‘Forbes’ Names Madonna Highest-Paid Musician

Madonna has topped Forbes' list of highest-paid musicians.

The 55-year-old singer is still the queen of pop according to the magazine, earning $125 million from June 2012 to May 2013 thanks to her sell-out MDMA Tour, miles ahead of her nearest rival Lady Gaga, who raked in $80 million. Rockers Bon Jovi and country singer Toby Keith were next, with Coldplay coming in fifth place.

Despite lackluster sales of her latest album, Madonna made her fortune from fans paying $100 a ticket to see her tour - which grossed $305 million - as well as from merchandise sales, a clothing line, fragrance and investments in companies like Vita Coco. This comes as little surprise, since Madonna had already been crowned the world's highest-earning celebrity by Forbes in August, with filmmaker Steven Spielberg, author E.L. James, radio personality Howard Stern and X Factor boss Simon Cowell rounding out the top five.

However, the magazine estimates Lady Gaga could easily top the highest-paid musicians list next year because her current earnings were affected by her hip injury, which forced her to cut her Born This Way Ball tour short. Had she completed the tour, she could potentially have made $200 million.

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Kirsten Bell to Host CMT Music Awards with Toby Keith

Kristen Bell and Toby Keith will host this year's CMT Music Awards.

The House of Lies actress and the "Made in America" singer will present the annual ceremony, which takes place in Nashville, Tennesse on June 6.

"Toby Keith and Kristen Bell are a terrific one-two knockout punch for the 2012 CMT Music Awards. Toby has been involved with our show every year since its inception and Kristen is as entertaining and witty as any young actor working today. We're thrilled to have them both as hosts for this year's show," John Hamlin, SVP, Music Events and Talent, CMT, told US Weekly.

"Country music makes me happy," Kristen said of presenting the awards.

Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum, Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town, Brad Paisley and Zac Brown Band are already confirmed to be performing at the awards with more acts set to be announced in teh coming weeks. Carrie leads the nominations with five nominations while Miranda Lambert has four and Taylor Swift received three.

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Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood face off

Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood are going head-to-head in this year’s Country Music Television (CMT) Music Awards nominations. Underwood’s “Cowboy Cassanova” is up for both Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year in the award show’s preliminary round of voting - both categories Swift’s “You Belong With Me” is also nominated in. Swift picked up the awards in both categories in both 2008 and 2009 for “Our Song” and “Love Story” respectively. 

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