According to Forbes Magazine, this year (May 2010-May 2011) Carrie Underwood, The American Idol winner of the fourth season 2005 tops the list of best earner ranking. The report on July says that she earns about $20 million Forbes magazine has also released a list of the other highest-paid American Idol alumni. Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry tied for second place on the Forbes earnings list with $6 million each.
"[American Idol is] a money-making machine," Adam Kluger, the president of brand partnership company the Kluger Agency told Forbes. "It's like having the Super Bowl every week."
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| Carrie in 2005 American Idol |
Underwood, 28, has five Grammy Awards to her name, and in 2010, made her feature film debut in Soul Surfer. Having recently surpassed Kelly Clarkson as the best-selling Idol of all time, Underwood's most recent disc, Play On, has sold more than 2 million copies in the U.S. since its 2009 release. (Clarkson ranked fifth on the current Forbes list, with estimated earnings of $2.5 million.) Lambert, 29, the season 8 runner up, makes his first appearance on the Forbes list for his $6 million. He played 116 concerts worldwide in the last 12 months, Forbes reports.
Though Lambert and Daughtry, 31, had strong showings, the list was largely dominated by Idol's female contingent. Oscar winner and current Weight Watchers spokeswoman Jennifer Hudson dropped to the sixth place with $2 million.
The list of the top earner American Idols are:
1. Carrie Underwood: $20 million
2. Chris Daughtry and Adam Lambert: $6 million (it's a tie)
3. Fantasia Barrino: $4 million
4. Jordin Sparks: $3 million
5. Kelly Clarkson: $2.5 million
6. Jennifer Hudson: $2 million
7. Kellie Pickler: $1.8 million
8. Clay Aiken: $1.5 million
9. Katharine McPhee, David Archuleta and David Cook: $1 million each
But surprisingly The American Idol host Ryan Seacrest made $61 million, a higher sum than the 10 Idol stars' incomes combined.
