For many top performers, the biggest payday came from tracks they never recorded themselves. Behind a surprising number of blockbuster smashes are former band members, one-hit wonders and major names whose own performing careers were overshadowed by their success as songwriters. Others became hugely famous while also collecting lucrative royalties from chart-toppers recorded by everyone from Britney Spears to Beyoncé.
Read on to discover the music stars who've made more money penning hits for their peers, with wealth estimates courtesy of Celebrity Net Worth.
All dollar values in US dollars
English singer Tulisa found fame with N-Dubz before becoming a judge on The X Factor and scoring a gold-certified UK number one in 2012 with her debut solo single Young. She didn't pen that hit, however, and almost certainly earned more from a song recorded by two other stars.
Tulisa co-wrote an early version of will.i.am and Britney Spears' 2012 global mega-hit Scream & Shout, but was initially denied credit. Following a lengthy legal battle, she eventually secured a 10% share of the song's worldwide publishing rights and income, including previously frozen royalties.
Long before launching her solo career, Keri Hilson cut her teeth as a member of songwriting collective The Clutch, helping create major hits including Britney Spears' Gimme More, Mary J Blige's Take Me as I Am, Omarion's Ice Box and the Pussycat Dolls' Wait a Minute.
Hilson later stepped into the spotlight on Timbaland's The Way I Are, while her gold-certified debut album produced the US number-three hit Knock You Down. Despite her solo success, Hilson's extensive writing catalogue has likely proved the steadier and more lucrative earner.
Christina Milian's biggest songwriting paydays have likely come from two songs performed by pop superstars. At just 19, she co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's 2001 hit Play, even contributing backing vocals to the finished recording. She later received a writing credit on Justin Bieber's worldwide smash Baby and co-wrote Paula DeAnda's gold-certified US hit Walk Away (Remember Me).
Still, Milian has enjoyed impressive solo success with the likes of AM to PM, Dip It Low and Say I, though she didn't write the latter two.
Linda Perry shot to fame as the frontwoman of 4 Non Blondes, writing and singing the 1993 classic What's Up?, often misremembered as What's Going On? When her solo career stalled, she found a far richer path behind the scenes.
Perry helped reinvent Pink with 2001's Get the Party Started and several tracks on the album Missundaztood, then wrote Beautiful for Pink's supposed arch-nemesis Christina Aguilera.
Perry also penned later hits for both artists, along with everyone from Gwen Stefani and Britney Spears to Courtney Love and Kelly Osbourne, turning the former one-hit wonder into one of pop's most sought-after songwriters.
Ne-Yo was still awaiting his own breakthrough when Mario took Let Me Love You to number one around the world in 2004. The mega-smash secured him a record deal and opened the door to an exceptional second career writing for other stars. His credits include Beyoncé's 10-week US chart-topper Irreplaceable and Rihanna's Unfaithful and Take a Bow, alongside songs for Celine Dion and Jennifer Hudson.
Ne-Yo later scored major solo hits such as So Sick, Because of You and Closer, but the scale of his outside catalogue suggests his work for other artists has supplied a larger share of his songwriting income.
Film fans may recognise Ester Dean as Cynthia Rose in the Pitch Perfect movies, but her greatest commercial success has come from writing songs for other performers. Her credits include Rihanna's US number ones Rude Boy, What's My Name? and S&M, Katy Perry's Firework and Nicki Minaj's Super Bass.
She also helped create David Guetta and Nicki Minaj's Turn Me On, Selena Gomez's Come & Get It and the global dance hit Hey Mama. Dean’s own recording career was brief, leaving songwriting as the clear foundation of her fortune.
Kandi Burruss first reached the charts with R&B group Xscape, whose three 1990s albums all went platinum.She subsequently released the solo hit Don't Think I'm Not. But her greatest musical rewards have come as a songwriter for other stars.
Burruss co-wrote TLC's Grammy-winning No Scrubs, Destiny's Child's Bills, Bills, Bills and Bug a Boo, and Pink's debut single There You Go. She and her fellow No Scrubs writers later received a share of Ed Sheeran's Shape of You publishing. The Real Housewives of Atlanta and numerous business ventures later broadened the star's income far beyond music.
Kandi Burruss wasn't Xscape's only future hitmaker. Bandmate Tameka "Tiny" Harris has a credit on TLC's No Scrubs as well, earning a Grammy and later gaining a cut of Ed Sheeran's Shape of You publishing because of similarities between the songs, as well as tracks by Avicii and Le Youth that either interpolated or sampled the 1990s classic.
She also wrote other hits with Burruss, including Wash's Can't Trust Thots, and co-created the teen group OMG Girlz featuring her daughter Zonnique.
Tiny's figure needs an asterisk however, since Celebrity Net Worth's $30 million (£22.4m) estimate is a combined figure for the star and her rapper husband T.I.
Jessie J's biggest musical payday may have come from a song she never recorded. Before finding fame with Price Tag, Domino and Bang Bang, she co-wrote Miley Cyrus' 2009 US number-two hit Party in the U.S.A.
Speaking to Glamour in 2015, Jessie revealed its royalties had paid her rent for years, adding: "That's where I get most of my money." She also co-penned Chris Brown's I Need This and later put the song on her debut album. But her own words suggest the Miley track earned her more than any of her releases as a performer.
Sia spent years on the fringes of fame before becoming one of the music industry's most bankable writers. Her 2000 debut single Taken for Granted reached the UK top 10, while collaborations with Zero 7 introduced her voice to a wider audience.
Burned out by touring, she stepped back from performing and co-wrote major hits including Rihanna's Diamonds, Beyoncé's Pretty Hurts, Ne-Yo's Let Me Love You and Celine Dion's Loved Me Back to Life.
Chandelier and Cheap Thrills later made Sia a global star, but her outside catalogue had already generated a major share of her wealth.
After emerging from the UK dance music scene in the late 1980s, Cathy Dennis achieved the rare feat of breaking America, scoring three US top 10 hits in the early 1990s, including Touch Me (All Night Long). Yet her career reached another level in the noughties when she began writing for other stars.
Dennis earned her place in songwriting history by co-writing Kylie Minogue's signature song Can't Get You Out of My Head and Britney Spears' Toxic. Other wow-factor credits include Katy Perry's iconic I Kissed a Girl, Sugababes' About You Now and S Club 7's Never Had a Dream Come True.
Benny Blanco put in a decade creating hits for other stars before releasing music as a lead artist. Working initially with Dr Luke, he co-wrote or co-produced Britney Spears' Circus, Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl and Teenage Dream, Kesha's Tik Tok, Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger and Rihanna's Diamonds.
Only in 2018 did Blanco launch his recording career with the US top 10 hit Eastside, featuring Halsey and Khalid. His later collaborations raised his public profile, but the 2019 sale of 93 catalogue songs reveals where the bulk of his fortune was built.
The-Dream built a very respectable recording career with US hits including Shawty Is a 10, Falsetto and I Luv Your Girl, while his 2009 album Love vs. Money reached number two.
Yet his greatest songwriting triumphs have been delivered by other artists. The-Dream co-wrote Rihanna's Umbrella, Beyoncé's Single Ladies, Justin Bieber's Baby and Mariah Carey's Touch My Body, alongside numerous later Beyoncé tracks.
The scale of that catalogue became clear in 2018, when he reportedly sold a 75% stake in his songwriting and production rights for $23 million (£17.1m).
Mark Ronson appeared as a club DJ in Aaliyah's 2001 More Than a Woman video years before becoming a star in his own right through the album Version and Bruno Mars collaboration Uptown Funk.
Yet the true source of his wealth has been writing and producing for others. Ronson helped shape Amy Winehouse's Back to Black and co-wrote Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's Shallow, Dua Lipa's Dance the Night, Lizzo's Pink and Ryan Gosling's I'm Just Ken.
With his syncopated beats, quirky sound effects and trademark ad-libs, Timbaland helped define the sound of Y2K pop and R&B. After breaking through with Ginuwine, Aaliyah and Missy Elliott, he created an extraordinary run of hits including Pony, Try Again, Get Ur Freak On, Justin Timberlake's Cry Me a River and SexyBack, Madonna's 4 Minutes and Nelly Furtado's Promiscuous and Say It Right.
Timbaland later bagged hits under his own name with Give It to Me, The Way I Are and Apologize, his remix smash with OneRepublic, but the artist's vast catalogue for other performers is the real engine behind his fortune.
Carole King had already created some of pop's most enduring songs before becoming a solo superstar in the 1970s. With lyricist Gerry Goffin, she wrote the Shirelles' Will You Love Me Tomorrow, Little Eva's The Loco-Motion, the Drifters' Up on the Roof and Aretha Franklin's (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.
Tapestry later sold millions, but its songs also generated royalties through other performers, notably James Taylor's hugely successful version of You've Got a Friend. More than 400 King compositions have been recorded by over 1,000 artists, making outside recordings the major source of her wealth.
Ryan Tedder found fame as OneRepublic's frontman, writing the band's hits Counting Stars, I Ain't Worried and Apologize. At the same time, he quietly became one of pop's most successful hired pens.
Tedder's outside credits include Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love, Beyoncé's Halo and XO, Adele's Rumour Has It and Turning Tables, Ellie Goulding's Burn, Maroon 5's Maps and the Jonas Brothers' Sucker.
In 2021, he sold a majority stake in his 500-song catalogue for a reported $200 million (£149m), with his hits for other stars making up a massive portion of the pie.
As solo careers go, Babyface's 1980s and 1990s heyday was nothing to sniff at, producing a succession of hits including It's No Crime, Whip Appeal and When Can I See You. But his greatest commercial impact has come from songs created for other voices.
The industry veteran wrote Boyz II Men's End of the Road and I'll Make Love to You, Whitney Houston's I'm Your Baby Tonight and Exhale (Shoop Shoop), Toni Braxton's Breathe Again and Madonna's Take a Bow. Together with L.A. Reid, 'Face also co-founded LaFace Records, launching Toni Braxton, as well as TLC and Usher.
Alongside Timbaland, Pharrell Williams helped define late-1990s and 2000s pop and R&B with his own sparse, syncopated beats and unexpected sounds. He and Neptunes partner Chad Hugo first charted after writing and producing tracks for SWV, then created hits including Britney Spears' I'm a Slave 4 U, Nelly's Hot in Herre, Justin Timberlake's Rock Your Body and Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl.
WIlliams remained prolific, contributing heavily to Madonna's Hard Candy before co-writing Get Lucky, Blurred Lines and Kendrick Lamar's Alright.
Even after Happy made him a solo superstar, his work for other artists has remained central to his music earnings.
Now meet the richest music one-hit wonders