billionaire

Bruce Springsteen has officially gone from blue-collar hero to billionaire, according to Forbes.
On Friday (July 19), the publication reported that the 74-year-old rock star had reached an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion by a “conservative” estimate. In terms of other musicians who’ve crossed into billionaire status, he ranks under Jay-Z ($2.5 billion), Rihanna ($1.4 billion) and Taylor Swift ($1.3 billion).

Much of Springsteen’s wealth comes from his decades-spanning catalog, which he sold back to his longtime label — Sony’s Columbia Records — for a whopping $500 million in 2021, the largest deal ever for an individual body of work. At that point, his recordings had racked up 65.5 million sales in the U.S., including his iconic multiplatinum albums Born In The U.S.A. and The River.

“I am one artist who can truly say that when I signed with Columbia Records in 1972, I came to the right place,” he said in a statement at the time. “During the last 50 years, the men and women of Sony Music have treated me with the greatest respect as an artist and as a person. I’m thrilled that my legacy will continue to be cared for by the Company and people I know and trust.”

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Springsteen has also remained a touring force well into the later years of his career, with the 20-time Grammy winner’s global trek in 2023 selling more than 1.6 million tickets and generating $380 million in revenue, according to Pollstar. He and his famed E Street Band are currently on tour again, with dates planned all the way up through July of next year.

Raised in a mill town in New Jersey, Springsteen is widely regarded as one of the bestselling artists of all time. He made his name writing and singing songs about working-class life in America, topping the Billboard 200 a total of 11 times over the course of his career. His most recent album, Only the Strong Survive, debuted at No. 8 on the chart in 2022.

And though he’s been at it for half a century, the guitarist also recently nabbed a chart first; this week, he made his debut on the Hot Country Songs ranking for his appearance on Zach Bryan’s “Sandpaper,” which also marked Springsteen’s first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in over 15 years. The track entered at Nos. 26 and 71 on the respective charts.

All in all? Not a bad week for The Boss.