Red Hot Chili Peppers and Mötley Crüe were among the 10 highest-paid artists of 2021, according to a new report by former Forbes editor Zack O’Malley Greenburg, published by Rolling Stone.com.
While the on-going pandemic kept both of the Los Angeles-based veteran rock acts off the road in 2021, the Chili Peppers and the Crüe secured their positions in the top 10, at number 6 and number 8, respectively, by selling the rights to their catalogues. The Chili Peppers banked a reported $140 million from the sale of their songs to Hipgnosis, while the Crue are believed to have trousered around $90 million (not $150 million as initially reported) by flogging their songs to BMG.
The profits made by both acts, however, were dwarfed by the earnings of the number one artist on the list, Bruce Springsteen, who is estimated to have earned $590 million in 2021, with $550 million of that coming total coming from the December sale of his catalogue to Sony.
The only female artist included in the top 10 in the report is Taylor Swift, who earned a reputed $80 million in 2021.
Rolling Stone notes: “The list measures pretax income for calendar year 2021 before deducting fees for agents, managers, lawyers, living expenses, etc. Estimates are generated by scouring public documents and interviewing individuals with direct knowledge of major deals.”
The Chili Peppers and Mötley Crüe aim to return to the road in 2022. The Chili Peppers are scheduled to begin a global stadium tour in Seville, Spain on June 4, while the Crüe hope to kick off their long-delayed co-headlining tour of US stadiums with Def Leppard on June 16, in Atlanta, Georgia.
