It might not come as a huge surprise to fans that the richest solo female musical artist in the world is Taylor Swift. What may be more surprising, though, is that the title is actually relatively new to her.

That’s right: According to reports from Forbes and American Songwriter, Swift recently earned the title of music’s wealthiest woman, after her realtime net worth inched up to $1.6 billion in a Forbes report updated Monday (Oct. 7).

She took over the spot from pop superstar Rihanna, who was formerly ranked as the richest woman in music. Rihanna’s current net worth is listed as $1.4 billion, though according to American Songwriter, she still holds the record of the richest female musician of all time, with a net worth that once topped out at $1.77 billion.

Swift has consistently been one of music’s highest earners over the years, and in 2023 and 2024, her Eras Tour gave her one of her largest income bumps yet. The singer officially became a billionaire last October.

In addition to revenue from the Eras Tour, Swift’s major earnings came from the value of her music catalog, according to Billboard. That makes her the first musician to achieve billionaire status primarily from her songs and live performance ticket sales.

Most musical billionaires bring in much of their revenue from business ventures, including Rihanna, whose net worth gets a sizable bump from her beauty and lingerie lines, Fenty Beauty and Savage x Fenty.

Though Swift is the highest-earning female musician, her net worth is only just over half that of the richest musician in general: That title belongs to rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z, whose net worth is valued at $2.5 billion.