Dr. Dre And Other Top 5 Highest Paid Musicians [PHOTOS]

Forbes has released its 2012 list of the 25 highest paid musicians in world. Topping the list are artists that have had extremely long and lucrative careers.

“If you look at the biggest earners, the guys have been doing it for 20 years … what’s happening now is people are really telling their truth,” said Forbes’ Zack O’Malley Greenburg.

This year’s highest paid musician is rapper and producer Dr. Dre. The hip-hop heavyweight has not been in the business of making music as of late, his album “Detox” has been delayed since 2010.

Except for producing for other artists and garnering royalties from his old albums, the rapper made a cool $110 million between May 2011 and May 2012 with his Beats by Dr. Dre headphones

Last year, Dre scored a $300 million deal with handset maker HTC for 51% stake in the Beats enterprise. The rapper took home $100 million pretax, and later he and his partners bought back half of what they sold.

The second highest paid musician is Pink Floyd front man, Roger Waters. The rocker earned $88 million between May 2011 and May 2012 thanks to his “The Wall Live” tour, where he performs songs from Pink Floyd’s 1979 album “The Wall.”

The artist preformed 63 in the first six months of 2012 alone, according to Pollstar, grossing $158 million. He will be touring around the work well into 2013.

The third highest paid musician is Elton John whose busy touring schedule has helped him earn $80 million between May 2011 and May 2012. The artist has performed over 100 shows in that time. John’s movie soundtrack work also helped him get such a high place on the list; according to Forbes, his 2011 animated film Gnomeo and Juliet brought in $200 million. He will soon release his 30th solo album.

The fourth highest paid musicians are rock band U2, whose 360 tour has spanned the good part of three years and has grossed $736 million, $78 million of that earned between May 2011 and May 2012

The fifth highest paid musicians are boy band, Take That. Their reunion tour has brought in $69 million. Just eight dates at London’s Wembley Stadium alone grossed the singers $61 million. The band is planning to release their seventh album in 2013.

Forbes notes that of the artists topping its highest paid list in 2012, only Dr. Dre hails from the U.S.