Taylor Swift is Pop’s Biggest Earner in 2011

Country singer Taylor Swift earned more than any other pop act last year. According to Billboard, Swift made a cool $35,719,902 last year if you include music sales, royalties and touring income.

Rock legends U2 came second with $32 million while another country singer Kenny Chesney was third with $29.8 million. Lady Gaga could only manage fourth place.

Top Earner of 2011:

1. Taylor Swift - $35.7m
2. U2 - $32.1m
3. Kenny Chesney - $29.8m
4. Lady Gaga - $25.4m
5. Lil Wayne - $23.2m
6. Sade - $16.4m
7. Bon Jovi - $15.8m
8. Celine Dion - $14.3m
9. Jason Aldean - $13.4m
10. Adele - $13.1m

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Taylor Swift Goes Stevie Nicks for <em>Vogue</em> Cover Shoot

Country-pop star Taylor Swift appears on the February cover of Vogue magazine, and for the shoot, Swift goes for a young Stevie Nicks vibe. In the high-profile spread, Swift wears a ’70s-style sunflower-speckled dress over a pair of jeans, a floppy beige hat and flowing accessories, with a style awfully similar to Nicks’s chic.

Nicks and Swift, of course, performed together at the Grammy Awards in 2010. Speaking with Time magazine, Nicks admitted she had a few hesitations about performing with the young starlet.

“When I first got the call from Taylor Swift about performing with her at this year's Grammy Awards, I really didn’t want to do it,” she told the magazine in 2010. “She's 20 years old, 5 ft. 11 in. and slender; I’m 40 years older and, to be frank, neither of the other two things! I was not about to stand next to this girl on national television. But her little face just lights up like a star, and I couldn’t say no.”

Nicks went on to say that she sees some of herself in Swift. “Taylor reminds me of myself in her determination and her childlike nature,” she said. “It’s an innocence that's so special and so rare.

“This girl writes the songs that make the whole world sing, like Neil Diamond or Elton John. She sings, she writes, she performs, she plays great guitar. Taylor can do ballads that could be considered pop or rock and then switch back into country. When I turned 20 years old, I had just made the serious decision to never be a dental assistant. Taylor just turned 20, and she’s won four Grammys.”

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Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift Top Forbes’ Top-Earning Women in Music

Pop and country gals fared very well in 2011, as Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Celine Dion and Adele all top Forbes’ list of Top-Earning Women in Music in 2011.

Gaga scored the #1 spot, taking in $90 million with the sales of Born This Way, her blockbuster Monster Ball Tour and numerous endorsement deals. Swift came in second place, albeit taking in half of what Gaga did at $45 million over the past year. Perry landed just below Swift at $44 million, while Beyonce and Rihanna rounded out the top five, earning $35 million and $29 million, respectively. Other big showings were Celine Dion, earning $19 million, and Adele, pulling in $18 million.

Forbes assembled the list by calculating income earned from May of 2010 through May of 2011. Forbes also used data from Pollstar, RIAA and others, in addition to interviews with industry insiders such as lawyers, managers, agents, concert promoters and, in some cases, the musicians themselves.

While the numbers are impressive, there still seems to be a “glass ceiling” for women in the music business, apparent by the fact only five of the women on this list were among the overall 25 highest paid musicians, according to Forbes. “Women artists seem to be less likely to diversify their holdings and to build multi-tier enterprises to take advantage of their success and celebrity,” entertainment attorney Lori Landew said. “What remains unclear, however, is whether this is because these women have less of an entrepreneurial spirit than their male counterparts, which I doubt, or whether they are simply presented with fewer opportunities.”

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Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift Live at 2011 CMA Music Festival

Country superstars Keith Urban, Reba and Taylor Swift will be joined at this year’s CMA Music Festival by a diverse line up of country artists performing on a variety of stages throughout the event.

Celebrating its 40th birthday this year, CMA Music Festival takes place Thursday-Sunday, June 9-12 in downtown Nashville.

The Nightly Concerts at LP Field are the highlights of CMA Music Festival.
Thursday, June 9:  Jason Aldean (with a special guest performance from Kelly Clarkson), Easton Corbin, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley and Zac Brown Band (with special guest performances from Alan Jackson, Amos Lee, Sonia Leigh and Randy Travis).
Friday, June 10:  Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum, Reba, Ashton Shepherd, Sugarland, and Keith Urban.
Saturday, June 11: Trace Adkins, Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, Josh Turner and Chris Young.
Sunday, June 12:  The Band Perry, the JaneDear girls, Miranda Lambert, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton and Taylor Swift.

Aside from the Nightly Concerts there will be plenty of music for country fans, much of it free. Free Daily Concerts will be held on the Chevrolet Riverfront Stage in Riverfront Park Thursday through Saturday, June 9-11.

The Lay's Stage at Bridgestone Arena Plaza will also offer free performances on all four days, beginning at 11:00 AM and ending at 5:30 PM and the Durango® Acoustic Corner will present daily acoustic concerts from acts such as Rhonda Vincent and Riders in the Sky at the Nashville Convention Center in Room 209.

Four-day tickets to CMA Music Festival, which include all four Nightly Concerts at LP Field and daily access to the Fan Fair® Exhibit Hall, can be purchased through Ticketmaster at Ticketmaster.com or 1-(800) 745-3000. They can also purchase them through CMAfest.com or 1-(800)-CMA-FEST (262-3378).

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