How much is James Taylor worth?
| Net Worth: | $90 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Singer |
| Date of Birth: | March 12, 1948 (age 74) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.9 m) |
About James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has been an active recording artist since the mid-1960s with his career spanning over five decades. Taylor is a five-time Grammy Award winner and by having sold more than 100 million records, he is regarded as one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
At the height of his career, it is estimated that Taylor earned income equal to a salary of $35 million dollars per year.
James Taylor became famous after his single “Fire and Rain” in 1970. He was born on March 12, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts. He’s the second of five children to Isaac and Gertrude Taylor. His father was a wealthy man that hailed from Scotland and worked as a resident physician. His mother was an aspiring opera singer that studied singing with Marie Sundelius at the infamous New England Music Conservatory. James has four siblings, Alex, Kate, Livingston, and Hugh.
When he was two years old, Taylor’s family moved to Chapel Hill in North Carolina. There, he attended public primary school and cello lessons, before learning the guitar in 1960. He was studied at the preparatory boarding school, Milton Academy, before transferring to Chapel Hill High School. In 1966, he received his diploma from the Arlington School. Following that, he formed a music band with his brother Alex and called it “The Corsairs”, later changed to The Fabulous Corsairs.
Releasing more than nineteen studio albums, seven compilation, seven video, and four live albums is what made the folk-rock singer so rich. In the late 1960s, he released the single “Night Owl” that secured him a recording contract with Apple Records.
In 1969, he released his self-titled debut album which was his only album with the label. He then signed with Warner Bros. Records and released his sophomore album Sweet Baby James. The lead single “Fire and Rain” immediately became a significant international hit that helped the artist gain his first major exposure as a singer.
It was James’ third studio album that was his first music project to enter album charts in over 20 countries and also receive gold and platinum certifications in some of them. Throughout the 1970s, he signed with the label Columbia Records and earned an estimated $25 million dollars in pre-tax earnings.
Over the remaining years of the 20th century, he continued to gain commercial and critical success with his music. Eventually hitting critical mass and with more than 100 records sold started earning as much as $35 million dollars per year.
Concurrently with touring the world, and consistently releasing new music, from the 1970s through the early 2000s, James Taylor also became an actor in various film and television series. His acting debut came in the 1971 film Two-Lane Blacktop. His most notable appearances on television are in American Playhouse, Sesame Street, and The Simpsons.
In 1997, after six years of not releasing music and after his career had a downfall, Taylor returned with the studio album Hourglass.
In the early years of the new millennium, he released several albums, October Road, A Christmas Album, and Covers that did somewhat good on the album charts. His latest studio projects are Before This World and American Standard from June 2015 and February 2020, respectively. Both albums didn’t receive certifications but managed to top and appear in many charts.
Over the course of his illustrious career, the “Carolina On My Mind” singer has won many awards and nominations. He received his first Grammy in 1972 for the song “You’ve Got a Friend” in the category “Best Male Pop Vocal Performance”.
Overall, he is a five-time Grammy Award winner and in recent years, he has been inducted into several hall of fames such as the Rock and Roll, Songwriter, and Hit Parade Hall of Fames. He is also an honorary doctorate of music from the Williams College, Berklee College of Music, and was ranked 84th in the “100 greatest artists of all time” list by Rollin Stone.
Taylor’s Total Net Worth
James Taylor has earned estimated total career income of $150 million dollars. He has sold over 100 million records. As Taylor has lived in the state of Massachusetts, he will have had to pay around 54% in taxes on his career income. That is, even though Massachusetts has low tax rates, federal tax rates have been high during Taylor’s career. After tax, it is estimated that his career earnings are at around $69 million dollars, having paid $81 million dollars in taxes.
James Taylor has married three times and divorced twice. In total he has four children and is estimated to have paid around $5-7 million in child and spousal support. In his personal life he has likely spent $5-6 million dollars of his career earnings but also earned $30 million dollars from his investments. Taylor purchased a 145-acre estate on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts in the 1970s for around $3 million dollars. Today it is worth around $15 million.
He will have also had to pay around $2-4 million dollars in business related costs. Therefore, it is estimated that James Taylor has a net worth of about $90 million dollars.
Summing-Up
James Taylor is one of the best-selling artists of all time. He began his career in the 1960s right after he graduated from high school. For the past nearly six decades, he has released over twenty studio albums, sold millions of copies, and appeared in hundreds of films, series, and reality shows.
