Madonna Named Cash Queen of Music After $72 Million Year

Madonna is the top-earning female in rock, according to Forbes' first-ever "Cash Queens of Music" list. The Material Girl raked in roughly $72 million from June 2006 to June 2007 thanks to her "Confessions" tour, her endorsement deal with H&M and her record sales. The $72 million doesn't even taken into account the contract Madonna signed with Live Nation in October, which reportedly netted the singer $120 million. Number two on the list, fueled by her comeback concert tour, was Barbra Streisand. Celine Dion took third place thanks to her Caesar's Palace residency. Also on the list, amid a bunch of female country stars, were Shakira, Gwen Stefani and, surprisingly, Britney Spears, who didn't tour or release any new music (Blackout came out after June 2007) but still made the list thanks to sales from her "Curious" perfume.

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Song Stories

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry | 1984

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.

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