Probably one of the most important names if you’re a Rock n’ Roll fan. Chuck Berry was the first to ever do it, and the genre’s first guitar hero. He was inspired by singer-songwriter, Muddy Waters, but quickly took his own spin on Country and Blues to create what we call, Rock n’ Roll.
His songs celebrated freedoms that were back then uniquely American, like fast cars in his song “Maybellene,” or class mobility, like in “No Money Down,” and even the country itself like in his famous “Back in the U.S.A.” John Lennon once summed up Berry’s immeasurable impact on the world of music once by saying, “If you gave rock & roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.”
$550 million
Benny Andersson (right) and Björn Ulvaeus (left) are a Swedish singing-songwriting duo most famous for their roles in the musical group, ABBA. The two met in June 1966, and started writing songs together, their first being "Isn't It Easy To Say." 1972, was when the pair, along with Andersson's girlfriend at the time, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and fellow vocalist Agnetha Fältskog, formed the band ABBA.
ABBA went on, of course, to be one of the most widely recognized brands in the world, allowing Andersson and Ulvaeus to enjoy estimated net worths of $250-$300 each. Some of ABBA's biggest hits include: "Dancing Queen," "Take a Chance On Me," "Waterloo," and "Fernando," from which they all still earn royalties. In addition to ABBA, Ulvaeus and Andersson are also famous for being a co-producers of critically acclaimed musicals and the film, Mama Mia.
$825 million
No other artist has gone through as many name changes as Sean Combs. Combs' debut album, No Way Out (1997) has gone seven times platinum. No Way Out was followed by even more successful albums, such as Forever(1999), The Saga Continues... (2001) and Press Play (2006). In 2009, he formed the group Diddy – Dirty Money and released the well-reviewed and extremely successful album Last Train to Paris (2010).
Sean Combs has won a total of three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards. He is also the producer of the MTV hit, Making the Band. In 2018, Forbes estimated that his net worth was at least $825 million. That makes him the second-richest hip hop recording artist.
$25 million
Sia’s career got off to a rocky start as a solo artist, but in 2005 she opted instead to collaborate with other artists. Before long, her hit single “Titanium,” produced along with David Guetta, was peaking on Top 10 lists within the U.S., Australia, and diverse European regions. However, Sia wasn't happy with the success of the single, since she was hoping to retire and leave the spotlight.
Additionally, from 2011 to 2013, Sia co-wrote songs for several recording artists, including Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue, Flo Rida, and Rihanna. Her joint work with Flo Rida peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and ‘Wild Ones’ was the tenth most popular song of 2012, globally.
$510 million
The Guinness Book of World Records named Mariah Carey the "Songbird Supreme". This is due in part to her unbelievable five-octave vocal range, power, style, and use of whistle tones. She got her start to fame in 1990, when she was signed to Columbia Records. She then released her debut album, which topped the US Billboard 200 for 11 weeks. Carey became the only artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the chart.
Carey became Sony’s highest-selling act, with the follow-up albums Music Box (1993), Merry Christmas (1994), and Daydream (1995). Billboard called her the most successful artist of the 1990s - at the same time the World Music Awards honored her as the world's best-selling recording artist of the 1990s.