Forbes Highest Paid Celebrities List Topped by Diddy, Beyonce

Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs, first appeared on Forbes Celebrity 100 issue in 1999. Forbes wrote that Combs made $130 million over the magazine's 12-month scoring period on the strength of his Sean John clothing line, partnership with Diageo Ciroc vodka and his Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour.

"We're putting a legacy on tour," Laurieann Gibson, the creative director and choreographer of the Bad Boy Family Reunion told Rolling Stone magazine last September about the 20-city tour that ran from August to October, 2016. "I spent a lot of time working with Puff (Combs) and he was always like, 'Oh that's too dramatic, too dramatic. And now he's like, 'I want theater!'"

Knowles earned $105 million, her second-largest annual gross of her career, which was buoyed by her Formation World Tour and release of the hit sixth studio album "Lemonade." Forbes noted that she is currently taking a break to give birth to twins.

Last June, Billboard reported that "Lemonade" sold more than 1 million albums in the United States, making it her sixth million-selling album. Her biggest selling album, 2003's "Dangerously in Love," sold 5 million, Billboard noted.

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling returned to the Forbes list, ranking third at $95 million.

"This year's $95 million paycheck comes from her bestselling 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' an estimated cut of profits from 2016's top-grossing 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' and payouts from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter," noted Forbes writer Natalie Robehmed.

Rowling was followed by the Toronto rapper Drake at $94 million, and Real Madrid soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo at $93 million, Forbes said.

"Just over a third of this year's Celebrity 100 hail from outside the United States," Robehmed wrote. "The (United Kingdom) claims 12 entries, while four Canadians make the cut. All told, 20 percent of the celebrities on this year's list hail from Europe and five percent from Asia."

Last year's No. 1 highest paid celebrity Taylor Swift fell from $170 million in 2016 to $44 million in 2017 without the aid of a tour, but still managed to make plenty off music sales and advertising deals with Keds, Apple, and AT&T, Forbes said.

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