James Taylor – $60 million
Greatest Hits: Paint It Black, Night Owl
James Taylor won 5 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He’s one of the best artists ever to sell a hundred million albums in the world. He had his breakthrough with the album Fire and Rain, followed by the cover of You’ve Got a Friend by Carole King. He also covered several popular songs, including How Sweet It Is, HandyMan, and Sweet Baby James. Before This World, his first U.S. number one album was not released until 2015.
Carole King – $70 million
Greatest Hits: It’s Too Late, Nightingale, Jazzman
Carole King was one of the most popular and lucrative female songwriters ever, from 1950-2000. She has written or co-written 118 Billboard Hot 100 hits. And America alone is that. As the most popular female songwriter, she wrote sixty-one hits, making her hit the UK charts. She released various albums, including Writer and Tapestry, her breakthrough being the latter. For almost four months in America, Tapestry remained on the charts and remained on the charts six years later. In 2012, she received a Hollywood Star.