my third-grade teacher called to say, "Is that the same David Pullman? I knew you'd be the one to succeed."

Pullman looks like Jerry Seinfeld, talks like a machine gun and, while modest he ain't, his boasting recalls that of the class nerd who grows up to be hugely successful but never quite believes it.

"When we struck the Bowie deal, we didn't even know if it would work," he said. "But the first lesson of success is that you mustn't be afraid to fail. Bowie never once rang to say if there were problems. The same with James Brown. They look you in the eye and, within 60 seconds, they get the concept. Everyone thought I was crazy when I first did the deal; now they're all at it."

It is the intellectual property market --- an estimated $1 trillion field that deals in nontangible assets like royalties. The idea came to Pullman when Bowie's manager approached him with the aim of selling his publishing rights. Pullman had a better idea: Why not keep the rights and float bonds backed by Bowie's future earnings?

"It was pro-creator, pro-artist, because it let them keep the copyright," Pullman said. "The artists loved it. They'd say, 'I wish I'd met you years ago. It's about time there was someone on our side.'"

Pullman charges a 10 percent commission and, before doing anything, sends in the auditors whether his clients are being defrauded.

"Most artists are lazy," he said. "They complain a lot, but they aren't disciplined enough to audit their accounts. So we send in the best."

It's a hard line he also takes with his staff, snapping down the phone as they ring in at 15-minute intervals. "You got the message this morning? And have you done anything about it? That was four hours ago. This is unacceptable. Have you phoned Mandy? Have you phoned Mandy? You're not listening to me: I said, 'Have you phoned Mandy?'"

He bands down the phone. "Someone I should have fired," he says.

The Pullman Group gets 1,000 inquiries a year, but it's rare that an artist has the status to secure the deal: Iron Maiden has done it, and the songwriters behind 40 percent of Motown's hits --- Holland-Dozier-Holland. For once, old age increases the artist's values.

"James Brown was 66 when his agents approached us," Pullman said. "Our catalogs are typically 20, 30, 40 years old. If a song is producing money from 1966 to 1999, the odds are it's going to continue to produce."

Pullman gets on well with the artists because he says he understands them. His first ambition was to go to art school, and he likes the glitz of rubbing shoulders with legends. "There are similarities between the sharpness in eye of someone who's an artist, and of one who's a top businessman."

It would all be very wearing if he took himself too seriously. But he doesn't. There is a "family" crest on the company Web site, a medley of lions and harps that turns out to be cribbed from the Pullman coach company.

The phone rings again. It's New York. "Did you update the Web site?" he asks. "No, not the photo of James Brown. Just the one of me."

[ELVIS]

Same with David Bowie - was he ever a huge stadium tourer?

Hell yes !!