Born in Hawaii, this island boy born as Peter Gene Hernandez, is better known as Bruno Mars. Mars began performing as a young child, but gained wide recognition after the release of his debut single ‘Just The Way You Are’. But he didn’t stop there, as he spawned several more international number-one singles like “Billionaire”, “Grenade”, and “The Lazy Song”, which like most of his songs, he also wrote or co-wrote. Bruno Mars has earned numerous awards and honors throughout his career, brace yourself, because it’s a long list. He has 11 Grammy Awards, 10 Soul Train Music Awards, 4 Guinness World Records, and one of the few artists who has a song that features only piano and vocals that topped the Hot 100. To date he has sold over 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the top selling artists of all time. Not to mention the quarter-billion dollars he just bagged on his 24K Magic World Tour.
Not only has Mars collaborated with some of the most popular artists to date, like Cardi B and Beyonce, but over the years, he’s also written songs for big names in the industry, like Cee Lo Green, Adele, Matisyahu, Flo Rida, and Adam Levine. In 2011, Mars was listed in Time magazine’s famous 100 most influential people in the world list, and Forbes magazine’s ’30 under 30′ in 2013.
$550 million
Benny Andersson (left) and Björn Ulvaeus (right) are a Swedish singing-songwriting duo most famous for their roles in the musical group, ABBA. The two met in June 1966, and started writing songs together, their first being "Isn't It Easy To Say." 1972, was when the pair, along with Andersson's girlfriend at the time, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and fellow vocalist Agnetha Fältskog, formed the band ABBA.
ABBA went on, of course, to be one of the most widely recognized brands in the world, allowing Andersson and Ulvaeus to enjoy estimated net worths of $250-$300 each. Some of ABBA's biggest hits include: "Dancing Queen," "Take a Chance On Me," "Waterloo," and "Fernando," from which they all still earn royalties. In addition to ABBA, Ulvaeus and Andersson are also famous for being a co-producers of critically acclaimed musicals and the film, Mama Mia.
$800 million
John Lennon is an English singer, songwriter, and peace activist who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. He and Paul McCartney, a fellow band member, entered into a highly vaunted partnership in songwriting. They would rise to meteoric fame in the 1960s, along with their partners George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The group sadly disbanded in 1970, and Lennon formed the Plastic Ono Band with Yoko Ono, his second wife.
Lennon’s solo albums hit 14 million units sold by 2012, and he boasted a full 25 number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 list, due to his unparalleled talent as a songwriter, co-writer, and performer.
$870 million
Herb Alpert is a record industry executive, he is the "A" of A&M Records, a recording label he and business partner Jerry Moss founded, and eventually sold to PolyGram. Alpert has also created expressionist paintings and sculptures over two decades, which are displayed publicly. Alpert and his wife, Lani Hall, are philanthropists through the operation of the Herb Alpert Foundation.
His musical career include five number one albums and 28 albums total on the Billboard Album chart. He also has nine Grammy Awards, fourteen platinum albums, and fifteen gold albums. He has has sold over 72 million records worldwide. Alpert is also the one and only artist to get to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as a vocalist ("This Guy's in Love with You", 1968), and an instrumentalist ("Rise", 1979).
$160 million
The incredibly wealthy American rapper, Ice Cube (born O'Shea Jackson) has a fortune of $160 million. The rapper, director, producer, actor and songwriter started as a member of the hip hop group N.W.A., and is considered one of the fathers of gangsta rap. Ice Cube left N.W.A in 1989, and went on to have an extremely successful solo career, releasing defining albums of the 1990s. Both 'AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted', released in 1990, and 'Death Certificate', released in 1991, were certified Platinum.
After the release of his second album, Ice Cube tried out his luck in film, and starred in the popular 1991 movie 'Boyz n the Hood'. He went on to act in several other popular films, including 'Barbershop', 'Ride Along', the 'Friday' movie series, the 'XXX' film series, and most recently, 'Straight Outta Compton', in 2015. He has often been said to be one of the best rappers of all time, which is already an honor in and of itself, considering the amount of talent out there.