Highest annual earnings for a female musician (current year)

Taylor Swift (USA) made $202 million (£149.7 million) in 2025, according to Forbes’ highest-paid musicians survey. It was the fifth time the Life of a Showgirl hit-maker had topped the rankings, after 2016 ($170 million), 2019 ($185 million), 2021 ($52 million) and 2022 ($92 million).

Among female musicians, Swift now owns the three highest annual earnings sums on record since Forbes began publishing their data in 1987 – for 2025, 2019 and 2016. Katy Perry comes next, with earnings of $135 m in 2015.

The Weeknd (b. Abel Tesfaye) pocketed $298 m (£220.8 m) in 2025 to lead Forbes’ list of the highest-paid musicians, with Beyoncé third overall on $148 m (£109.7 m).

“How do you top the record-breaking Eras Tour of 2024?” asked Forbes as they rounded up Swift’s 2025. “How about with the No.1 album of the following year? Despite being released in October, Swift’s 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, broke all sorts of sales records for 2025, including the biggest first week sales in music history, surpassing 5.5 million global album-equivalent units and dethroning Adele’s 25.

“Swift also struck a streaming deal with Disney+ for the rights to the final show of The Eras Tour and a six-episode behind-the-scenes docuseries for which Forbes estimates that she took in about $80 m [£59.3 m] after fees. All told, Swift’s catalogue of 16 albums, including four re-recordings, earned her the No.2 spot on Spotify’s list of top global artists of 2025.”

In a July 2026 article, Forbes said that “Swift enter[ed] her wedding weekend [to Super Bowl winner Travis Kelce] with an estimated net worth north of $2.1 bn [£1.6 bn]” and asserted that the pop star has had “the most lucrative career stretch she, or arguably any musical artist, has ever had”.