American country singer Toby Keith earned $65 million in the past year, which should give him plenty of reason to celebrate when he plays in Australia for the first time next year.
Keith was announced as the headliner of next year's CMC Rocks The Hunter festival earlier this month. Other Australian tour dates have not yet been announced.
In the inaugural Forbes highest earner list for country music artists the star's net worth is estimated at $320 million, thanks to his record label, chain of restaurants, small business and his song royalties. In the past two decades he's had a US number one country track in every year.
Although nowhere near as big of a name outside his genre as Jay-Z or Beyonce, his leveraging of the devoted US country market meant he earnt more than both of them.
Last year's CMC Rocks The Hunter headliners Rascal Flatts also appeared on the list, with $25 million earnings, as did 2010's headliner Tim McGraw with $33 million.
COUNTRY'S TOP TEN EARNERS OF 2013:
1. Toby Keith – $65 million
2. Taylor Swift – $55 million
3. Kenny Chesney – $53 million
4. Tim McGraw – $33 million
5. Carrie Underwood – $31 million
6. Brad Paisley – $30 million
7. Zac Brown Band – $26 million
8. Rascal Flatts – $25 million
9. George Strait – $18 million
10. Jason Aldean – $17 million
10. Luke Bryan – $17 million
Australian Keith Urban, CMC Rocks North Queensland headliner Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Eric Church and Blake Shelton were amongst the names who earned “millions” but missed out on the top ten.
The three-day camping festival CMC Rocks The Hunter will run from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 March 2014. Tickets from here.
