This week, Forbes debuted its list of “Top Earning Celebs Under 30” and the top earner was a bit of a shock. Lady Gaga topped the list in 2013. When you consider her latest album actually hit the charts in 2011 and that the singer actually had to cancel a significant portion of her tour this year, her prowess in the music market is really put into perspective. In fact, it seems the music market is a great place for youngsters to be: the top five slots all went to performers in the music biz.
Following Gaga was Justin Bieber, who, despite pulling punk stunts and angering his neighbors, managed to rake in $58 million in the past twelve months. Singer and songwriter Taylor Swift came in third, still pulling in plenty of money thanks to the success of Red. Swift was barely behind the Biebs with $55 million this year. Calvin Harris hit the list for the first time in 2013, nabbing the fourth place slot with $46 million. Rounding out fifth place was Rihanna, who made $40 million this year, thanks to touring and releasing the new album Unapologetic.
The list is so chock full of stars making money in the music business that we need to go all the way to eighth place in order to get to stars under 30 who are currently making a living acting. Critical and box office darling Jennifer Lawrence nabs the #8 slot (she was also beat by Katy Perry and Adele), pulling in $26 million in gigs as varied as Silver Linings Playbook and The Hunger Games franchise. Lawrence is followed by Twilight alums Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, who rounded out this year’s top 10.
Gaga is still the most impressive name on the list. Like Swift, the pop singer is still riding on the success of her last album, Born This Way. The 27-year-old singer spent part of the year fulfilling a major tour schedule, before a labral tear in her hip forced her to cancel the rest of the dates. The singer hid out for a while, but recently popped back into the cultural consciousness, appearing at the NYC Pride Rally. The singer already has plans to continue dominating this list. Recently, she announced that her latest album, ARTPOP will be available in November, along with an interactive app to keep fans excited about being Gaga’s ‘Little Monsters.’
Forbes’ list of top earning celebs under 30 follows the site’s recent list of highest-paid actors, which includes Channing Tatum, Mark Wahlberg, and Robert Downey Jr. in the top slot. Delving into that list and seeing that Iron Man is crushing is a little less exciting than the up-and-comers, but it’s still worth a view.
