The richest country music stars
It’s easy to see why today’s country music stars have become multimillionaires. Big names in the industry account for hundreds of millions of album sales, with heavyweight Garth Brooks selling more than 170 million albums (that’s more than Elvis Presley) while Dolly Parton has sold more than 160 million albums. The country music industry in 2016 represented about 10% of total sales across all genres, according to CMT, and 8.7% of all music consumption in 2018.
But like any other group of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, many country music stars have diversified income portfolios. Ticket and album sales aren’t the only way that many of country music’s wealthiest stars have made their money. The other sources of their fortunes? Memoirs, television hosting, acting in films, and smart real estate investments—among other pursuits—have led to the riches of many of today’s country music singers with the highest net worths.
With the CMA Awards coming up Nov. 13, Stacker used data from Celebrity Net Worth—which aggregates publicly available information like real estate holdings, announced salaries, royalties, record sales, and endorsements—to curate a gallery of today’s richest country music stars. Final net worth is created using a formula that eliminates expenses like manager and agent fees, estimated taxes paid, and other lifestyle expenses, boiling it down to a more accurate figure of a star’s total assets. Despite beginning her career in country music, Taylor Swift was excluded given that the last decade of her career and earnings have been centered around pop music.
One thing is clear looking at the lives at those at the top of country music: High figures in a person’s bank account can’t protect against relationship issues and health problems. That said, many of the musicians featured in this gallery have used those harrowing experiences as fodder for their music, turning painful moments into gold.
Keep reading to find out which “American Idol” star has already crossed the $85 million mark, and which country legend is worth half a billion dollars.
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#47. Tracy Byrd (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $10 million
One of country music veteran Tracy Byrd’s latest sources of revenue was a nationwide tour in 2019 celebrating his 25 years in the business. Byrd’s #1 track from a quarter-century ago was “Holdin’ Heaven,” released in 1993.
#47. Larry Gatlin (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $10 million
Larry Gatlin has been around long enough to have experienced the highs and the lows of show business. The singer has said that despite being one of the biggest country music acts of the 1970s and 1980s, he experienced severe drug addiction that almost derailed his career.
#47. Paul Brandt (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $10 million
Canadian star Paul Brandt’s career has taken him away from home and back again. A former nurse in Canada, Brandt made it big in Nashville as a country music singer before deciding to move back to Canada again and continue his career there.
#47. Gary Allan (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $10 million
Gary Allan’s career has been as diverse as it has been long. Allan started singing in honky-tonk bars when he was 13 and became famous as a country music superstar. After his wife died from suicide in 2004, his music took a quieter and more contemplative turn.
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#47. Dave Haywood (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $10 million
Dave Haywood is one-third of the beloved band Lady Antebellum, and one half of a serious Nashville power couple. The singer and his wife, Kelli, were friends for several years before getting engaged just one month after they announced becoming a couple. Haywood proposed at his house, which he had decorated as a winter wonderland. “Will you marry me?” was spelled out with strand lights on the front of the home.
#47. Steve Wariner (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $10 million
Steve Wariner has been in the country music industry long enough to have known a series of successes and failures. Despite being one of the most popular country music stars of the 1980s, Wariner’s popularity faded in the 1990s until his 1998 comeback track “What If I Said.”
#46. Hillary Scott
– Estimated net worth: $11 million
The lead singer of Lady Antebellum, Scott struggled with an intensely personal decision surrounding what would become a pivotal career moment. The singer has noted that she was hesitant to put her Christian faith into her music, fearing that it might alienate some fans. She wrote the album anyway, and fans went wild.
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#45. Chris Stapleton
– Estimated net worth: $12 million
Chris Stapleton may be worth $12 million today, but he has said that it took many years for many in the industry to take notice of his talent. It wasn’t until he won three Country Music Awards for his first album that his career really took off into the stratosphere where it is today. Stapleton is up for three CMAs this year: Vocalist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, and Single of the Year for his fitting track “Millionaire.”
#43. Darius Rucker (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $14 million
Superstar Darius Rucker is a rarity in many respects. He is one of the few crossover artists from rock into country music, and one of the few African American singers in country music. Some of his net worth comes from his previous musical career as the lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish.
#43. Eric Church (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $14 million
Eric Church may be successful to the tune of $14 million today, but it hasn’t always been so for the country superstar. He was famously kicked off a Rascal Flatts tour, for which he was the opening act, for playing too long. But he persevered and has been richly rewarded for his determination.
#41. Sara Evans
33002/”>even sampled her infant son’s laughter over the sound of electric guitars on the track “I Keep Looking.” She has been delighting fans ever since.
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#39. Trace Adkins
– Estimated net worth: $19 million
Country music isn’t generally as notorious as other genres for having a colorful cast of characters, but Trace Adkins is an exception. The superstar once worked on an oil rig and survived being shot through the heart and lungs by his second wife. Adkins in October 2019 married Victoria Pratt—his fourth wife—with Blake Shelton officiating at a ceremony in New Orleans.
#36. Jeff Cook (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $20 million
Jeff Cook is one of the founding members of the country band Alabama. In 2017, he announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which means that he is less able to tour than he used to and can’t always make it to scheduled concerts with his bandmates.
#36. Charles Kelley (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $20 million
The Lady Antebellum bandmate Charles Kelley may be worth $20 million from his singing career, but he’s got a good backup career, as well. Kelley has a business degree from the University of Georgia and even spoke at the school’s commencement in 2019.
#33. Willie Nelson (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $25 million
Willie Nelson may be one of the most famous country stars in the world, but the singer has another area of life he’s equally passionate about. He has said that marijuana saved his life, and claims to be high almost all the time now.
#33. Brian Kelley (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $25 million
Part of Brian Kelley’s considerable net worth comes from real estate holdings. The star and his wife decided to pull their 70-acre Tennessee compound from the market, despite its listing price that could have netted them more than $6 million. Kelley, one-half of the duo Florida Georgia Line, in October 2019 signed on as producer of the upcoming production of the jukebox musical “May We All.”
#33. Tyler Hubbard (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $25 million
Tyler Hubbard represents one-half of popular country act Florida Georgia Line—and his life story serves as the inspiration behind the duo’s popular album “Dig Your Roots.” That effort was in part derived from Hubbard’s experience losing his father when the singer was just 20, which Hubbard expressed was one of the most painful moments of his life.
#30. Trisha Yearwood (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $40 million
Trisha Yearwood’s assets don’t stop at her own estimated net worth. The singer is married to another country music icon, Garth Brooks, and has been for the past 14 years.
#26. Ronnie Dunn (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $45 million
One-half of the duo Brooks & Dunn, Ronnie Dunn is branching out on his own. The star released two singles—both covers—under his own name to diversify his musical portfolio. His solo album, “Re-Dunn,” drops January 2020.
#26. Kix Brooks (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $45 million
Kix Brooks is one-half of the supergroup Brooks & Dunn, but that only accounts for part of his $45 million fortune. The singer has also hosted “American Country Countdown” since 2006.
#26. Dwight Yoakam (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $45 million
Dwight Yoakam is known for drawing fans to his music even among those who don’t traditionally like country music. This has resulted in more than 25 million records sold, including the 3x platinum “This Time.”
#21. Joe Don Rooney (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $60 million
Not to be outdone by bandmate DeMarcus, Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts has also announced a publishing deal. The worldwide deal was signed by Rooney and Reservoir, and will tap another side of writing skills from Rooney, who has provided songwriting for the likes of Reba MacEntire and Lee Brice.
#21. Tanya Tucker (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $60 million
Tanya Tucker skyrocketed to fame in the early 1970s and is still making waves in the country music world. The singer’s 2019 album “While I’m Livin’” was praised by the culture desk at the New Yorker as “the best of her long, underrated career.”
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#19. Keith Urban
– Estimated net worth: $75 million
Country music superstar Keith Urban is worth $75 million and married to Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman. The 52-year-old has said he likes to release music now as he finishes it, preferring to release singles rather than wait for entire albums to be complete before sharing them with the public.
#16. Blake Shelton (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $80 million
Country music star Blake Shelton also has a gig on hit TV show “The Voice.” But host Carson Daly hasn’t always had the kindest words for his castmate, recently calling Shelton an “old dog” when asking a contestant whether she would prefer that or a “new trick.”
#16. Jason Aldean (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $80 million
Although he’s worth $80 million, Jason Aldean isn’t letting it get to his head. After buying a Mercedes as an impulse buy, the singer said he felt badly about it and considered taking it back to the dealer.
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#14. Tim McGraw (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $85 million
It took five years of singing in clubs and bars for Tim McGraw to make it as a country music superstar. He reached his goals with his hit “ Indian Outlaw” in 1994, and today has 15 studio albums, a wife in fellow country music star Faith Hill, and two albums (1994’s “Not a Moment Too Soon” and 2000’s “Greatest Hits”), that have achieved 6× Platinum certification.
#14. Carrie Underwood (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $85 million
Carrie Underwood first rose to fame on American Idol in 2005. Since then, she’s been turning out hits. And it appears talent runs in the family. Her mother joined the singer on stage in October 2019, where she surprised the crowd by rapping.
#11. Reba McEntire (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $95 million
Reba McEntire is one of the best-selling country music stars of all time. She has also been successful as a film and theater actress, including playing the title role in “ Annie Get Your Gun” on Broadway.
#10. Linda Ronstadt
– Estimated net worth: $130 million
Linda Ronstadt’s epic musical career has spanned more than half a century. She broke out in 1969 as a solo artist with “Hand Sown … Home Grown” and today has a portfolio that includes 28 studio efforts, a live album, more than 60 singles and several compilation albums. Her staggering career was cut short by a Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2012 has rendered the talented Ronstadt unable to sing.
#9. Luke Bryan
– Estimated net worth: $140 million
Luke Bryan is a country music superstar dedicated to covering multiple perspectives in his songs. One hit song, “What She Wants Tonight,” is told from the perspective of an in-charge woman who steals a date from another woman.
#7. Kenny Chesney
– Estimated net worth: $190 million
Country music superstar Kenny Chesney says he sometimes feels like he is being watched over by an angel. The singer said he was almost at the World Trade Center when the site was attacked Sept. 11, 2001, but that equipment delays postponed the shoot scheduled to happen that morning.
#6. Kenny Rogers
– Estimated net worth: $250 million
Kenny Rogers is worth $250 million, so it’s no surprise that he would have impressive real estate. The singer’s former Georgia home sold in 2019 for $5 million, furnished almost exactly as it was when Rogers last lived there a decade before.
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#4. Garth Brooks
– Estimated net worth: $330 million
Garth Brooks is worth $330 million and still hard at work. The superstar is still touring, and in 2019 broke a record for ticket sales at Neyland Stadium where he sold more than 75,000 tickets for a single show.
#1. Dolly Parton
– Estimated net worth: $500 million
Dolly Parton is worth half a billion dollars today, but the singer has been upfront in her music that she comes from essentially nothing. One of 12 children growing up in Appalachia, Parton’s family was poor—a reality she wrote about in one of her most famous songs, “Coat of Many Colors.”
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#47. Brandy Clark (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $10 million
Despite being relatively new to the country music scene, up and coming country music star Brandy Clark is already worth a hefty $10 million. One of Clark’s claims to fame? She is one of the first openly gay country music stars, following in the footsteps of talented musicians Cheryl Wright and k.d. lang.
#47. Terri Clark (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $10 million
Terri Clark has been in the country music business for decades and in recent years has begun speaking out on issues of age and gender. Clark has pointed out how difficult it is for women—and specifically older women—to succeed in an industry she said often favors men.
#42. Brantley Gilbert
– Estimated net worth: $15 million
Brantley Gilbert has a reputation for writing songs that draw heavily from his life. One of the most personal songs, “Bad Boy,” details the relationship he had with his wife’s mother, whom he tried to win over even though he was a heavy partier.
#40. Josh Turner
– Estimated net worth: $17 million
Josh Turner’s $17 million net worth hasn’t kept the star from heartbreak. Turner’s tour bus in September 2019 was involved in a deadly crash that killed one member of his tour crew and injured seven others. He won a Gospel Music Association Dove Award—his first—Oct. 15, 2019, for “I Saw the Light.”
#32. Dierks Bentley
– Estimated net worth: $30 million
Fans can’t get enough of Dierks Bentley’s music. Of the singer’s 29 singles, 17 have gone on to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard charts.
#25. Randy Owen
– Estimated net worth: $50 million
Alabama singer Randy Owen during the summer of 2019 canceled a number of tour dates due to health issues including vertigo and migraines. Those dates were rescheduled and the band celebrated in October 2019 with a heartfelt induction into the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville.
#21. Jay DeMarcus (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $60 million
Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts has the wild popularity of his band to thank for some of his riches, but music doesn’t represent all his earnings. The singer also inked a memoir, in which he divulges personal details including putting his daughter up for adoption in his 20s.
#20. Loretta Lynn
– Estimated net worth: $65 million
Grammy-winning Loretta Lynn has been in the music business for almost 60 years. She wrote a book based on her autobiographical song “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” which was later adapted into an Oscar-nominated film.
#16. Faith Hill (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $80 million
Faith Hill has earned every cent of her $80 million, and had to work on her career and personal life all along the way. Hill’s husband Tim McGraw admitted that his drinking grew so out of control at one point that Hill sat him down and issue an ultimatum: “Partying or family,” she told him.
#11. Alan Jackson (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $95 million
Being worth $95 million hasn’t slowed Alan Jackson’s work ethic one bit. The singer is engaged in a full and energetic tour schedule and shows no signs of slowing any time soon.
#11. Brad Paisley (tie)
– Estimated net worth: $95 million
Brad Paisley may be most famous for his music, but it isn’t his only source of income. The singer also co-hosted the Country Music Awards with Carrie Underwood from 2008 to 2018 (this year Underwood hosts with Reba McEntyre and Dolly Parton) and has written a book about his life called Diary of a Player.”
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#8. Kris Kristofferson
– Estimated net worth: $160 million
Country music singer Kris Kristofferson first made it big with singles like “Me and Bobby McGee,” which Janis Joplin covered, sending him to the top of the charts. Since, he has worked in television and film as well as in music, including in the Blade films.
#5. George Strait
– Estimated net worth: $300 million
One of George Strait’s most famous songs almost didn’t make it into the world at all. After 10 years of a cool reception, the director of the movie “Pure Country” was looking for a song for the film’s end, and was directed to Strait’s “I Cross My Heart.”
#3. Toby Keith
– Estimated net worth: $365 million
Toby Keith is a famous country music star, but that doesn’t stop him from reaching out to new audiences. In 2019, the singer appeared on the ‘Late Night with Steven Colbert’ to perform a new song and reach any potential new fans who might not already be familiar with his work.
#2. Shania Twain
– Estimated net worth: $400 million
That Shania Twain has become one of the most successful country music stars of all time has not been because her path was always clear. The star had a vocal injury that resulted in the loss of her voice for 15 years, survived a violent childhood, and came out on top after an extremely difficult divorce.