--- ---  # Taylor Swift Is The Top Earning Musician of 2015  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 5, 2016 6:45 PM UTC  DETROIT, MI - MAY 30: Taylor Swift performs on stage during the 1989 World Tour Live on May 30, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Larry Busacca/LP5/Getty Images for TAS) DETROIT, MI - MAY 30: Taylor Swift performs on stage during the 1989 World Tour Live on May 30, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Larry Busacca/LP5/Getty Images for TAS)Larry Busacca/LP5—Getty Images for TAS  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 5, 2016 6:45 PM UTC Between adding to her [ever-growing celeb squad](http://time.com/3578249/taylor-swift-interview/?iid=sr-link1) and [feigning shock at winning yet another award](http://time.com/4016437/vmas-2015-kanye-west-taylor-swift-video-vanguard-award/?iid=sr-link8), [Taylor Swift](http://time.com/4293954/taylor-swift-double-standards-vogue/?iid=sr-link1) is continuing her quest for world domination by claiming the title of top earning musician in 2015. The pop princess topped [_Billboard_](http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/list/7356755/billboard-top-40-money-makers-rich-list)‘s Top Money-Makers list for 2015, beating out heavy hitters like Adele and One Direction with a total revenue of $73.5 million. The majority of her earnings for the year came from her wildly successful _1989_ World Tour, clocking in at $61.7 million. Swift beat the other musicians in the ranking by a long shot; take for example, country crooner Kenny Chesney, who clocked in at number two, at $39.8 million, just over half of what Swift raked in during 2015\. Following Chesney were The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, One Direction and the Grateful Dead — all (with the exception of the young One Direction lads) who pulled most of their earnings from touring as well. Taylor Swift Tops Billboard's Top Earning Musicians ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4319808/taylor-swift-is-the-top-earning-musician-of-2015/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4319808/taylor-swift-is-the-top-earning-musician-of-2015/"},"headline":"Taylor Swift Is The Top Earning Musician of 2015","datePublished":"2016-05-05T18:45:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:10.344Z","description":"The pop princess beats everyone else by a long shot","url":"https://time.com/4319808/taylor-swift-is-the-top-earning-musician-of-2015/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Music","Taylor Swift"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a67df05dc8733b7/6988920bcf40a82250c43221/taylor-swift-top-earning-musician-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a67df05dc8733b7/6988920bcf40a82250c43221/taylor-swift-top-earning-musician-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Detroit","caption":"Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Detroit","creditText":"Larry Busacca/LP5—Getty Images for TAS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4319808/taylor-swift-is-the-top-earning-musician-of-2015/","name":"Taylor Swift Is The Top Earning Musician of 2015"}}]}] ```