Beyoncé Knowles (No. 1) topped Forbes’ 15th annual Celebrity 100 ranking of the world’s most powerful celebrities for the first time since she debuted on the list in 2004. She raked in a reported $115 million in 2014 alone. WOW!
LeBron James (No. 2), the NBA’s top player, who just opted out of his contract with the Miami Heat to explore other options, moved up to No. 2 from the 16th spot last year. Dr. Dre (No. 3), who moved up from the 63rd spot, earned $620 million in 2014, which is more money earned in the past 12 months than any other celebrity in the history of the Forbes Celebrity 100 list. Oprah Winfrey (No. 4) fell to fourth place from the top spot last year, primarily because the three people ranked above her on this year’s list currently have more influence and power.
This year, once again, musicians ranked high on the list. Musicians can earn a lot of money when they go on tour and are successful in using social media to leverage their brand, which is an important part of our fame metric. Thirteen of the top 25 on the list were musicians, including Beyoncé Knowles (No. 1), Dr. Dre (No. 3), Jay Z (No. 6), Rihanna (No. 8), Bruno Mars (No. 13), Miley Cyrus (No. 17), and Kanye West (No. 20).
Notable newcomers to the 2014 list include musicians Bruno Mars (No. 13), Pharrell Williams (No. 38); television actress Kerry Washington (No. 93) and athlete Kevin Durant (No. 33).
