QUEEN, METALLICA, AC/DC And TOOL Make BILLBOARD's List Of Highest-Paid Musicians Of 2020

July 22, 2021

QUEEN, METALLICA, AC/DC, TOOL, KISS and AEROSMITH are among the hard rock and heavy metal artists who have made Billboard's list of highest-paid musicians of 2020.

For QUEEN's No. 7 place at the summit, Billboard estimates the legendary band made $13.2 million, including $5.5 million from streaming, $5.3 million from sales and $2.4 million from publishing. AC/DC is in the 13th place with $10.1 million after streaming, sales and publishing earned them $4.3 million, $4 million and $1.8 million respectively. METALLICA raked in $9 million in 2020, $3.9 million of which came from streaming, $3.7 million from sales and $1.4 million from publishing, to come in at No. 18.

TOOL ranked No. 32, and $4.2 million of the band's total $6.17 million income came from touring — an unusually large percentage compared to other artists, and one they amassed with ticket sales for shows that took place before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Revenue from merchandising, synchronization or livestream gigs was not included.

Billboard's U.S. Money Makers: The Top Paid Musicians Of 2020

No. 7: QUEEN ($13.2 million)
Streaming: $5.5M
Sales: $5.3M
Publishing: $2.4M
Touring: $0

No. 13 AC/DC ($10.1 million)
Streaming: $4.3M
Sales: $4M
Publishing: $1.8M
Touring: $0

No. 18 METALLICA ($9 million)
Streaming: $3.9M
Sales: $3.7M
Publishing: $1.4M
Touring: $0

No. 20 PINK FLOYD ($8.8 million)
Streaming: $3.2M
Sales: $4.3M
Publishing: $1.3M
Touring: $0

No. 32 TOOL ($6.17 million)
Streaming: $823.4K
Sales: $557K
Publishing: $611K
Touring: $4.2M

No. 33 KISS ($6 million)
Streaming: $431K
Sales: $348K
Publishing: $194.5K
Touring: $5M

No. 34 THE ROLLING STONES ($5.69 million)
Streaming: $2.97M
Sales: $1.8M
Publishing: $1.17M
Touring: $0

No. 40 AEROSMITH ($5.35 million)
Streaming: $1.33M
Sales: $564K
Publishing: $840K
Touring: $2.7M

QUEEN remains the 38th biggest artist on Spotify today, with over 37.6 million monthly listeners — more than Kanye West, Beyoncé, THE BEATLES and Jay-Z.

According to the IFPI, QUEEN was the world's fifth biggest revenue-generating recording artist of 2019, and the sixth biggest in 2018.

Find more on Queen

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