For almost 50 years, heavy metal has been one of the most popular music genres in the world.
Unsurprisingly, then, the leading lights of the industry have managed to accumulate some
pretty huge fortunes in the meantime. These are the richest metal bands in the world.
Considering their enduring popularity,
it's no surprise that Metallica ranks at the top of the wealthiest metal bands in history.
Tremendously popular worldwide, they've spent the last three decades releasing one
hit album after the next, as well as the 2013 movie Metallica: Through the Never.
Besides raking in the dough, Metallica has skyrocketed above 1 billion Spotify streams
and remains the third-best-selling musical act since 1991. The band has sold more than 58 million
copies of their albums in the United States and 100 million worldwide. According to the Grammy
Awards official site, they've received 18 Grammy Award nominations, and they've won eight. The
frosting on the cake came in 2009 with the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But just how rich are they? Well, enough to make Forbes' 2019 list of the World's
Highest-Paid Celebrities, at least. In fact, according to the music website Chaos Spin,
their combined net worth is estimated to be an astronomical $900 million.
KISS has thrilled and delighted audiences around the world for decades,
selling more than 100 million records in the process. Besides an army of loyal followers, the
band also boasts 11 gold and platinum albums and a coveted spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
A potent mixture of musical talent, genius showmanship, and marketing savvy also means
that KISS boasts an estimated net worth of at least $300 million. To date, the KISS brand
has received thousands of licenses for products and merch, including everything from t-shirts to
credit cards to beer pong tables. You can even buy KISS-branded caskets for just $3,000 a pop.
"You have KISS lottery — scratch, but you don't sniff — KISS Mister Potato Heads,
the KISS boots. You know, you kinda go like that."
The band's final tour began in January 2019, but COVID-19 got in the way of the last shows.
They've since resumed those dates, and are expected to finish up in mid-2022.
Nevertheless, the band's shameless and arguably brilliant marketing tactics
over the years mean KISS will continue to line their coffers for many years to come.
Lead vocalist of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, is a walking metal music legend. Beyond the band that
made him a star, he's also forged a successful and long-enduring solo career with the assistance of
his wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne. And after Lollapalooza balked at having Osbourne play,
the couple took it to the next level launching an alternative, Ozzfest, in the 1990s. For decades,
the multi-million-dollar-grossing event has breathed new life into the metal scene.
He's also enjoyed plenty of attention for his family's reality show, The Osbournes.
"Sharon!"
While reports vary widely, HuffPost claims he and the others earned $20,000
per episode for season one. The Osbournes' salaries then jumped to a whopping $5 million
per family member for the show's remaining three seasons. Of course, the program earned on average
7.8 million viewers at its height, which means those bucks were well-earned by Ozzy and the fam.
It's no wonder the net worth of the "Prince of Darkness" has long been the
subject of speculation. According to Celebrity Net Worth, however,
Ozzy boasts an estimated worth of $220 million.
Formed in 1975, the iconic metal band Iron Maiden got its start in East London,
playing a number of small gigs before recording a demo tape in 1978. In 1979, the long-haired
rockers clinched a record contract with EMI — but this success didn't come without its struggles. By
the end of the 1970s, the group had burned through two guitarists, a drummer, and three singers.
Yet they persisted, forging an impressive career over the ensuing decades. From 1980 to 2015,
Iron Maiden recorded and released 16 studio albums,
and the band's record sales have exceeded 200 million internationally.
Unlike some other metal bands, Iron Maiden hasn't gotten into the reality television show frenzy;
nor do they undertake massive merch blitzes. Instead, they rely on ticket sales — which
is itself an incredibly lucrative source of income. One 2018 concert at the Tele2 Arena
in Stockholm, for example, scored the band an incredible $2,926,064 in ticket sales,
while other stopovers in Prague and Helsinki brought in similar amounts.
As such, the band's combined net worth is estimated to be $150 million.
Formed in Birmingham, England, in 1969,
Judas Priest has long been a staple of old school metalheads. They quickly became one of the most
influential metal bands in the 1970s, helping define the heavy metal genre.
Besides belting out "Hell Bent for Leather," band members have earned their keep through
other musical endeavors. Rob Halford left Judas Priest in 1992 to form a handful of thrash bands,
and he's also fronted for Black Sabbath. Adoring fans even started referring to Halford
as a "metal god" after the release of Judas Priest's iconic sixth album, British Steel.
But make no mistake, Judas Priest still brings in the big bucks,
often performing sold-out shows all around the world. At one event in 2015, they played to a
house just two seats shy of full, earning $256,320 in one night. As for Judas Priests' net worth?
Reports indicate that the band cleans house, bringing in more than $10 million per year,
while their estimated net worth is said to be around $80 million.
Korn formed in 1993 and quickly rose through the ranks of metal stardom. The band has sold
more than 40 million records over the years and sits on an estimated net worth of $100 million.
While that might sound like an astronomical figure to some,
it'll actually come as quite the surprise to those who have heard of the band's penchant
for drinking away tens of thousands in booze during recording sessions.
Korn also has a bunch of award wins to add to their big pile of money.
They've earned MTV Video Music Awards and many Grammy nominations,
two of which they won. And with eight platinum and multi-platinum releases under their belt from the
Recording Industry Association of America, they continue to exert a heavy influence
over music through their nu-metal style. To be fair, they've probably earned a drink or two.
In 1981, the American thrash metal band Anthrax formed in Queens,
New York — and despite being named after a horrific disease,
its various members have actually done pretty well over the past few decades.
In that time, Anthrax has gone through multiple transformations,
swapping out many vocalists and lead guitarists. Since 2013, the lineup has contained the band's
founder Scott Ian, Charlie Benante, Frank Bello, Jonathan Donais, and Joey Belladonna.
Ian and Benante remain the only members of Anthrax to appear
on all of the thrash metal band's albums. Despite a rotating list of members, however,
performances haven't suffered, and Anthrax was even declared one of
the "Big Four" thrash bands in the 1980s, along with Slayer, Megadeth, and Metallica.
Over the decades, Anthrax has sold 2.5 million records in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide
from 1991 to 2004. The band also continues to tour, thrilling audiences with its fast and
aggressive playing live. In total, the band has an estimated net worth of $40 million.
Although Slayer were a mere cover band when they first started playing in 1981,
they soon began writing their own songs — and, before long,
had cemented their reputation as one of the Big Four names in thrash metal.
Since the early 1980s, Slayer has released 12 studio albums,
two box sets, and three live albums. Never far from controversy, they've also gained
a reputation for including violent and satanic imagery on their albums and in their concerts.
This reputation led to intermittent criticism from public groups, including religious organizations,
as well as corresponding spikes in sales. Because bad press is still press.
"I've said a million times I enjoy being the bad guy, but, you know, it's more than that,
it's being able to say things the kids are feeling and no one else is saying it."
Between 1991 and 2013, the band sold 5 million albums in the U.S. and 20 million worldwide,
giving them a total net worth of some $60 million.
Avenged Sevenfold formed in 1999 in California, and has since earned a reputation as a robust
core metal band. Although some substitutions have occurred over the years,
the band's best-known member remains its founder and lead singer, M. Shadows.
The band has also had its name shortened to the simple tag A7X, while the music itself has seen
a shift from metal-core to alternative metal. Why the genre swap? It's all down to M. Shadows,
who required surgery for torn vocal cords caused by constant screaming during the band's concerts.
Despite these bumps in the road, A7X has enjoyed impressive record sales,
particularly with the release of their third album in 2005, City of Evil.
This breakthrough album demonstrated A7X's core influences, channeling the relentless speed and
aggression of their '80s idols. Suitably, success followed, and City of Evil earned
730,000 sales in the U.S. alone. Today, the band boasts a combined net worth of $100 million.
Slipknot first got started in 1995, and since then they've made a huge splash on the metal
scene. Despite those weird jumpsuits and silly masks - or maybe because of them - fans worldwide
continue to splash their cash on Slipknot albums, merch, clothes, and concert tickets.
Part of what keeps the band's fans coming back for more are Slipknot's dynamic,
groundbreaking performances. But the band offers fans more than just sensational
costumes and off-the-hook live shows. They clinched the 2005 Grammy Award for "Best
Metal Performance" with their hit song "Before I Forget," for example, launched
their Tattered and Torn clothing line in 2008, and even sell a box set of their own whiskey.
Slipknot has also sold more than 25 million records during their storied and colorful career.
Ironically, the band's guitarist, Jim Root, claims the band has never made "a penny" off
record sales — but their net worth sits at an estimated $30 million nonetheless.
Motorhead formed in the United Kingdom in 1975, with Lemmy Kilmister as its lead singer and
founding member. Kilmister typified the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll scene, having first
debuted in the rock band Hawkwind — but everything changed after a run-in with the law in 1975.
In May of that year, Lemmy was busted at the Toronto border after the authorities
found a gram of amphetamine sulfate on him. He spent a night in jail and, despite having
possessed amphetamines, was charged on a count of cocaine possession. Following his arrest,
Hawkwind decided Kilmister was too much trouble to keep around, and quickly dismissed him from
the band. So he decided to branch out, forming Motorhead, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The band that followed changed the game in the world of rock music.
Fast forward and Motorhead's achievements look all the more impressive, with 23 studio albums
under their belt. They've also released 5 EPs and several compilation and live albums. Then,
after Lemmy's death in 2015 from heart failure and prostate cancer, the Motorhead era came to an end.
Of course, all those albums and all that merch continues to sell,
and Motorhead has apparently retained an impressive combined net worth of $65 million.
Formed in 1990, the alternative metal band Tool continues to make money hand over fist,
and as of early 2019, the California band had sold 13.4 million albums in the U.S. alone.
It took 13 years for the group to release their long-awaited fifth album, Fear Inoculum, which
came out in 2019, but it quickly proved worth the wait, as the album became the highest-selling rock
album of the year. Besides albums and merch, Tool also makes a pretty penny on ticket sales,
with two massive performances on the band's 2017 tour bringing in $1 million each.
All in all, Tool is estimated to have a combined net worth of $70 million,
with their reported gross earnings over the course of their career topping $151 million.
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