Calvin Harris named top earning DJ

9 August 2017

Calvin Harris has been named the world's highest-paid DJ for the fifth year in a row..

Calvin Harris

The 'Summer' hitmaker might have seen a significant drop from last year's estimated $63 million earnings to $48.5 million between June 2016 and June 2017, but he still managed to top Forbes' annual list.

The large sum comes from his residencies in Las Vegas, festival performances and hits like 'Feels', which he produced featuring pop megastars Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams.

Coming in behind was Tiesto with $39 million and chart-topping EDM duo The Chainsmokers - Alex Pall and Andrew Taggart - who've raked in an impressive $38 million between them after teaming up with Coldplay's Chris Martin on 'Something Just Like This' and Halsey on 'Closer'.

A new entry at number eight was DJ Marshmello, who performs in a white marshmallow mask, and earned $21 million simply from touring relentlessly over the past year.

On how they've managed to create such a strong brand and image in just over two years, Marshmello's manager, Moe Shalizi explained: "We're creating more of a faceless brand.

"That's Marshmello ... he's only about two and a half years old and he's one of the biggest DJs in the world."

The rest of the list features Skrillex, Steve Aoki, Diplo, David Guetta and Zedd in order.

Guetta has performed around 100 shows in the past 12 months around the world and owes a lot of his salary to working with Rihanna, Sia and Usher.

The French superstar commented: "When I started, our music was underground.

"There was no such thing as DJ music that would be on the radio."

The full top 10 list is as follows:

1. Calvin Harris ($48.5 million)

2. Tiesto ($39 million)

3. The Chainsmokers ($38 million)

4. Skrillex ($30 million)

5. Steve Aoki ($29.5 million)

6. Diplo ($28.5 million)