The 'Old Town Road' hitmaker joins the likes of Luke Bryan, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, and Dolly Parton in the 2019 list.
- Nov 29, 2019
AceShowbiz - Lil Nas X has just achieved another career first by becoming the first black, gay man to feature in Forbes magazine's list of the Highest-Paid Country Stars.
The "Old Town Road" star features on the list for the first time thanks to his earnings of $14 million - placing him at number 18 in the countdown. Upon publishing the list, Forbes commented that Nas is "both the first openly gay act and the first person of colour to make it" onto the rundown.
Meanwhile, Shania Twain is the only woman to feature in the top 10 of the list, thanks to her raking in $29 million in the past year, and places at number seven. Carrie Underwood and Faith Hill both feature in the latter part of the top 20, in positions 16 and 17, with earnings of $16 and $15 million respectively. And Dolly Parton is just above them at number 15, having brought home $17 million. Miranda Lambert rounds out the top 20 with earnings of $13 million.
While there are only six women on the list of the top 20 country music earners, Forbes noted that it's actually "the least lopsided ratio in the seven years Forbes has published the list."
Luke Bryan was the biggest earner of 2019, bringing in a staggering $42.5 million, while the Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, and Kenny Chesney completed the top five.
Forbes' list of Highest-Paid Country Stars is as follows:
- Luke Bryan - $42.5 million
- Zac Brown Band - $38.5 million
- Keith Urban - $35 million
- Blake Shelton - $32 million
- Kenny Chesney - $31 million
- Eric Church - $30 million
- Shania Twain - $29 million
- Florida Georgia Line - $26 million
- Garth Brooks - $24 million
- Jason Aldean - $23.5 million
- Toby Keith - $21 million
- Dierks Bentley - $20 million
- Tim McGraw - $18 million
- George Strait - $17.5 million
- Dolly Parton - $17 million
- Carrie Underwood - $16 million
- Faith Hill - $15 million
- Lil Nas X - $14 million
- Rascal Flatts - $13.5 million
- Miranda Lambert - $13 million (tie)
- Lady Antebellum - $13 million (tie)
