---
title: 'Adele vs. Beyoncé: Which Grammy Nominee Made the Most Money?'
description: Grammy gold is fine, but for an artist's wallet, it pays to diversify and tour.
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  - name: Alicia Adamczyk
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published: '2017-02-10T20:21:35.000Z'
modified: '2024-05-08T04:23:35.000Z'
section: Lifestyle
tags:
  - Adele
  - Beyonce
  - Drake
  - grammy awards
  - grammys
  - Justin Bieber
  - touring
word_count: 226
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![Adele and Beyonce](https://img.money.com/2017/02/170206_adelebeyonce.jpg)
*Singers Adele (L) and Beyonce attend the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on February 10, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.*

This Sunday, four megastars will go head to head for one of the Grammy Awards' most coveted prizes: Album of the Year. Adele, Beyoncé, Drake and Justin Bieber each had top-selling and streaming albums last year and successful tours that followed. Who was the year's top earner?

Using data culled from [Forbes's 2016 Celeb 100](https://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeel45fgmij/the-global-celebrity-100/#70c2f00e2d3a) list that tracked celebrity earnings from June 2015 to June 2016 and 2016 touring data from Pollstar, here's a snapshot at the big four's likely bank accounts. (It's important to note that the figures listed are the touring grosses, so the stars took home far less than those numbers.)

**Adele**

Forbes estimate: $85 million

Touring Gross: $95 million

Brand deals: None

**Beyoncé**

Forbes estimate: $54 million

Touring Gross: $169.4 million

Brand deals: Ivy Park athleisure, Tidal, HBO

**Justin Bieber**

Forbes estimate: $56 million

Touring Gross: $90 million

Brand deals: Calvin Klein, T-Mobile, fragrances

**Drake**

Forbes estimate: $38.5 million

Touring Gross: $84 million

Brand deals: Apple Music, OVO Record label

**Sturgill Simpson**

Who? The country singer might not be a household name like the other four stars, but he's up for Album of the Year - and trying his hand at making a few bucks selling [“Who the F\*\*\* Is Sturgill Simpson” shirts](http://store.sturgillsimpson.com/new-arrivals/who-the-fuck-is-sturgill-simpson-5.html?intcmp=170113/sturgill/atl/hp/s_pr/but/bdy/ww/wtfistee_siteheader).

The moral of the story? Grammy gold is fine, but for an artist's wallet, it pays to diversify and tour.

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