Highest annual earnings for a musician ever

- Who
- Dr Dre
- Where
- United States
- When
- 30 June 2014
Dre's income for the year to June 2014 exceeded the total annual earnings ($427 million) of the other 23 musicians on Forbes' 'Hip-Hop Cash Kings 2014' list combined. Runners-up Jay Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs both made $60 million (£37 million) in the same period. Others on the list included Drake ($33 million), Kanye West ($30 million), Pharrell Williams ($22 million) and Eminem ($18 million).
Dre's earnings also included exclusive deals with cognac and vodka brands. His most recent studio album was 2001 (1999), and his last album of any description was a 2006 greatest hits compilation titled Chronicles: Death Row Classics. Work on a third studio album (working title Detox) was reported to have started back in 2001, although it is rumoured that the project has now been shelved.
Los Angeles-based Dr Dre, who has been touted as hip-hop's first billionaire ("...a nine-figure tax bill means that won't happen immediately..."), had earnings of "only" $40 million in the year to June 2013.