Someone You Haven’t Thought About Since 2011 Is The Most Powerful Musician In The World, Says Forbes

Pop stars are meant to be disposable. They shine brightly for awhile, playing stadiums and soundtracking bar mitzvahs, but within a few years, their fame has diminished, in favor of the next great top-40 savior. This puts Lady Gaga in a curious place right now. Not long ago, she was the biggest solo pop star since Britney Spears at the beginning of the century, but she hasn’t released anything since the entertainingly schizophrenic Born This Way in 2011, which in pop star terms, feels like an eternity. (Rihanna’s put out two albums since then.) People don’t talk about Gaga the way they used to, and yet, she’s still, at least according to Forbes, the most powerful musician in the world, earning a ridiculous amount of money in 2013, despite not releasing an album.

Mother Monster earned $80 million between June 1st of 2012 and 2013, and could’ve earned over $30 million more had she been able to finish her Born This Way Ball tour. Forbes also factored her massive social presence – 38 million Twitter followers and 58 million Facebook fans – into the equation. In the overall celebrity Top 100, she trailed only Oprah, who made $77 million over the same span, but still has a more dominating presence based on their ranking system.

At Forbes’ Number Two is Beyoncé, whom the magazine noted grosses $2 million in every city she plays, on top of her lucrative deals with Pepsi and H&M. She’s Number Four overall for celebs. Madonna and Taylor Swift are at Numbers Three and Four, respectively, with Bon Jovi spoiling an all-female Top Five. Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Coldplay and Katy Perry round out the Top 10.

Jay-Z came in at Number 32 on the celebrity list, though his massive summer tour with Justin Timberlake and his forthcoming Magna Carta Holy Grail album should help him out for next year’s list. Then again, if Gaga comes back soon with her planned ARTPOP LP, maybe not. (Via)

The lesson here: BON JOVI????????????? Also, albums mean nothing anymore.

(via Getty Image) (Via Rolling Stone)

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