Celine Dion is decade's top earner

Canadian pop diva Celine Dion is the top earner of the decade in the music world. With her total earnings of $747.9 million from albums and concerts, Dion has left the likes of U2, Britney Spears and others way behind to top the Ultimate Top 10 list of the Los Angeles Times.(Text: IANS)

But the Top 10 is not 'the final word' on artists' finances, the Los Angeles Times said on Tuesday. "With merchandising, product endorsements, song placements in movies and TV shows, ring tones, website subscriptions and myriad other income sources, musicians today have seemingly limitless ways to bring in money. But by combining two of the biggest revenue sources, the Ultimate Top 10 is a good indicator of which artists fans are spending the most money on," the newspaper said.

In Celine Dion's earnings of $747.9 million, $522.2 million came in from concerts and $225.7 million from album sales during the decade. She has sold more than 200 million albums so far. The best-selling female artist of all time, Dion is the youngest of the 14 kids born into a poverty-stricken musical family in a small town near Montreal.

Dion was guided to greatness by Angelil (whom she later married despite age difference of 26 years) who sold his house to finance the young girl's first album in 1981. The album went on to become number one in her French-speaking Quebec province in Canada, paving the way for her stardom. Dion and Angelil became lovers but kept the affair under wraps, fearing that it will be frowned upon because he was 26 years older than her. They married in 1994. (Text: IANS)

In the Ultimate Top 10 list, Dion is followed by US country music star Kenny Chesney with $742 million.

Much of Chesney's fortunes were attributed to his constant touring - while $455.6 million of his total income came from concert ticket sales, $286.4 million was from album revenue.

Since 1993, Chesney has recorded 13 albums, 11 of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA. He has also produced more than 30 Top Ten singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 17 of which reached Number One.

In addition, Chesney has received six ACM (including four consecutive Entertainer of the Year Awards), as well as six CMA awards. Chesney is also one of the most popular touring acts in country music, regularly selling out the venues at which he performs; his 2007 Flip-Flop Summer Tour was the highest-grossing country road trip of 2007.

He was awarded his 4th consecutive ACM Entertainer of the Year award on May 18, 2008. (Text: Wikipedia)

Third on the list is Dave Matthews Band from Virginia, with total earnings of $737.4 million. Like Chesney, much of Matthews' income also came from concert ticket sales, amounting to $529.1 million.

This makes him the top North American live music attractions of the decade, according to concert-tracking publication Pollstar. (Text: Agencies)

Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is an American jam band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. Founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, violinist Boyd Tinsley, drummer Carter Beauford, and saxophonist LeRoi Moore.

In August 2008, LeRoi Moore died due to complications from an ATV accident. Grammy Award-winner Jeff Coffin, of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, has since filled Moore's spot as the band's saxophonist.

Rashawn Ross and Tim Reynolds have also become full time touring members of the band. With musicians who each have roots in differing genres, including jazz, classical, soul, rock, bluegrass, and hip-hop, the band has come together to create an eclectic sound which has earned them fans from a variety of quarters.

The band is known for their annual summer-long tours of the US and Europe, featuring lengthy improvisational renditions of their songs, accompanied by elaborate video and lighting. The band's newest album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King debuted at number one on Billboard 200, giving the band their fifth consecutive number one debut. The band has won one Grammy Award, and was awarded the NAACP Chairman's Award. According to Julian Bond, "they sell out the largest arenas on Earth, but frequently give their music away." (Text: Wikipedia)

The Beatles are number four on the list, with $627.3 million, including $392 million from sales of 30.2 million albums, $221.4 million earned ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, and $13.6 million by Ringo Starr.

One of the most iconic acts in the history of popular music, The Beatles first came together in Liverpool in 1960. From 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals).

The nature of their enormous popularity, which first emerged as the 'Beatlemania' fad, transformed as their songwriting grew in sophistication. The group came to be perceived as the embodiment of progressive ideals, seeing their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.

With an early five-piece line-up of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe (bass) and Pete Best (drums), The Beatles built their reputation in Liverpool and Hamburg clubs over a three-year period from 1960. Sutcliffe left the group in 1961, and Best was replaced by Starr the following year. The Beatles achieved UK mainstream success in late 1962 with their first single, 'Love Me Do'. McCartney and Starr remain active; Lennon was shot and killed in 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in 2001. During their studio years.

The Beatles produced what critics consider some of their finest material. Nearly four decades after their breakup, The Beatles' music continues to be popular. (Text: Wikipedia)

U2 is fifth on the Ultimate Top 10 list with $609.7 million. The Irish rock band made $391 million through concert sales and $218.7 million from their music albums.

The Irish rock band consists of Bono (vocals and rhythm guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboards, and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen, Jr (drums and percussion).

The band formed at secondary school in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. By the mid-1980s, they had become a top international act.

They were more successful as a live act than they were at selling records, until their 1987 album The Joshua Tree, which, according to Rolling Stone, elevated the band's stature "from heroes to superstars".

Their 1991 album Achtung Baby and the accompanying Zoo TV Tour were a musical and thematic reinvention for the band. U2 have released 12 studio albums and are among the most critically and commercially successful groups in popular music.

They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and they have sold more than 145 million records. In 2005, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone magazine listed U2 at #22 in its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. (Text: Wikipedia)

Toby Keith is another country musician from the US who figures in the Top 10. Of his $596 million earnings, $273.8 million came from concert ticket sales and $318.1 million from album sales.

American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor Toby Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of Mercury Records before exiting in 1998. These albums all earned gold or higher certification, and produced several chart singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most played country song of the 1990's. Keith has released thirteen studio albums, two Christmas albums, and multiple compilation albums. He has also charted more than forty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including nineteen Number One hits and sixteen additional Top Ten hits. His longest-lasting Number One hits are 'Beer for My Horses' (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and 'As Good as I Once Was' (2005), at six weeks each. (Text: Wikipedia)

'The Boss' Bruce Springsteen is seventh on the Ultimate Top 10 list with earnings of $588.3 million, of which $144 million came from album sales.

Springsteen records and tours with the E Street Band. He is widely known for his brand of heartland rock infused with pop hooks, poetic lyrics, and Americana sentiments centered on his native New Jersey. His most successful studio albums, Born to Run and Born in the U.S.A., epitomize his penchant for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily life in America. Because of his support for the presidential campaigns of Senator John Kerry and President Barack Obama, Springsteen has gradually become identified with liberal politics. He is also noted for his support of various relief and rebuilding efforts in New Jersey and elsewhere, and for his response to the September 11th attacks, on which his album The Rising reflects. He has earned numerous awards for his work, including nineteen Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award, and continues to have a strong global fan base. He has sold more than 65 million albums in the United States and 120 million worldwide. (Text: Wikipedia)

The Rolling Stones are eighth with $569.6 million. Of this $426.9 million came from ticket sales at concerts around the world and $142.7 million from album sales.

Multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, pianist Ian Stewart, vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards came together in 1962 in London to form The Rolling Stones. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup.

Stewart, deemed unsuitable as a teen idol, was removed from the official lineup in 1963 but continued as the band's road manager and occasional keyboardist until his death in 1985.

In 1963 Jagger and Richards formed a songwriting partnership and eventually took over leadership of the band as Jones became increasingly troubled and erratic. Mick Taylor replaced Jones shortly before Jones's death in 1969. Taylor quit in 1974, and was replaced in 1975 by Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood, who has remained with the band ever since.

Wyman left the Rolling Stones in 1992; bassist Darryl Jones, who is not an official band member, has worked with the group since 1994. The Rolling Stones have released 22 studio albums in the UK (24 in the US), eight concert albums (nine in the US) and numerous compilations; and have album sales estimated at more than 200 million worldwide.

Their latest album, A Bigger Bang, was released in 2005. In 1989 The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Text: Wikipedia)

The Rolling Stones are followed by country singer-songwriter Tim McGraw on the list. His total earnings include $322 million in album sales, $133.7 million from his own tours and $95 million for his half of the shows that he has done with wife Faith Hill.

Many of McGraw's albums and singles have topped the country music charts, leading him to achieve total album sales in excess of 40 million units. His trademark hit songs include Indian Outlaw, Don't Take the Girl, I Like It, I Love It, Something Like That, It's Your Love (featuring his wife, Faith Hill), and Live Like You Were Dying.

McGraw had eleven consecutive albums debut at Number One on the Billboard albums charts. Twenty-one singles hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country 100 chart. Three singles became the #1 country song of the year (It's Your Love, Just To See You Smile, and Live Like You Were Dying). He has won 3 Grammys, 14 Academy of Country Music awards, 11 Country Music Association (CMA) awards, 10 American Music Awards and 3 People's Choice Awards.

His Soul2Soul II Tour with Faith Hill is the highest grossing tour in country music history, and one of the top five among all genres of music.(Text: Wikipedia)

Britney Spears is the last on the list with earnings of $494.3 million. "Despite a rocky decade personally and professionally, Spears pulled in $195.7 million at the box office and sold $298.6 million worth of albums for the 10-year period," the Los Angeles Times said.

The Pop Princess seems to make as much news off the stage as she does on it. Although Spears became a international pop culture icon immediately after launching her music career, selling over 85 million records worldwide, stories of her apparent meltdown and failed relationships have brought her the kind of publicity that has nothing to do with music. Spears has sold over 83 million records worldwide.

On December 11, 2009 Billboard Magazine named Spears the second-best selling act of the 2000s, solely based on album sales as well as the 8th overall best act of the decade based on album sales, chart success, and cultural relativity.

She is ranked as the eighth best-selling female recording artist in the US with 32 million copies of her albums certified by the RIAA, and is currently the fifth best-selling artist act of the decade in the country, as well as the top-selling female artist. (Text: Wikipedia)