Luke Bryan Is the Top Earning Country Artist on Forbes' Annual List of Highest-Paid Celebrities

Luke Bryan has found himself on Forbes' annual list of the highest-paid celebrities once again, landing at No. 62 for 2020. Bryan earned $45.5 million this year, a significant portion of which is due to his role as a judge on American Idol. The singer also launched his beer, Two Lane American Golden Lager, earlier this year, and has several endorsement deals including a new partnership with Jockey. He released his latest album, Born Here, Live Here, Die Here, in August, and though his Nashville bar, Luke's 32 Bridge, may not be operating at normal capacity, it is open.

Close behind Bryan is Blake Shelton, who earned $43.5 million and clocks in at No. 70. The reason for the duo's inclusion, notably in a year without touring, is almost certainly their lucrative positions as judges on two of reality television's biggest shows — Bryan on Idol and Shelton on The Voice. Shelton also has a Nashville bar, Ole Red, which has additional locations in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Orlando, Florida, the latter of which opened in 2020. He also released his compilation album Fully Loaded: God's Country in December 2019.

Bryan reportedly earns $12 million per season on American Idol, which ended its 18th season in May. Season 19 will premiere in February. In 2016, The Wrap reported that Shelton signed a new deal with The Voice to earn around $13 million per season, and The Voice typically airs two seasons per year, with Season 18 ending in May and Season 19 concluding this week.

The two judges are the only two country artists on this year's Forbes list. The highest-earning celebrity overall this year is Kylie Jenner with $590 million, the majority of which was from the sale of her cosmetics company to beauty conglomerate Coty. She is followed by Kanye West, who earned $170 million.

Bryan and Shelton's totals may have been higher had they been able to embark on planned tours this year, but the pandemic shut down the entire concert industry, costing thousands of people their income. Shelton was forced to reschedule multiple concert dates that would have concluded his Friends and Heroes Tour earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Bryan has moved his planned Proud to Be Right Here Tour to 2021.

"With the health and safety of my fans, team and venue staff being a top priority we feel it is best to postpone my Proud To Be Right Here Tour," he said in a statement in June. "We are excited to announce these new 2021 dates and are thankful for all the venues and teams who have worked with us to make these dates possible. We are going to bring you an incredible show in 2021 and I can't wait to see you there."