Beatles In The Money Again, Forbes Says Band Earned Third Most Money, Behind Steven Spielberg, Oprah
The Beatles are back on top … almost.
They haven’t cut a new record in 25 years and lost band member John Lennon to an assassin in 1980, but the band now ranks as the nation’s No. 3 best-paid entertainer.
Only director Steven Spielberg and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey surpassed the Beatles in Forbes magazine’s ninth annual ranking, released Sunday.
Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the remaining Beatles, will make an estimated $130 million in 1994 and 1995, the magazine says in its Sept. 25 issue. A worldwide television deal should bring them about $75 million this year on top of album sales.
It’s the Beatles first time on Forbes Top 40 highest-paid entertainers list, a survey that combines entertainers’ two-year estimated gross earnings to get a more accurate assessment of overall income.
For the second consecutive year, Spielberg reigns as the highest-paid entertainer.
The 47-year-old director, who still is raking in the dough from his box-office megahit “Jurassic Park,” will make an estimated $285 million in 1994-95.
Winfrey, who in 1993 became the first woman to ever top the list, ranked a distant second behind Spielberg, with a combined two-year take of $146 million.
Several other pop-music relics who recently went back on tour also made it into the Top 10.
The Rolling Stones came in at No. 4, with a estimated income of $121 million, while the Eagles were fifth with $95 million and Pink Floyd was seventh with $70 million. Barbra Streisand, who last year went on the tour for the first time in nearly three decades, was No. 9, at $63 million.
Among those falling from the ranks: actors Tom Cruise and Eddie Murphy; singers Whitney Houston, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart and Billy Ray Cyrus; and radio commentator Rush Limbaugh.
xxxx The top 40 Forbes magazines ranking of the 40 highest-paid entertainers and their estimated gross income for 1994-1995: 1. Steven Spielberg, $285 million 2. Oprah Winfrey, $146 million 3. Beatles, $130 million 4. Rolling Stones, $121 million 5. Eagles, $95 million 6. David Copperfield, $81 million 7. Pink Floyd, $70 million 8. Michael Jackson, $67 million 9. Barbra Streisand, $63 million 10. Sylvester Stallone, $58 million 11. Tom Hanks, $52 million 12. Bill Cosby, $49 million 13. Andrew Lloyd Webber, $48 million 14. Harrison Ford, $46 million 15. Stephen King, $43 million 16. Grateful Dead, $42 million 17. Barney (Richard Leach, publisher; Sheryl Leach, creator), $40 million 18. Siegfried & Roy, $40 million 19. Garth Brooks, $40 million 20. Michael Crichton, $39 million 21. Jim Carrey, $39 million 22. Robert Zemeckis, $37 million 23. Charles Schulz, $36 million 24. Elton John, $35 million 25. Bruce Willis, $35 million 26. Billy Joel, $33 million 27. Arnold Schwarzenegger, $33 million 28. Clint Eastwood, $32 million 29. Roseanne, $32 million 30. Michael Douglas, $31 million 31. Boyz II Men, $31 million 32. Aerosmith, $30 million 33. David Letterman, $29 million 34. John Grisham, $29 million 35. Tom Clancy, $28 million 36. Jimmy Buffett, $26 million 37. Robin Williams, $25 million 38. Bon Jovi, $25 million 39. Kevin Costner, $24 million 40. Demi Moore, $21 million