Forbes has once again released its list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, and Beyonce, Rihanna and Taylor Swift made the cut for the second year running.
Rihanna topped the music list at No. 68 this year, beating last year’s placing by one.
Rihanna has officially reached billionaire status, and is “Barbados’ most famous export,” according to the magazine.
Her Fenty Cosmetics brand earned US$550 million in 2020, while lingerie line Savage x Fenty – of which Rihanna has a 30 per cent share – had a US$1 billion as of February.
In terms of musical achievements, all eight of her studio albums have made the Billboard 200 top 10 – ANTI and Unapologetic hit No. 1, Good Girl Gone Badhit No.2, Loud and Talk That Talk made it to No. 3.
No mention was made this year of her philanthropy – millions of dollars in donations to Coronavirus research last year scored her big brownie points.
Beyoncé landed at 76 on the list this year, dropping four spots from last year.
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Forbes listed the same achievements as last year for her entry: her On The Run II tour with husband Jay-Z, which netted more than US$250 million in revenue, her Ivy Park active wear collaboration with Adidas, and her 2019 Homecoming documentary.
There was no mention of her philanthropic endeavours with her BeyGOOD foundation.
Similar to Rihanna, all six of her solo studio albums have reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
Swift ranked at No. 78 this year – four places higher than last year.
Forbes recognised her efforts to re-record her albums to gain ownership rights, and acknowledged her 10th No. 1 Billboard album with Red (Taylor’s Version).
Swift made last year’s list for using her fame to encourage political action, asking fans to sign the Equality Act with the release of her 2019 single, ‘You Need to Calm Down.’
Australia had a few entries on this year’s list, although none were musical.
Our top billing was Shemara Wikramanayake, the CEO and Managing Director of Macquarie Group, at No. 24.
Gina Rinehart made the list at No. 44, while Julia Gillard scraped in at No. 93.
