Money Makers

20. Jay-Z
$24.7 MILLION

ON THE ROAD Jay-Z took on a hundredth problem when his tour with R. Kelly fell apart contentiously halfway through. The twenty-four dates they played earned $14 million -- but Kelly has filed a pending $75 million breach-of-contract lawsuit. Jay-Z has countersued.
ON CD The Black Album sold 1.4 million copies last year alone, and the Collision Course CD/DVD collaboration with Linkin Park sold more than 1.2 million. How's retirement going, Hova?
ON THE SIDE In December, Jay-Z and his partners sold their remaining stake in his Roc-A-Fella Records label to Island Def Jam Recordings for $10 million -- and Jay-Z became Island Def Jam's president. He also took in at least $1 million in salary from his Rocawear clothing line, and he has diversified his interests: taking part ownership of the New Jersey Nets and opening the 40/40 Club, a high-end sports bar, in Manhattan.
Last year's rank: NA

21. Celine Dion
$24 MILLION

ON THE ROAD For Dion, hanging out at home -- Caesars Palace in Las Vegas -- meant more than $20 million a year in concert income.
ON CD Dion sold 1.5 million albums.
Last year's rank: 11

22. Red Hot Chili Peppers
$22.1 MILLION

ON THE ROAD The Peppers played the world's highest-grossing concert stand last year, earning $17 million for three shows in London's Hyde Park.
ON CD The band's 2003 Greatest Hits CD is still selling, and it earned about $3 million in publishing royalties.
Last year's rank: 41

23. Dave Matthews Band
$21.7 MILLION

ON THE ROAD Despite not releasing new music in 2004, Dave Matthews Band raked in Hacky Sack players' cash on tour, taking in $38 million and playing before 900,000 people.
ON CD DMB sold almost 500,000 catalog CDs and 280,000 concert DVDs.
Last year's rank: 16

24. Bette Midler
$21.2 MILLION

ON THE ROAD Midler's Kiss My Brass tour earned a reported $500,000-per-night guarantee for fifty-six shows.
Last year's rank: NA

25. Norah Jones
$21.2 MILLION

ON CD Jones' second album, Feels Like Home, sold 8 million copies worldwide. And her 2002 debut, Come Away With Me, didn't stop selling, moving another 1.3 million copies.
Last year's rank: 20

26. Tim McGraw
$20.3 MILLION

ON THE ROAD McGraw played to more than 700,000 people, averaging $540,000 per night for fifty-five shows.
ON CD 3.3 million albums sold.
Last year's rank: 35

27. Evanescence
$18.9 MILLION

ON THE ROAD Amy Lee and her band were anything but evanescent in 2004, playing to 1 million fans at seventy shows in the U.S. and overseas. The tour hit larger venues abroad, helping them gross $30 million.
ON CD The band's debut, Fallen, sold more than 11 million copies worldwide, making Evanescence one of the only rock bands in 2004 to earn as much from record royalties as they did from touring. Lee still splits the band's publishing royalties with departed guitarist Ben Moody, with whom she shared songwriting credits for the first album.
ON THE SIDE Lee earned several hundred thousand dollars for "Broken," a duet with her boyfriend, Seether's Shaun Morgan, which appeared on the soundtrack of The Punisher, a Marvel Comics adaptation.
Last year's rank: NA

28. Paul McCartney
$18.6 MILLION

ON THE ROAD McCartney played only fourteen shows in '04, grossing as much as $2 million a night.
ON CD McCartney takes in about $5 million a year in publishing royalties.
ON THE SIDE He earned another $5 million from his publishing company, MPL Communications, whose catalog includes his solo work, Buddy Holly's songs and more.
Last year's rank: 43

29. Luis Miguel $18.5 MILLION

ON THE ROAD The Latin crooner took home $500,000 a night for shows all over the Americas.
Last year's rank: NA