Madonna Tops Forbes’ Musicians

Madonna still reigns supreme as the queen of pop, according to Forbes’ recent list of top-earning musicians for 2008.

The Material Girl brought in an estimated $110 million from last year’s Sticky & Sweet outing, along with her 11th studio album, Hard Candy, which reportedly sold 100,000 copies its first day of release. She also enjoyed a sweet endorsement with Louis Vuitton.

A close second was Celine Dion, beating out the rest of the pack with her $100 million paycheck. Beyoncé Knowles earned $87 million, Bruce Springsteen took home $70 million, Kenny Chesney raked in $65 million and Rascal Flatts scored $60 million.

Rounding out the second half of the list were Coldplay, AC/DC, Eagles, Toby Keith, Bon Jovi and Dave Matthews Band, acts that earned between $45 million and $60 million, respectively.

The combined total for all the top-earning artists in 2008 was $719 million, up from $500 million in the previous year’s list, Forbes reported. A big part of that surge was attributed to concert tickets for top acts, which saw the biggest single-year increase since the mid-’90s in 2008, climbing $5.26 to average $67.33.