Katy Perry edges out Taylor Swift as highest paid woman in music

Pop singers Katy Perry (left) and Tylor Swift. (Reuters)

Katy Perry won bragging rights in 2018 after narrowly beating former rival Taylor Swift as the highest paid woman in music of the year.

According to Forbes’ list, which covers pre-tax income from June 2017 to June 2018, Perry brought in $83 million pretax thanks in large part to her “Witness: The Tour.” The star played roughly 80 shows and raked in $1 million each. In addition, she somehow found time to act as a judge on ABC’s reboot of “American Idol.” The outlet estimates she earned “north of $20 million for her troubles.”

Swift, meanwhile, came in second place on the list, raking in $80 million. This was mostly due to her triumphant return to social media with the launch of her “Reputation” album. The new release sold roughly two million copies worldwide in its opening week alone. Forbes even notes that Swift may have edged Perry out had income from her “Reputation Stadium Tour” not fallen outside its scoring period.

As Yahoo notes, Perry and Swift have been on good terms lately after the former sent Swift a wreath made of olive branches in May in an effort to end their longstanding feud. For a while, the two pop stars would trade jabs by way of song lyrics and interviews. Now it seems things are quiet, but it’s hard to imagine the accolade from Forbes will not ignite some old fire between the two.

Coming in at No. 3 on the list was Beyonce, who pulled in $60 million followed by PInk ($52 milion), Lady Gaga ($50 million), Jennifer Lopez ($47 million), Rihanna ($37.5 million), Helene Fischer ($32 million), Celine Dion ($31 million) and Britney Spears ($30 million).