Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood Top Forbes’ ‘Top Earning American Idols’ List of 2012

BY: Denver Sean

Published 12 years ago

American Idol Lovebscott

Get those coins, Kelly! The original American Idol was also 2012’s top earning American Idol.

Kelly Clarkson leads this year’s list with earnings of $8 million, about what Nicki Minaj makes for her role on Idol and twice what Keith Urban gets. More than a decade after winning Season One, Clarkson continues to grow her career, and her bank account, with the help of gold-certified album Stronger, a mentor role on The Voice, a Toyota commercial and a lucrative tour. She also sang—live—at President Obama’s inauguration.

Carrie Underwood claims the second spot, boosted by new album Blown Away. The record went on to sell 1.2 million copies (just shy of the total for Justin Bieber’s Believe). Underwood didn’t tour much during our scoring period, but with an average nightly gross in excess of $400,000, she’s set for a big year with a string of concert dates running through at least early summer. Underwood shares the No. 2 position with Chris Daughtry, whose eponymous rock group continues to tour heavily, pulling in six-figure nightly grosses along the way.

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You can read the rest of the list via Forbes.

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