Pink Floyd Tribute Band, Temper Trap Among Top Earning Aussie Entertainers

A look at the top earning Australian entertainers of the past 12 months might not offer all that many surprises, but that's not to say there aren't any at all. Indeed a glance at the BRW Top 50 Entertainers 2013 list released yesterday shows that some artists get paid way more than you'd expect, and some perhaps earn quite a bit less.

Aussie actor Hugh Jackman was so far ahead of everyone else at number one that it's almost embarrassing. The Wolverine star brought in $46.8 million, which is a whopping $28.6 million more than the number two earners (who have to share their cash anyway). He storms up the list from his 18th spot in 2012.

The Wiggles are the top earning Australian musical act (and second overall), with $18.2 million earned. It's possible they could take a pretty big earnings hit with the massive restructure of the group, but it looks like everything is running quite smoothly at this point in time.  

The second musical act in the list is former Caboolture boy Keith Urban, who appears at number eight in the list after raking in $6.8 million. He's one of the biggest names in country music anywhere in the world, but it was his addition to the judging panel on American Idol that has given him the most coin – apparently to the tune of $5 million per season. His wife Nicole Kidman is at number six on the list with $8.6 million. They must have a nice house.

We're sure you won't be surprised to hear that AC/DC come next. Sure they haven't put out a record or toured in a while, but they continue to sell a monumental number of records, DVDs, t-shirts, sweatbands, stubbie coolers, clocks, bar mats… yeah they move a lot of merch. Around this time last year they launched on iTunes for the first time, which has no doubt helped them with the $5.8 million they earned.

On the other hand, you probably will be surprised that the fourth highest earning musical act (and third highest if we take out the kiddie market) is The Australian Pink Floyd Show. The Adelaide bred act are one of the biggest tribute bands in history and sell out arenas all over the world (though mainly in Europe). They're serious about their show, employing 3D stereoscopic projection and quadraphonic sound into their performances and, given they've had the seal of approval from David Gilmour, they're pretty much the most credible tribute band around. That's why they earned $5 million bucks last year and are Australia's 14th highest paid entertainers.

That was only slightly more than Human Nature, who have had their careers completely resurrected by the city of Las Vegas, scoring a lucrative residency at The Venetian casino. They work hard for the cash – five shows a week and an Aussie tour around Christmas time – but it still feels a little strange to see them as the 15th highest earning entertainers in the country.

The trend of acts who aren't particularly well known in their homeland making it in the US continues; Portia De Rossi (who earned $125,000 an episode for her appearance in the latest season of Arrested Development), Radha Mitchell, Adelaide Clemens and Yvonne Strahovski among the names that have ranked highly but have had only limited success since moving abroad.

We don't know how competitive the siblings are, but Dannii Minogue ($2 million) can claim a rare win this year, as she earned more money than her sister Kylie ($1.1 million).

Finally, The Temper Trap have just snuck into the list at number 46 with earnings of $1 million. Plenty of international touring as well as advertising deals with the likes of Diet Coke and Chrysler have lined their pockets. But, remember, they have to share the kitty…

You can see the full list of top earning entertainers here.