Taylor Swift Beats Adele As Highest Earning Musician Of 2015

Taylor Swift was the highest earning musician of 2015, even though Adele sold more records than her last year.

The Billboard chart is compiled from US sales and tours, and despite the fact that Adele sold the most albums in 2015, (with her much-anticipated release of 25) she only ranked ninth in the list.

Swift earned $73.5m (£50.8m), with over $60m of that coming from touring – while none of Adele’s $20.5m (£14.9m) was earned through live shows.

The list proves the importance of touring for artists to earn the big bucks, with the highest ranking stars all hitting the road in 2015.

Kenny Chesney, The Rolling Stones and Billy Joel made second, third and fourth places.

One Direction, despite Zayn’s exit, ranked fifth on the list, down from first last year.

We’re betting Adele’s figures will be higher this year now that she’s selling out the O2 and hitting Glastonbury.