Still the 'Material Girl'

Madonna is living up to her nickname: the Material Girl tops Forbes annual list of the top-earning musicians by a wide margin. How much did she make, and who was her closest competition? 

The top 5:

1. Madonna - $125 million
2. Lady Gaga - $80 million
3. Bon Jovi - $79 million
4. Toby Keith - $65 million
5. Coldplay - $64 million

Madonna easily surpassed singer Lady Gaga and veteran rockers Bon Jovi as the highest-paid musician in 2013, Forbes said on Tuesday.

Madonna earned $125 million, most of which was from her hugely successful MDNA tour, which grossed $305 million, as well as merchandise sold at concerts and a clothing line and fragrance.

"Madonna is living up to her nickname: the Material Girl tops our list of the top-earning musicians by a wide margin," Forbes said.

Tour Will Start Without an Album on the Charts

And that’s it. Madonna’s “MDNA” is gone from the top 50 of any charts as of this week. Hitsdailydouble.com has dropped it out of its top 50. Amazon.com has the physical CD at number 63. All versions of the downloadable album are gone from view. iTunes has it around number 250. Apparently, very few people downloaded the album at all. Madonna, though she likes a youthful outlook, belongs to the class of artists who are not big on the digital side. “MDNA” is now officially gone, three weeks before Madonna begins her international tour in Israel. The only way to have saved “MDNA” would have been to reissue it with something new. But Madonna wouldn’t have much time to rehearse her show and cut new tracks. The tour will go on without a promotional tool or a song on the radio. It’s not the best way to do things, but if Madge features a lot of hits in the show, she’ll be alright. If the tour set list is heavy with songs from “MDNA,” it may be a problem. At least Guy Richie doesn’t have to worry that too many people heard the nasty things Madonna sang about him. As for the tour, Madonna’s website indicates lots of tickets still for sale. But there are many sold out dates, and comments of great enthusiasm from her core fans. If only they’d bought the album. PS amazon is still selling versions of it for five bucks.


Oh someone tell him to SHUT IT!

On the Cover of a Magazine - 1990