Richest bassist?

[AcidShred]

I'm thinking Sting or Macca. Although they probabely make most of it from songwriting or singing. I'm sure top session players and people in stadium rock bands like U2 or RHCP make plenty.

[Matt Till]

I'm sure it WOULD be Paul McCartney, but didn't he end up giving the rights to Beatles songs to Michael Jackson. Don't know the whole story, but I'm sure that would put him at the top, if that were not the case.

[Pete C]

It would be Sir Paul, wouldn't it?

[Rich L]

That would be me....not!

[BassBus]

Is Sting worth £5-8 million?

[lawsonman]

Sir Paul by a landslide.Michael Jackson bought the publishing rights which gives him 50% of the revenues generated by the Beatles song catalog.I believe George Harrison songs were excluded.Sir Paul and Lennons estate split the other 50%.

[Rudyboy98]

HOLD ON!

Define richest bassist.

Is that session player? Solo artist? or Band bass player?

Session player: Maybe John Pena

Solo Artist: Probably Sting

Bass player in a band: Maybe Robert Trujillo. His payment at sign up with Metallica was $1 million dollars, and he hadn't even played his first show. That was just after his audition!

[UncleBalsamic]

He means out of all bassists and I think it's Macca too.

[JimmyM]

It's absolutely McCartney, no question about it. Sting isn't even close.

I find it funny that you guys wanted to include session bassists in that, because session musicians are often the lowest paid people on a session. And especially now, it's exceedingly difficult to make a living as a session bassist. Even the ones who do make a living doing sessions have to supplement their income with live work or other things.

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I would say McCartney too. Funny to see it as "Macca". I only first saw that a few weeks ago and was confused. I guess it's only used in the UK.

[drnknmstr]

Band player? Adam Clayton...Trujillo, Flea, Stefan Lessard probably honorable mentions, IMO.

Session guy? Daryl Jones or Nathan East. Daryl got 2 Million for one Rolling Stones tour.

Solo guy...Paul for sure, Sting probably not too far behind.

Most session guys really don't make a considerable amount of money. I hear Leland Sklar gets audited a lot because they see he played with Phil Collins, but in reality, it's a salary. I'm gonna shoot no more than $200,000 a year.

[cowsgomoo]

Sir Paul's probably the richest musician, period

[Rudyboy98]

Originally Posted by cowsgomoo

Sir Paul's probably the richest musician, period

I have my doubts about that.

I don't think he's a great player either, he just happens to be a Beatle. That's just my opinion.

He may be extremely rich...but not due to his bass playing. There's nothing jaw dropping about his playing at all.

I vote for Tom Hamilton from Aerosmith-if you just want to talk about bass players-real bass players. Aerosmith is one of the top paid bands IN THE WORLD.

2nd runner up would have to be Michael Anthony from Van Halen

[that1guy222]

What about Will Lee? He does A LOT of session work, as well as his gig with Letterman. I'm sure they take care of him pretty well.

[GianGian]

I think it's Mccartney really, but he is not a bassist exclusively, he plays everything. As for just bassist I think Adam Clayton would be the one. Sting sings and plays a bunch of other instruments too.

[Vorago]

Tombowlus.

[kevbass5]

paul is the only musician, bassist or otherwise, who is a billionaire.

so no one comes close.

[Dave Muscato]

LOL @ Vorago

Macca for sure, Sting is probably second, I bet Nathan East or Daryl Jones is 3rd, perhaps Robert Trujillo in there. I heard that Nathan East owns his own island - doesn't surprise me.

[Mike Shevlin]

Originally Posted by Vorago

Tombowlus.

No, it's Ken Jung.

[Mr. Majestic]

I'm sure Randy Jackson is doing pretty good for himself.