Prince, king, and the Queen of Pop
Today’s edition of The New York Post features an article about the top grosser artists in the music business for 2004, reprising the list of Top 50 moneymakers of 2004 published by Rolling Stone.
“Prince is now king. The high-energy rocker was the top-earning music act of 2004.
The oddball hit-maker, who once changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and was considered washed up, took $56.5 million to the bank from concerts and CD sales, according to Rolling Stone‘s list of Top 50 moneymakers of 2004.
“With $90.3 million in ticket sales, Prince returned to center stage after a decade in the cornmercial wilderness,” says the mag, which based its findings on ticket and record sales, publishing and other related revenue.
Prince, whose smashes include “Purple Rain” and “1999,” beat out perennial cash cow Madonna, who came in at No. 2, with $54.9 million, thanks to her “Re-Invention Tour,” four children’s books and the “American Life” CD.
Madonna actually grossed more on tour, but Prince took home a bigger piece of the pie because of lower production costs – it took 24
trucks to haul the Material Girl’s tour around, while Prince’s relatively bare-bones show needed only 12.”
From an article by Bill Hoffmann, The New York Post. Click to enlarge the scan.