Given both of their massive successes in the music industry, and famously broadcasted feud, it’s no wonder many of us have been curious about the net worth differences between Swift and Perry.
The two superstar singers have continued to top each other in net worth over the years, with Swift becoming the highest-paid female musician in 2016 and 2019 after Perry topped the list in 2015 and 2018. In terms of overall net worth, Taylor is richer than Katy as of 2020, but this could change over the years.
What else do we know about Swift and Perry’s wages? Read on to discover more about their rise to fame, and history as rivals for a period of time.
Katy Perry’s Rise to the Top
Perry’s career began in a type of music you might not expect – Christian music. She performed under her real name, Katy Hudson, and released her first ever gospel album titled her own name.
The album was well-received by many critics, although it didn’t breakthrough commercially how she had expected. Soon enough, she decided to move away from the Christian music scene and focused on mainstream pop.
In 2008, Perry released an album titled One of the Boys. While there were several songs on the album that garnered attention, like the promotional single “Ur So Gay”, the track “I Kissed a Girl” became her breakthrough hit.
It was first played on a radio station in Nashville, where people fell in love with the tune and the station was inundated with calls requesting to replay the track. It went on to peak at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts.
From there, Katy’s fame was instantly solidified, and she grew quickly to become a huge name in music. She grew a massive following, which she calls her “KatyCats”.
Globally, the singer has sold over 125 million singles and 18 million albums – and those numbers continue to grow.
Back in 2015, Perry was coming off huge hits like “Roar” and “Dark Horse”, as well as her Prismatic World Tour which grossed over $200 million. It was mainly this tour that explained her jaw-dropping earnings of $135 million according to Forbes.
In 2018, she managed to top Forbes’ highest paid female musicians list again, coming in at earning $83 million with Taylor in second place at $80 million. The Witness Tour was her main source for this income, as it grossed approximately $1 million per night.
As of 2020, Katy’s estimated net worth is around $330 million.
Taylor Swift’s Growing Riches
Swift’s journey to fame happened close to the same time as Perry’s, with her debut album Taylor Swift skyrocketing her to stardom. She had global hits like “Teardrops on my Guitar”, “Our Song”, and “Love Story”.
Her subsequent albums like Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and so on, were also all huge successes, peaking No. 1 on US charts every time.
Like Perry, Swift’s riches didn’t just come from her tunes – her world tours have gained plenty of income throughout the years. The 1989 World Tour was held in 2015, but managed to roll over her earnings to $170 million in 2016 which topped her on Forbes’ list.
Her Reputation 2018 tour became the highest-grossing tour in the history of America. It earned around $340 million according to Billboard.
While she ranked just below Perry in 2018 on Forbes’ list at $80 million, she went on to top the list in 2019 at $185 million, while Perry was in at fourth place with $57.5 million.
As well as global tours and overwhelmingly successful songs, Swift takes part in songwriting for herself and several other big names in the industry, which is another source of income.
She’s written “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” for Miley Cyrus, and “This Is What You Came For” for Calvin Harris.
In 2020, it was reported that Taylor has a net worth of $400 million, $70 million more than Katy.
A Long-Running Feud
As two of the most well-known names in the entertainment industry, and seemingly good friends, it came as a shock to many when it was revealed that the pair were experiencing some difficulties in their friendship.
You can see a full timeline of their feud online, but basically it centred around a misunderstanding with their backup dancers around 2012 and 2013.
The drama went on for several years, before Perry sent Swift an olive branch (literally) and things cooled down.
Katy was even featured in Taylor’s music video for “You Need to Calm Down”.