Musicians Whose Bank Accounts Exploded After They Ditched Their Bands

Though musicians drive a multi-billion-dollar industry, they get a small fraction of the spoils: about 12% of revenue in 2018, according to Rolling Stone, and trending downward. That slice of the pie gets even smaller when earnings are split up among band members. It's a struggle, which is why, time and again, pop, rock, and hip-hop musicians have left behind groups to find greater success, greener pastures, and bigger piles of gold.

Some, like Iggy Pop, did it the classic way: by moving on from a legendary but fledgling band to a massively successful, decades-long solo career. Paul McCartney mainly filled his pockets with a post-Beatles performing career, giant royalty checks, and a marriage to an heiress. Others continue to rock hard still but branched out to other industries. And then there's Beyoncé, who rose from Destiny's Child's split into an astronomical solo career, ownership of her material, and creative control, as well as other ventures. According to Forbes, she became a billionaire in 2025.

Whether they struck gold after going solo, shrewdly broadened their enterprises, or found other means and revenue streams, these musicians learned that, financially, at least, they were better off on their own.

No one expected Iggy Pop to rise from the ashes. While the Stooges set the table for punk rock, inspiring everyone from Johnny Rotten to Jello Biafra, it never succeeded commercially. With anarchic live shows and Pop's stage antics, the band embodied rock 'n' roll at its most dangerous and decadent. Spurred by Pop's drug use and a lack of record sales, the Stooges flamed out in 1974 after a final show at the Michigan Palace in Detroit. Things got dark; Pop's addiction got worse, legal troubles mounted, and he checked into UCLA's neuropsychiatric hospital.

Picking the singer back up was David Bowie, who had worked with the Stooges on "Raw Power." In 1976, he invited Iggy to go on tour with him and would go on to produce Pop's solo debut, "The Idiot," and the iconic follow-up "Lust for Life." It changed everything; "... this guy salvaged me from certain professional and maybe personal annihilation," Pop told The New York Times, "simple as that." His second act — a multi-decade run of albums and performances — is ongoing. Adding to his pile are royalties and licensing deals from his recordings; in 2005, some fans groaned when his 1977 hit "Lust for Life" was used in a Royal Caribbean cruises advertisement, but the check no doubt cleared. According to The Richest, Pop's net worth is estimated to be $20 million at the time of this writing: not too shabby for a kid who grew up in a trailer. 

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By the time Beyoncé Knowles joined her husband Jay Z and Taylor Swift in the billionaire's club in 2025, she'd added country music to her conquests. The "Cowboy Carter" album — a stunning, lush exploration of that genre's Black roots — was a smash, and the subsequent tour grossed over $400 million in ticket sales and $50 million in merchandise. But her iconic status, artistry, cultural relevance, and sheer dominance tend to overshadow her time in Destiny's Child. It was only after that all-girl R&B group's breakup in 2005 that Queen Bey donned her crown.

Destiny's Child had a remarkable run. Its second album, "The Writing's on the Wall," went multi-platinum, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in 1999. After releasing two more albums, "Survivor" and "Destiny Fulfilled," and touring extensively, the group disbanded to focus on solo ventures. On the eve of a final run of shows in September of 2005, Destiny's Child was dubbed the best-selling female group of all time at the World Music Awards. 

That was just the beginning for Beyoncé, but how did she become a billionaire? By owning and running every aspect of her career. As reported in Forbes, her "wealth comes from ... controlling the rights to her enormously valuable catalog and earning a massive income from her global tours." Other ventures such as haircare brand Cécred certainly add to Beyoncé's net worth, and hey, her husband is doing pretty well, too.

Paul McCartney topped his time in one of the biggest and best-selling bands of all time by becoming one of the wealthiest musicians in the world. Following the announcement of the Beatles' break up on April 9, 1970, McCartney soared into a successful musical career, especially with his band Wings. The classic album "Band on the Run" spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1974, establishing a post-Beatles identity for the legendary songwriter. Still, most of his fortune — according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2025, he and his wife Nancy have a combined net worth of £1.025 billion ($1.36 billion) — is tied to his former band. It's a hard act to follow. 

But more specifically, the gold was in the publishing rights to the Beatles' catalog, reported to be worth about $1 billion in The New York Times. Michael Jackson bought the rights to this extensive list in 1985 before selling half to Sony 10 years later. Sony/ATV Music Publishing picked up Jackson's remaining share after he died in 2009. A legal standoff led to a deal granting McCartney a gradual transfer of rights: music publishing's Holy Grail. And if that's not enough, McCartney's third wife, American business executive Nancy Shevell, is entitled to a £150 million (about $198 million) piece of her family's trucking fortune. And so it's no magical mystery that in 2023, he became the U.K.'s first billionaire musician. 

It wasn't just pop success outside of her band that propelled Gwen Stefani; it was her ability to branch out. On the back of the boom in ska music in the '90s, No Doubt's singer rose to the spotlight with the help of the LA group's infectious 1995 album "Tragic Kingdom." Its lead single "Don't Speak," a poppy and bittersweet love song, spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Pop Airplay chart. But as interest in ska waned, the follow-up albums — "Return of Saturn," released in 2000, and 2001's "Rock Steady" — sold well but never soared to the same heights.

Kicking off not long after announcing No Doubt was taking a break in 2004, Stefani's second act saw her shed the ska influences and hit the pop stratosphere as a solo artist making club-oriented music. Her debut, 2004's "Love.Angel.Music.Baby," spawned the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit "Hollaback Girl,"  and the title track of the follow-up, "The Sweet Escape," featured Akon. It was a far cry from the pick-it-up third-wave ska that raised her.

But Stefani has remained relevant and raked it in by venturing outside of music. In 2003, she launched her fashion label L.A.M.B. before pivoting to TV as a coach on eight seasons of "The Voice." Each one has reportedly netted her $10 to 13 million. And then there's her marriage to country star Blake Shelton, also a coach on the show. Stefani stormed the world with No Doubt, but with an estimated net worth of $160 million at the time of this writing, she's become her own weather system.

Sammy Hagar's rock 'n' roll resume would be difficult to fit on one page. Gaining recognition in the '70s as frontman of hard rockers Montrose, he had a highly successful solo career before replacing David Lee Roth in Van Halen in 1986. His gutsy, gravelly vocals helped push the "5150" album to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. "It was such a high. None of us had ever had a number one," Hagar recalled to Louder. With multiple other platinum-selling albums, including "OU812" and "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge," his run with the band made him rock royalty.

But his partnership with guitarist Eddie Van Halen soured for good during work on the 1995 album "Balance." The sides disagree about whether Hagar quit or was axed, but by the summer of 1996, he was out. Still, the Red Rocker landed on his feet. His first post-Van Halen solo album, "Marching to Mars," reached No. 18 on the Billboard 200 in 1997, igniting another string of solo albums. And in 2008, he joined Chickenfoot, a supergroup that includes guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. But as much as Hagar made in rock 'n' roll, he found greener pastures outside of it.

Inspired by a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Hagar founded the Cabo Wabo tequila brand in 1996. An 80% stake in the company netted him a whopping $80 million in 2007. "I am like the luckiest guy in the world," he beamed to Parade. Like a fine aged mezcal, his career has a finish that lingers on the tongue.