Even 20+ years later, "Thong Song" generates millions of streams and can be regularly heard on the radio and in TV/movies. So you're probably thinking Mark Andrews must still be cashing some impressive "Thong Song" royalty checks, right? Unfortunately for Mr. Andrews, better known by his stage name, Sisqó, the story is a bit more complicated.

Those royalty checks are ACTUALLY going to the guy who wrote Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca".

A Song Is Born

The origins of "Thong Song" can be traced back to two producers, Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson. "Tim & Bob", which is how the duo was known and credited, were at the top of the music world thanks to hits penned and produced for artists like Monica, Boyz II Men, TLC, Madonna, and 112. They actually discovered 112.

Tim & Bob won back-to-back Best R&B Album Grammys for their work on Boyz II Men's "II" (1994) and TLC's "CrazySexyCool" (1995).

In 1996, a singing group from Baltimore called Dru Hill released their eponymous debut album. The album went platinum thanks largely to the singles "In My Bed" and "Never Make a Promise", both of which hit #1 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart.

Dru Hill's 1998 follow-up "Enter the Dru" went double-platinum thanks largely to the smash hit "How Deep Is Your Love," which was used in the end credits scene in the Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker box office monster, "Rush Hour", which was released three months after the album.

Despite their soaring success, for some reason, one of Dru Hill's members, Woody Rock, quit the group in 1999. Months passed while the remaining members debated how to move forward. While they debated, Sisqó told their manager Kenneth Crear that he wanted to put out a solo record. Sisqó actually hoped a successful solo album would reignite and reconnect Dru Hill (btw, technically, this is pretty much what ended up happening).

Kenneth Crear tapped Tim & Bob to create beats and produce what eventually became Sisqó's debut solo album, "Unleash the Dragon".

"Unleash the Dragon" and the album's lead single, "Got to Get It," were unleashed in November 1999. I unironically consider "Got to Get It" a GREAT song to this day. I still pull up on Spotify regularly. In fact, I just hit play.

"Got to Get It" was moderately successful, reaching #40 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it wasn't enough to push the album into the mainstream.

Thong Song

As we stated earlier, the origins of "Thong Song" are traced back to Tim & Bob. Tim created the original demo beat built on a remix of Wes Montgomery's cover version of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby". Tim's demo version featured the actual violins from "Eleanor Rigby".

Sisqó took Tim & Bob's demo and proceeded to tweak it into something of his own.

He hired an LA studio musician named Bruce Dukov, who amalgamated his own version of the "Eleanor Rigby" violins that you hear straight out of the gate and support the song throughout.

Sisqó also set out to pen some lyrics. As he would recount in interviews over the years, Sisqó wrote practically the entire song in one evening – the night before he went to the recording studio – during a sexual encounter with a girl who was wearing a red thong. If you listen to the song now, it's essentially a moment-by-moment retelling of his sexual encounter, leading all the way to climax. Simple, but brilliant.

(Photo by Chris Weeks/Liaison

Livin' La Vida Loca

As you may recall, in three sections of "Thong Song", Sisqó croons:

"Cuz she was livin la vida loca!"

During their recording session, Tim & Bob warned Sisqó that he would need to get permission (or "clear") that line legally, since it was a reference to Ricky Martin's smash hit #1 song "Livin' La Vida Loca", which was released a few months earlier.

According to Tim & Bob, as told in a recent Vice.com documentary, Sisqó assured them that he was friends with Ricky and would get everything cleared.

It's not clear whether Sisqó simply forgot, OR maybe he did say something to Ricky. Unfortunately, Ricky wasn't the person who needed to give permission. The gatekeeper would have been a guy named…

Desmond Child

Desmond Child is one of the most successful songwriters of all time. Here's a quick sampling of some of his hits over the decades:

• "I Was Made for Lovin' You" – Kiss (1979)
• "You Give Love a Bad Name" – Bon Jovi (1986)
• "Livin' on a Prayer" – Bon Jovi (1986)
• "Dude (Looks Like a Lady) – Aerosmith (1987)
• "Poison" – Alice Cooper (1989)
• "How Can We Be Lovers" – Michael Bolton (1998)

For Ricky Martin, Desmond wrote and produced his 1998 song "The Cup of Life" and 1999's "Livin' La Vida Loca".

Desmond Child (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Just like all of us, Desmond couldn't avoid "Thong Song" after it was released on that fateful day in February 2000. When he heard his lyrics used so prominently, his lawyers reached out to Def Jam, the owner of Def Soul, which unleashed "Unleash the Dragon".

Negotiations over rights, permission, and royalties dragged on for months.

Had Sisqó cleared the song BEFORE it became a hit, he probably could have paid Desmond a nominal sum, maybe a few hundred thousand dollars as a flat fee. Now that the song was an earth-shattering global hit, Desmond was in the power position. And he did not want a nominal flat fee. He wanted an ownership stake. A big one.

When the dust settled, Desmond Child ultimately walked away with not just a small cut but the lion's share of the song's publishing rights and, therefore, royalties.

According to Tim & Bob in the Vice documentary, as soon as the judgment came down twenty years ago, their royalty checks shrank to almost nothing. And to this day, Desmond makes more than all three of Tim, Bob, and Sisqó combined from "Thong Song".

That is how the songwriter behind "Livin' La Vida Loca" came to basically own "Thong Song". These are two songs, out of about 100, that have enabled Desmond Child to rack up a net worth of $200 million.

For his part, Sisqó doesn't seem too bothered by the whole experience. As his solo career cooled, guess what happened? Dru Hill reunited! Just as he predicted. He still performs with Dru Hill actively today (when there isn't a pandemic). He's also not sick of performing "Thong Song". He even performed it at his own wedding.

If you're interested in a full oral history of "Thong Song", sit back and enjoy this 18-minute Vice documentary:

Every Breath You Take

If this story sounds familiar, that's because the same thing happened two years earlier with Sting and Puff Daddy.

In 1997, Puff Daddy released "I'll Be Missing You" as a tribute to his friend, the Notorious B.I.G., who was murdered in March of that year. Diddy's song was built on a sample of the guitar riff from "Every Breath You Take", a song Sting wrote for The Police in 1986. Unfortunately, no one from Diddy's Bad Boy label thought to get permission for the sample from Sting BEFORE the song was released. By the time Diddy and Sting's lawyers began negotiating, "I'll Be Missing You" was lighting up global charts.

In the end, Sting received 100% of the song's publishing royalties. Diddy's remix would go on to become one of the best-selling singles of all time, selling more than 7 million copies.

In 2010, Sting's former business manager claimed that "Every Breath You Take" is responsible for more than 1/4 of all the singer's lifetime publishing income, somewhere in the range of $20-$40 million up to that point. The business manager further claimed that the remix earned Sting an average of $2,000 in royalty income every single day of the year from that one song. Around $730,000 per year.

And that was a decade ago, before the rise of all of today's dominant streaming platforms! Would it be safe to assume that Sting has made $60-$80 million to date from his song? Maybe a few million per year in royalties between the two song versions?

Here's the best part (for Sting) – None of Sting's physical contributions to "Every Breath You Take" were used in the final "I'll Be Missing You" sample. The Diddy remix is built on the guitar riff, which was written and performed by Sting's Police bandmate Andy Summers. Unfortunately, Andy never pushed for his share of the song's credit.

What are the lessons from these stories?

1. Always get permission BEFORE something becomes popular.
2. Always get credit when credit is owed!

Read more: How The Guy Who Wrote "Livin' La Vida Loca" Ended Up Owning Sisqó's "Thong Song" Royalties

As an example of her intense privacy, before her recent divorce filing, I don't think anyone in the world knew that Sia welcomed a baby in March 2024. The baby's father is Dan Bernad, whom Sia married in December 2022.

The couple is so private that 90% of the articles being written right now about their divorce are referring to her husband as Daniel "Bernard," as opposed to "Bernad." I found his LinkedIn, and I'm almost 100% positive "Bernad" is correct. Unless he mispelled it on LinkedIn, which isn't impossible!

Either way. The reason we are covering this celebrity divorce is because Bernad just filed a court request asking Sia to pay him $250,856 per month in spousal support, plus another half-million dollars in legal and accounting fees. The numbers are so outlandish that they've transformed what might have been a quiet split into a full-blown tabloid spectacle.

Bernad's $250,000 Monthly Request

In his court filings, Bernad claims he has been left financially stranded since Sia filed for divorce in March 2025. He's asking for $250,856 in monthly spousal support, along with $300,000 for attorney fees and another $200,000 for a forensic accounting investigation. Bernad says he has been unemployed since April, when Sia's company terminated funding for their joint venture, Modern Medicine, which he describes as his only income source.

Bernad further claims that, since losing that funding, he has "no income, no real property, no retirement and very little funds" in his bank account.

According to court documents, Bernard left his career in oncology around the time he began dating Sia, and the couple later decided to open a ketamine treatment clinic together in 2021. He now claims that Sia has stopped financing the business and that he can't return to hospital work because his medical license has lapsed.

Sia's Response and Custody Filing

Sia, 49, filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. In her filing, she requested sole physical and legal custody of the couple's 11-month-old child, Somersault Wonder Bernad, while offering visitation rights to Bernad. Crucially, Sia also checked the box to terminate the court's ability to award spousal support, signaling her intent to block any future financial obligations to her estranged husband.

The divorce also revealed a previously unknown chapter in Sia's life: the quiet birth of her third child in March 2024. The Australian singer-songwriter, who has long guarded her privacy, never publicly announced the pregnancy or birth prior to the court filing.

Inside Their Lavish Lifestyle

In his petition, Bernad described the luxurious standard of living he shared with Sia during their marriage. During their marriage, the couple lived in a 9,500-square-foot mansion set on 1.4 acres in Toluca Lake, California. She bought the home back in 2015 for $5.15 million. In his appeal for $250k per month, Daniel further claims that their lifestyle was supported by private jet travel, fine dining, and 10 to 12 full-time staff members, including chefs, a butler, personal stylists, masseuses, housekeepers, and even an in-house IT technician!! According to Bernad, their monthly household expenses ranged between $400,000 and $500,000.

He argues that this level of luxury reflected the lifestyle Sia provided throughout the marriage and that he now lacks the means to maintain it without her financial assistance. According to his filing:

"Orders are necessary at this time because I am financially dependent on Sia, the breadwinner in our marriage… Sia has the ability to pay me spousal support to maintain our financial status quo."

(Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame )

A Complicated Romantic History

Sia and Bernad married in an intimate ceremony in Portofino, Italy, in 2022, attended by only a handful of guests. Despite the glamorous setting, the couple kept their relationship largely out of the spotlight. Before Bernad, Sia was married to filmmaker Erik Anders Lang from 2014 to 2016—a breakup she later described as leaving her "in bed for three years" due to depression. In 2019, she adopted two teenage boys who were aging out of the foster care system, later revealing that she had also become a grandmother.

Her personal experiences—marked by loss, love, addiction, recovery, and resilience—have long influenced her songwriting and public persona. While she famously hides her face behind oversized wigs, Sia has been remarkably open about her struggles with mental health and the pressures of fame.

From "Cheap Thrills" to Costly Bills

For now, the woman who once sang about not needing "dollar bills to have fun tonight" may be facing one of the most expensive chapters of her life. If Daniel Bernad's requests are granted in full, Sia could be responsible for a one-time payout of roughly $750,000 to cover his legal and accounting fees, plus an ongoing $250,000 per month in spousal support.

It's an extraordinary sum, even by celebrity divorce standards, and a striking contrast to the fiercely independent image Sia has cultivated throughout her career. The singer who built her fortune and creative legacy on her own terms now finds herself in a courtroom battle over the very thing she's spent years trying to keep private. Whether the court sides with Sia or her estranged husband remains to be seen — but one thing is certain: in this divorce, there are no cheap thrills at all.

Read more: No "Cheap Thrills" Here: Sia's Estranged Husband Seeks $250K Per Month While Revealing Their $500k Monthly Expenses

What was this staggering price for arguably the most valuable collection of songs in history? Hundreds of millions? Maybe even a billion? Nope. Michael Jackson bought the Beatles catalog for a grand total of $47.5 million. Adjusted for inflation, that's about $150 million today. At the time, it seemed unimaginably steep. In hindsight, it was laughably cheap. If the Beatles catalog ever hit the open market today, it would surely fetch multiple billions.

Over the decades that followed, the disconnect between catalog value and catalog price steadily disappeared. Artists also became smarter about their contracts, structuring deals that allowed them to retain ownership of their masters, songwriting, or publishing rights. By the 2010s and 2020s, those two trends converged: catalogs became recognized as dependable cash-flow machines, and artists had more equity to sell.

That's why in recent years, even moderately popular acts have sold catalogs for tens of millions of dollars, while superstar catalogs have fetched staggering sums. Bruce Springsteen sold his for a reported $550 million. Bob Dylan's went for an estimated $400 million. Justin Bieber's fetched $200 million.

The narrative that justified this frothy market boom was simple: artists would prefer a massive lump sum today rather than collecting the same money slowly over decades. That's especially true for older stars thinking about estate planning. Meanwhile, the music investment corporations buying these rights — companies like Hipgnosis, Concord, Spirit, and BMG — have the patience to wait those decades out. Sure, they might be overpaying in the short term, but after 20–30 years of steady royalty income, the math works.

At least, that was the assumption. Jason Aldean's catalog sale tells a different story…

(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/ACMA2019/Getty Images for ACM)

Jason Aldean Cashes Out

Jason Aldean isn't a legacy act cashing out late in life. He's a 48-year-old superstar who has helped define modern country music. Since breaking through with his self-titled debut album in 2005, Aldean has released ten more studio albums, six of which have been certified platinum. He's scored dozens of chart-topping singles, landed 43 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, and built a reputation as one of country's most reliable hitmakers and touring headliners. With multiple Academy of Country Music Awards, five Grammy nominations, and a steady run of sold-out arenas, Aldean's catalog represents nearly two decades of consistent commercial success.

In February 2022, Jason joined the growing wave of artists cashing in on the catalog boom. He sold 90% of his recorded music catalog to Spirit Music Group for $100 million. The acquisition covered nine albums released between 2005 and 2019 — including career-defining hits like "She's Country," "Big Green Tractor," and "Dirt Road Anthem." It also included neighboring rights and SoundExchange royalties, which meant Spirit would collect on streams, radio play, and performance-related revenue.

At the time, Aldean framed the deal as a way to ensure his music would be looked after by a long-established company, while still keeping some skin in the game. He retained a 10% ownership stake and his ongoing income interest. His longtime label, BBR Music Group (which had been acquired by BMG in 2017), continued to hold its share of the rights and remained his exclusive recording partner.

Spirit executives hailed the purchase as a cornerstone deal, praising Aldean as one of country music's most influential hitmakers of the 21st century. For Aldean, the sale delivered a once-in-a-lifetime payday — more than $100 million upfront — while still allowing him to control his future releases.

The 2025 BMG Deal

Fast forward just three years to the present, and Spirit Music Group just flipped Aldean's catalog to BMG Rights Management for $250 million.

To be fair, the sale also included a package of rights from 23 other artists, among them the Dropkick Murphys. But by all accounts, Aldean's catalog was the centerpiece — and the bulk of the purchase price.

For BMG, the acquisition was a full-circle moment. The company already owned BBR Music Group, Aldean's longtime label, which had released every one of the albums in question. With Spirit's stake now absorbed, Aldean's nine-album catalog was consolidated back under the same roof that launched his career.

BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld hailed the purchase as a "landmark deal," strengthening the company's footprint in country music while underscoring the lasting value of Aldean's body of work. Aldean himself called it a "full-circle moment," expressing pride that his music had returned to his original label home.

But let's also underscore what just happened: in 2022, Jason was 45 years old and at the prime of his life and career. And yet, at that point, he believed that $100 million was a once-in-a-lifetime offer—the ultimate peak windfall cash-out opportunity. Very smart people likely advised him that Spirit Music was taking on a huge risk in hoping to earn that $100 million back over the coming decades. Hopefully he has since fired those advisors because, in reality… had Jason waited just 36 months, he could have made another $150 million :0

Jason likely did make a little bit of money on this recent sale. He still held a 10% stake, so if that was included, he just got $25 million. Obviously not bad, but that's a quarter of the total he previously made in the 2022 sale.

Jason Aldean's story cuts against the narrative that has defined the catalog boom for the past decade. The assumption was that artists were getting out at the top, cashing in before values cooled, while investment firms had the patience to wait decades to earn back their outlay slowly. That model made sense when a $100 million deal was considered a frothy, maybe even excessive, valuation.

But Spirit's flip of Aldean's catalog shows the market can move much faster — and far more lucratively — than anyone expected. Instead of waiting 20 or 30 years to recoup its investment, Spirit more than doubled its money in just three years. What was supposed to be a patient, slow-burn asset class suddenly looks a lot more like high-velocity private equity.

It makes you wonder if younger artists who have sold their catalogs, for example, Justin Bieber, are feeling a tinge of regret right now…

Read more: Three Years Ago, Jason Aldean Sold His Music Catalog For $100 Million. The Buyers Just Flipped It For $250 Million

And then, in August 2024, the unthinkable happened. The famously feuding brothers managed to put their differences aside — at least temporarily — for one of the most anticipated (and lucrative) comebacks in music history: the Oasis Live '25 world tour.

Officially billed as a 30th anniversary celebration of "Definitely Maybe", the tour kicked off on July 4 of this year. As of this writing, 25 of the planned 41 stadium shows have already been performed, including sold-out nights in Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Toronto, Chicago, East Rutherford, and Mexico City. Still to come: a return to London, then dates in Goyang, Tokyo, Melbourne, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Santiago, and finally São Paulo. They've already performed for 2 million screaming fans.

And while fans have been tearing up during "Live Forever," the Gallagher brothers are likely getting emotional for different reasons. By this point in the tour, they've BOTH already made around $100 million. With another $100 million on the horizon…

(Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Touring Revenue

When the Oasis Live '25 tour was first announced, we at American Billionaire Networths decided to do what we do best: run the numbers. Because while most people were debating whether the Gallaghers could survive 41 shows without a fistfight, we were far more curious about just how much money they might walk away with — assuming, of course, they didn't break up or kill each other along the way.

What we found was staggering.

Based on venue capacities, average ticket prices, and typical revenue splits for artists of this level, we estimated that the tour could gross $425 million in ticket sales. Most of the venues booked — Wembley, Heaton Park, the Rose Bowl, MetLife Stadium — are either football stadiums or festival-style parks, each holding 70,000 to 90,000 fans per night. With 41 shows scheduled and an average face-value ticket price around $140, the nightly grosses started to look wild: roughly $10 million per show.

But what really matters is the band's cut. For top-tier, legacy acts like Oasis, the artist often takes 85% of the net ticket revenue, while promoters like Live Nation or AEG take the remaining 15%. And this wasn't a normal tour — the shows sold out instantly, there was zero marketing risk, and the band had maximum leverage.

85% of $425 million? That's $361 million going to the Oasis camp. That figure alone — before factoring in merch, streaming rights, or anything else — had the potential to make this one of the highest-earning reunion tours of all time.

Of course, big tours come with big costs. Staging, lights, sound, video screens, pyrotechnics, crew, travel, security, trucking, insurance… it adds up. We estimated the full tour's production budget at $60–70 million, which brought their potential net ticket profit to $291 million.

Then There's the Merch

Stadium tour merch is a quiet juggernaut — and Oasis is cashing in. T-shirts are going for $50, fans are lining up early, and many are walking out with multiple items.

At an average of $10 per fan per show, merchandise revenue across the tour is projected to reach $30 million. After cuts and overhead, the band is likely clearing about $25 million in net merch profit.

A Streaming Doc Deal Could Add Even More

This tour is made for documentary treatment. A behind-the-scenes film chronicling rehearsals, family tension, and massive stadium crowds is practically inevitable. If — or more likely, when — a deal is struck with a major streaming platform, we estimate the payday will be worth at least $30 million, based on similar legacy act documentary deals.

Assuming some of that has already been paid upfront (as is common with global streaming rights), it's safe to say Oasis has already pocketed a portion of that payday, with more to come.

The Big Picture: $173 million Per Brother

Adding it all up:

• Ticket profits: $291 million
• Merchandise profits: $25 million
• Streaming doc deal: $30 million

Total projected Oasis take-home: $346 million

Split evenly, that means each Gallagher brother is expected to earn around $173 million from this tour.

As of now — with 25 shows already completed — they've likely already banked over $100 million each, with another $70 million still on the table. And that's assuming they stick to the current 41 shows. If they add more dates, as many expect, every 10 additional stadium shows would likely net each brother another $42 million.

Liam Is Especially Ecstatic

While Liam and Noel are finally splitting the tour earnings 50/50, the financial impact means very different things for each of them — and for Liam, it's nothing short of transformative.

Heading into the tour, Noel Gallagher was already sitting on a net worth of $70 million. As Oasis's chief songwriter and producer, he's long collected the lion's share of the band's publishing income — the most valuable and steady revenue stream in the music business. He owns the rights. He controls the licensing. If an Oasis song is used in a commercial or movie, Noel gets paid. If the Oasis catalog is ever sold in a mega-deal (like Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young's), Noel will walk away with the majority of the proceeds.

Liam, on the other hand, was worth just $6 million in mid-2024 — despite being the voice and frontman of one of the most important bands of the last 30 years.

That gap is largely due to the structure of music royalties. As the lead singer, Liam earns mechanical royalties when Oasis tracks are played, purchased, or streamed — but those payments have plummeted in the streaming era. And because Noel was also a performer on most of the band's biggest songs, even Liam's performer royalties are shared with his brother. Meanwhile, Noel's songwriting and publishing income is his alone.

To make matters worse, Liam's past financial decisions haven't helped. In interviews, he's admitted to spending freely while on the road, prioritizing luxury hotels, designer clothes, and business class flights over savings. A 2014 divorce from ex-wife Nicole Appleton cut his net worth in half. At the time, court documents revealed Liam was worth just $15 million — and half of that went to Appleton. The legal fees alone reportedly exceeded $1 million.

So while both Gallaghers are poised to walk away from this tour with north of $170 million, the money hits differently for Liam. It's not just a huge payday — it's a long-overdue financial reset, and perhaps the first time in decades that Liam has stood on equal footing with Noel — not just on stage, but in the bank.

Beyond the Money, Think About the Moment

Putting the money aside for a moment — and yes, we know that's a lot of money to put aside — just think about how incredible this experience must be for the Gallagher brothers. Before this reunion tour, the last time the Oasis played together was on August 20, 2009.

If either of them had toured solo in the last decade, they MIGHT have played to a few thousand people in a mid-sized theater. Maybe a small arena in a major city.

Here's a little more context: After Oasis broke up, Noel created a new band called Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Can you name a single song by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds? Would you believe me if I told you the band released four albums? And somehow that does not include their 2021 GREATEST HITS ALBUM??!!! Which apparently was a DOUBLE ALBUM with 18 total tracks???!!! FYI, that album sold 100,000 copies.

In the summer of 2023, High Flying Birds went on a co-headlining tour with Garbage. When that tour came through Los Angeles, they played the 5,900-seat Greek Theatre.

Meanwhile, Noel's most recent non-Oasis project was a collaboration band with John Squire appropriately called Liam Gallagher John Squire. They made one album together, released in March 2024. Liam Gallagher John Squire played one date in the US, at the 2,700-capacity Brooklyn Paramount. Their English dates were at venues like the 3,500-capacity O2 Apollo in Manchester or the 3,100 Troxy in London.

Fast forward to 2025, and with 25 shows in the can, Oasis has ALREADY played for 2 MILLION people. Oasis played for 400,000 attendees across five London shows, another 400,000 people across five shows in Manchester, and for 180,000 people across two shows in Los Angeles.

Congrats to the brothers! Keep it up! And add another 40 shows! I missed you the first time around 🙁

Read more: The Gallagher Brothers Have Each Already Made $100 Million Thanks to Their Blockbuster Reunion — And the Tour Isn't Even Over Yet

By American Billionaire Networths's estimation, Calvin Harris has a net worth of $250 million, making him the richest DJ in the world by a comfortable $50 million margin. Suffice it to say, Harris is very, very rich. And that makes the details of his latest legal fight all the more surprising.

In a newly filed arbitration demand, Harris — whose real name is Adam Wiles — has accused his longtime financial adviser, Thomas St. John, of misusing $22.5 million of his money on what his attorneys describe as a "boondoggle" real estate project in Hollywood. The Scottish DJ claims the funds were funneled into an ill-fated development called CMNTY Culture Campus, leaving him in the dark about where the money went and whether he will ever see a return. On the bright side, at least Harris has the kind of fortune that can absorb such a staggering financial loss.

Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images

The Investment and Allegations

According to court filings, Calvin Harris trusted financial adviser Thomas St. John with his money for more than a decade. St. John first presented Harris with documents related to CMNTY Culture Campus, a 460,000-square-foot Hollywood project pitched as a creative hub for musicians, producers, and entertainers. The development was to include recording studios, office space, lounges, and retail areas, and it was marketed as a bold new center for the creative community.

Harris's attorneys allege that when the project began to run low on cash in 2023, St. John pressured the DJ to provide emergency funding. Through a vehicle called Lewis LLC, Harris ended up making a $10 million loan and a $12.5 million equity investment in Hollywood LLC, the entity behind the project. His lawyers claim Harris was given almost no information about where his money was going, aside from DocuSign forms with limited context. They argue the paperwork was "materially misleading" and that the investment was secured through misrepresentation.

Not long after Harris's money was committed, attorneys allege that $11.7 million was transferred to an entity called Dun & Dun LLC, which St. John controls. They further claim that Harris has not received a single repayment or distribution from the deal and that the project has failed to break ground. His legal team described the investment as "at best, a complete boondoggle, and, at worst, a complete fraud."

The Project's Pivot

By 2024, CMNTY Culture Campus had already shifted away from its original vision. Developers announced that, due to shifting market conditions, the project would no longer be built as a creative hub. Instead, the site at Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue would become a high-rise residential development featuring 750 apartments split across two towers, with 90 units reserved for low-income housing. The revised plan also included outdoor spaces, retail areas, and creative zones, marketed as a "one-of-a-kind" residential complex in the heart of Hollywood.

St. John's attorney, Sasha Frid, defended the pivot, arguing that real estate projects across the country have been slowed or reshaped due to rising interest rates and construction costs. He further claimed the Hollywood development remains viable, projecting a completed valuation of more than $900 million. In statements to the press, Frid insisted Harris was not misled but rather "actively pursued this development opportunity" alongside other investors.

Harris, however, maintains that the pivot only underscores how little information he was given at the outset. His attorneys say he was left with scant details, sometimes contradictory updates, and no clear accounting of how his $22.5 million was being used. With the $10 million loan due to be repaid by January 31, 2025 — and no repayment made — Harris contends the financial health of the project is deteriorating and that he has been unfairly strung along.

Legal Fight and What's Next

In September 2025, Harris's attorneys filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court to enforce protections secured through arbitration. The agreement prevents the project's funds from being dissipated while the dispute plays out, reflecting the DJ's concern that his investment could vanish entirely. His lawyers argue that the $10 million loan, plus interest, should have been repaid months ago, but that the principal remains outstanding and no distributions have been made on the equity side.

For his part, Thomas St. John has denied any wrongdoing. His attorney has repeatedly emphasized that Harris was one of several investors and that the project, while delayed, is still moving forward. They point to rising interest rates and other economic headwinds as reasons for the slower-than-expected progress, while maintaining the towers could ultimately be worth nearly $1 billion once complete.

Regardless of how the case is resolved, the dispute highlights the risks entertainers face when mixing music money with speculative real estate investments. Harris may have the wealth to withstand a $22.5 million setback, but for most people, a loss of that scale would be career-ending. With arbitration underway and a court petition on file, the world's richest DJ is now fighting to recover millions he says never should have left his accounts in the first place.

Read more: Calvin Harris – The World's Richest DJ – Accuses Longtime Adviser Of Misusing $22.5 Million On "Boondoggle" Investment

Even if you don't care all that much about Oasis, I think you'll enjoy Oasis: Supersonic. The doc does an incredible job detailing the rise, success, and brutal fighting of the Gallagher brothers.

At some point during that documentary, one of the interviewees (it may have been Chris Martin) describes the Gallagher brothers this way (I'm paraphrasing):

"It's like God made a brain that powered the greatest rock star musician ever. Half the brain powers the greatest rockstar of a generation. The other half powers the greatest songwriter of a generation. Then God put half the brain in one brother and the other half in the other brother and had them form a band. Oh, and then he made them hate each other."

L-R Noel and Liam Gallagher (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

That's Noel Gallagher (left) and Liam Gallagher (right) in the photo above. Going back to the God/brain analogy, Noel is the behind-the-scenes genius songwriter/guitarist, and Liam is the charismatic lead singer/rockstar frontman.

Oasis exploded onto the scene in the early 1990s and immediately took over the British music world. Their 1994 debut album, "Definitely Maybe", became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history. The follow-up, "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?", turned them into global superstars, selling more than 22 million copies worldwide and producing the timeless anthem "Wonderwall." At their peak, they were selling out stadiums across Europe and inspiring a generation of fans, critics, and fellow musicians. They were also fighting like hell.

The Gallagher brothers' legendary infighting became as central to the Oasis mythology as the music itself. Fistfights. Canceled shows. Public insults. Lawsuits. Walkouts. It was chaos — and it was constant.

In 1994, Liam reportedly brought a tambourine to Noel's head during a rehearsal argument. In 1996, they got into a shouting match on a ferry to the Netherlands, and Noel flew home without playing the show. In 2000, after a fight in Barcelona, Noel quit the tour midway through. On multiple occasions, Liam would insult Noel's wife or children, sometimes mid-show, sometimes in interviews. Noel would retaliate by calling Liam "a man with a fork in a world of soup" or comparing him to a "spotty teenager."

At times, the tension was weirdly theatrical. At other times, it was genuinely dangerous. Liam once allegedly smashed one of Noel's guitars and swung it at him backstage. Another time, Liam backed out of MTV Unplugged last minute, citing a sore throat, and then heckled Noel from a balcony with a beer in hand as he performed solo.

By 2009, the tension boiled over for good. Backstage at a festival in Paris, Liam reportedly smashed one of Noel's guitars and tried to attack him with it. Noel walked. The band was over.

In the years since, they've traded barbs in the press and on social media — Liam mocking Noel as a sellout or "potato," Noel accusing Liam of being violent, lazy, or "a professional whiner."

For over a decade, they apparently did not see each other or speak directly. The bad blood was THICK. Thick enough where the idea of a reunion was absolutely out of the question. A non-starter. A ZERO PERCENT possibility.

And then something changed.

In August of last year, Oasis fans (and music fans in general) rejoiced at the stunning announcement that the brothers had apparently reconnected AND agreed to stage a world tour. Their Oasis Live '25 Tour will involve 41 stadium concerts around the country. Against all odds, it happened. On July 4, 2024, in Cardiff, Wales, the brothers Gallagher played together for the first time in 16 years.

After the concert, while fans wept tears of joy as they walked to their cars, backstage, the Gallagher brothers were also weeping tears of joy for a totally different reason: The insane windfall of money they'll both make if they pull this off.

Not only is this one of the most anticipated concert tours in history, but it is sure to be one of the most lucrative. Every single one of the 41 shows on the Oasis Live '25 Tour sold out almost instantly. In the UK alone, more than 1.4 million tickets were scooped up in hours. In the U.S., South America, Asia, and Australia, demand has been just as frenzied.

When the dust settles, Liam and Noel stand to make an absolute fortune. Here's how it may all add up:

Ticket Sales

Across all 41 shows, the average stadium capacity is in the range of 70,000–80,000. Some nights (like Wembley and the Rose Bowl) will push well over 90,000. Conservatively estimating 70,000 tickets per show at an average face value of $140, that puts gross ticket revenue at roughly $9.8 million per night.

Multiply that by 41 shows, and you get a total gross of approximately $400–450 million in ticket sales alone.

So, how much of that goes to Liam and Noel?

In the modern touring business, top-tier artists typically take 85% of the net ticket revenue, with promoters like Live Nation or AEG retaining the remaining 15% in exchange for handling logistics, production support, and advance financial risk. But this isn't just any tour — this is a guaranteed sellout, a global event with zero marketing lift required. Oasis didn't need a promoter to take a chance on them. If anything, promoters were likely falling over themselves to get a piece.

Given that leverage, it's entirely reasonable to assume the Gallagher brothers secured at least an 85/15 split in their favor — and possibly better in key markets.

Assuming they receive 85% of the total ticket gross, that would give the Oasis camp $340–380 million before expenses.

That number alone puts this tour in rarefied financial air — and we're not even counting merchandise or the streaming doc deal yet.

Tour Costs and Net Profit

Stadium tours come with big price tags. Between stage design, audio/video equipment, dozens of crew members, travel, lodging, trucking, insurance, and local staffing, expenses could easily run $1–2 million per show.

If we assume total production and operational costs land somewhere around $60–70 million, Oasis would still be left with a massive net profit of roughly $291 million from ticket sales alone.

And that's before factoring in merch.

Merchandise

If you've ever been to a major stadium concert, you know the merch booths are packed. Fans pay $50 for a T-shirt, $40 for a poster, and another $20 for a beer koozie. This tour will be no exception.

Industry averages suggest about $10 per fan per night in merch spending is realistic, and possibly low, given the nostalgia and pent-up demand. Across 41 shows at 70,000 attendees each, that would equal nearly $30 million in total merch revenue.

After venue cuts and production costs, Oasis could walk away with an extra $20–25 million just from merch.

Bonus Payday: The Streaming Doc Deal

A reunion of this magnitude — especially one involving 25 years of backstage drama, public insults, broken guitars, and near-mythical hype — is tailor-made for a behind-the-scenes documentary.

Think "The Last Dance" meets "Oasis: Supersonic" — only this time, the story includes the actual reunion.

A deal with Netflix, Amazon, or Disney+ could easily be worth $20–30 million, especially if it includes exclusive interviews, rehearsal footage, backstage blowups, and live performance rights.

Final Tally

• Gallagher share of ticket sales (85% of $425 million gross): $361 million
• Tour costs: $70 million
• Net profit from ticket sales: $291 million
• Merchandise profit: $20–25 million
• Streaming documentary deal: $20–30 million
• Total Oasis take-home: $331–346 million

Assuming a 50/50 split between Liam and Noel, each brother stands to earn between $165 million and $173 million. From a single tour. And they might add more dates! Based on the numbers we've just run, every 10 shows they add will earn each brother an additional $42 million.

Read more: How Much Will The Gallagher Brothers Make From Their Oasis World Tour? A Supersonic Champagne Supernova Wonderwall Windfall

For those who are under the age of 30, it's hard to describe how big of a deal this is for the music world. To give you some context, imagine if Taylor Swift was actually a duo with a second Swift sibling named Katie Smith. Now imagine if, at the peak of their fame, Taylor and Katie openly HATED each other. Despite their mutual hatred, for a few years they managed to continue touring and recording music together.

But over time, the bickering became too much, and they broke up. Then Taylor and Katie spent the next 16 years bad-mouthing each other whenever possible.

Then one day, 16 years later, you wake up and hear that the Swift siblings are going back on tour.

That's what just happened with Oasis.

Oh, and it probably didn't hurt that this tour will almost certainly earn each sibling $50-100 million…. assuming they can keep it friendly and last the whole tour. Which is absolutely not a certainty.

(Photo by Paul Bergen/Redferns)

What's The Story?

Oasis shot to fame in 1994 thanks to the album "Definitely Maybe." Their 1995 follow-up "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" was equally massive. They churned out hit after hit, number one album after number one album, sold 70 million records, sold out Wembley, and lived a rock and roll lifestyle.

As you may recall, in the mid-'90s, songs like "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova" absolutely dominated the airwaves. And while their music topped the charts, the explosive sibling rivalry between bandmates Liam and Noel Gallagher dominated headlines. It wasn't just petty squabbles—it was full-blown warfare. In 1994, during a U.S. tour, Liam heckled Noel on stage and changed the lyrics of songs to insult him. Noel responded by quitting the tour entirely, flying home, and temporarily leaving the band.

In 1995, just as they were becoming one of the biggest bands in the world, Liam bailed on a live MTV Unplugged performance at the last minute, claiming a sore throat. Noel sang lead vocals while Liam heckled him from the balcony, chain-smoking and swigging beer. That same year, the band was scheduled to appear on "Top of the Pops," but a fistfight between the brothers backstage nearly canceled the appearance.

In 1996, tensions reached absurd heights during their MTV Video Music Awards appearance in New York, where Liam mocked Noel by singing directly into his face and spitting beer over the stage. In a radio interview, Noel said he wished Liam would "get AIDS and die," later apologizing—but the damage to their relationship continued to grow. By 2000, fights were so frequent that the band reportedly kept two separate tour buses—one for Liam, one for Noel.

The feud wasn't just behind the scenes. Press conferences, interviews, and even album credits became battlegrounds. In 2009, the powder keg finally exploded. Just minutes before a Paris concert, the Gallaghers had a backstage brawl that reportedly ended with Liam swinging a guitar at Noel and smashing it. Noel quit the band immediately after, saying, "I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer."

And that was the end of Oasis… for the next 16 years.

In the years that followed, the brothers waged a relentless war of words through interviews, social media, and the press. Liam repeatedly called Noel a "potato" on Twitter, accused him of killing the band, and labeled him a "sad little dwarf" for refusing to reunite. Noel fired back by mocking Liam's solo career and calling him a "village idiot." In 2017, when both brothers released solo albums within months of each other, the rivalry spilled into promo tours, with Liam claiming Noel's music was boring and Noel accusing Liam of "stalking" him. Things got uglier in 2019 when Noel alleged that Liam had sent threatening messages to his teenage daughter Anaïs, prompting Noel to declare there was "no reconciliation" possible… until now!

Why Is Noel Gallagher So Much Richer Than Liam?

Their success earned the Gallagher brothers riches, but today, Noel is much richer than Liam. We estimate that Noel Gallagher's net worth is $70 million, while Liam Gallagher's net worth is "just" $6 million.

Noel and Liam may be equally famous for their contributions to Oasis, but that does not mean their finances are equal. The primary reason for the difference is the fact that Noel was the band's primary songwriter, both music and lyrics, and producer. As a result, Noel earns the lion's share of royalties generated by the band's music. He also, therefore, owns arguably the majority of the group's valuable asset, Oasis's publishing rights. Those rights control where and when their songs are used in movies/TV shows/commercials, etc., and would be entitled to the vast majority of income if their catalog rights were ever put up for sale. As a performer of their songs, Liam does earn ongoing "mechanical" royalties whenever Oasis' music is purchased or streamed. Unfortunately, mechanical royalties have become significantly less lucrative in the streaming era. When people bought CDs, an artist could get very rich on mechanical royalties alone. And keep in mind, whatever royalties Liam does get, Noel almost certainly gets a share because he is also a performer, whereas Noel's songwriting/producing royalties are not shared.

Liam's Expensive Lifestyle

At the peak of his career, Liam Gallagher had a net worth of around $50 million.

By his own admission and according to court filings, Liam Gallagher spent a fortune on his lifestyle. First off, Liam has admitted that he lived well beyond his means while out on tour. In a 2013 interview, he said:

"I don't go on the road to come back with a big pot of money. I go on the road to have a good time, do great gigs, and enjoy being in a band. And that means staying in good hotels and flying business class."

And then there were his marriages and divorces. Most importantly, his marriage to and subsequent divorce from Nicole Appleton. Liam and Nicole were married from 2008 to 2014. During their divorce proceedings, Liam revealed that at that point his net worth was "just" $15 million. When it was all said and done, after spending a collective $1 million on legal fees, Liam was ordered to pay Nicole 50% of his assets. That presumably left him with around $7.5 million in roughly 2015.

Liam and Nicole's 15-year relationship fell apart when it was revealed that Liam had fathered a love child with American journalist Liza Ghorbani and had been keeping his mistress and his child a secret from his wife and family. In fact, Liam only broke the news about his secret baby to his wife when he found out the press was about to run with the story. He called Nicole Appleton while she was on vacation to tell her his tale of infidelity and deception. Appleton subsequently filed for divorce.

Liam accused his estranged wife of spending huge sums of money in the months before their divorce proceedings out of revenge. The judge in the case cleared her of the charge of revenge spending when Appleton said she was simply spending what she was used to as the wife of an international rock star.

Oh, and Liam's other baby mama, Ghorbani, also took him to court to sue for child support for their daughter Gemma. She was awarded $5,000 a month in addition to the $5,000 a month she was already receiving from Gallagher. Liam was fined another $5,000 by the New York City judge for being MIA at the child support hearing. The rocker cited anxiety and depression as the reason for his absence.

Reportedly, Liam's difficult financial position in the wake of his divorce caused him to reach out to Noel about getting back together. Apparently, Noel's staunch refusal at a time when Liam really, really, really needed the money further cranked up the mutual hatred.

If the rumblings are true and Oasis gets back together, as has been widely rumored in the last few days, it's been estimated that the tour could generate $500 million. That would generate $50-100 million per brother.

Read more: Why Is Noel Gallagher So Much Richer Than His Brother/Oasis Bandmate Liam Gallagher?

Paul McCartney once said that "no one is educated musically until they've heard Pet Sounds," calling it the album that "blew me out of the water." Bob Dylan said of Wilson, "That ear… Jesus, he's got to will that to the Smithsonian."

By the time Brian was 22, he had already written seven Top 10 hits. He would go on to pen over two dozen Top 40 singles for the Beach Boys, including "California Girls," "God Only Knows," "Don't Worry Baby," and "Good Vibrations." His genius influenced everyone from the Beatles to Radiohead to Fleet Foxes. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and honored by the Kennedy Center. His songs are part of the DNA of American culture.

And yet, despite this towering legacy, Brian Wilson spent most of his life watching others get rich off his music.

In one of the most devastating stories in modern music history, Wilson lost the rights to his entire song catalog when he was 27 years old. It did not happen in a hostile takeover or a complicated corporate deal (like the way Lennon and McCartney lost control of the Beatles' catalog), but through a quiet, secretive sale orchestrated by a member of his family…

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Sea of Tunes

In the music world, if you want to make money off a song you've written, you can't just put it out in the world and say, "I own this song, I wrote it, pay me every time you use it, please!" To actually earn money from a composition, you need to form a publishing company. Publishing companies are legal entities that register works, license them, and collect royalties every time they are used—on the radio, in a movie, streamed online, played in a stadium, or covered by another artist.

So, in 1962, at just 20 years old and already becoming one of the most important pop songwriters of his generation, Brian partnered with his father, Murry Wilson, to form a publishing company. They called it Sea of Tunes. Brian owned 90%. Murry owned the other 10%.

Fun side story: In 1963, Paul McCartney and John Lennon formed a publishing company called Northern Songs to control their Beatles catalog. But in a shockingly short-sighted move, they each took only 15% ownership of their own company. The remaining 70% was owned by their music publisher (37.5%), a random investor (12.5%), and their manager (20%). Northern Songs actually went public in 1965, diluting Lennon and McCartney even further. After several other restructurings and sales, in 1985, the catalog came up for sale once again. And that's how Michael Jackson was able to swoop in and outbid McCartney to buy the entire Beatles catalog outright for $47.5 million.

Murry Wilson had been the Beach Boys' original manager. He helped secure their first record deal and guided their early career. But he was also an overbearing and abusive figure, particularly toward Brian. Although the band fired Murry as manager in 1964, he continued to handle parts of their business affairs. Most notably, he remained the representative for Sea of Tunes.

Sea of Tunes was no small operation. It owned the rights to dozens of Brian's masterpieces, including "California Girls," "Don't Worry Baby," "Surfin' U.S.A.," "God Only Knows," and many more. Every time one of those songs was played, performed, or licensed, Sea of Tunes collected the payment, 90% of which went to Brian and 10% went to Murry.

The company was not just valuable. It was Brian's creative legacy, his retirement plan, and his safety net.

Then, in 1969, it was sold without his knowledge.

Sold Behind His Back

In late 1969, Murry Wilson, acting alone, sold 100% of Sea of Tunes to a company called Irving Music for just $700,000. At the time, Brian was 27 years old. He had no idea the deal was happening and never consented to the sale. His signature was included on the paperwork, but he would later claim it was either forged or added without his understanding of what he was signing.

To put the deal in context: $700,000 in 1969 is roughly $5 million today, an amount that may sound substantial, but is a tiny fraction of what the catalog was worth even then. And it's laughably small compared to what those songs would generate over the following decades.

In the years that followed, Sea of Tunes earned well over $100 million in publishing royalties. Brian Wilson did not see a dime of those revenues.

The betrayal cut even deeper because it was carried out by his own father. Murry claimed he was acting in Brian's best interest, believing the Beach Boys' commercial peak was behind them and the catalog would be "worthless" in a few years. Worse still, the deal was handled by Abe Somer, a lawyer who represented both Murry Wilson and Irving Music—an obvious conflict of interest.

What Brian lost wasn't just money. He lost control. He lost the ability to decide how his own music could be used, licensed, or adapted. He lost the ability to say no. He lost the steady stream of royalties that should have supported him for the rest of his life.

The Lawsuit

By the 1980s, Brian Wilson's mental health had deteriorated significantly. He had become reclusive, was battling addiction, and was under the controversial care of therapist Eugene Landy. But as his condition began to stabilize in the early 1990s, Brian and his legal team turned their attention back to the catastrophic sale of Sea of Tunes.

In 1992, Brian Wilson sued Irving Music, the company that had acquired his catalog more than two decades earlier. The lawsuit alleged fraud, misrepresentation, and forgery, claiming that Brian's signature on the original sale documents had been obtained under false pretenses, or possibly forged outright. The suit also highlighted the glaring conflict of interest between Murry Wilson and the company's lawyer, Abe Somer, who had represented both sides of the transaction.

Brian wasn't asking to undo the sale. That ship had sailed. What he wanted was damages, a financial acknowledgment that what had happened to him was not just unethical, but illegal.

Brian's attorneys argued that he had lost decades of earnings and control over his own life's work. In 1994, the court agreed to a settlement. Brian Wilson was awarded $25 million in damages. That's the same as around $55 million in today's dollars.

It was a major win, but a hollow one in many ways. The ruling did not restore his ownership. The catalog remained with Irving Music (which was later absorbed into Universal Music Publishing). The songs were still out of his hands.

What Brian's Songs Were Really Worth

To grasp the full scale of what Brian Wilson lost, just look at what two of his peers earned by doing what he never got the chance to do: sell their catalogs on their own terms.

In 2020, Bob Dylan sold his publishing rights, more than 600 songs spanning six decades, to Universal Music Publishing for $400 million.

A year later, in 2021, Bruce Springsteen sold both his publishing and master recordings to Sony for a record-breaking $500 million.

One could easily argue that the Brian Wilson catalog would be at least as valuable as Bob and Bruce's catalogs. Perhaps even more valuable considering the cultural longevity and commercial appeal of Brian's compositions.

If Brian had still owned his full rights to the Sea of Tunes catalog, there's little doubt it would command a similar price, somewhere between $300 million and $500 million in today's market.

Instead, it was sold behind his back for $700,000 when he was just 27 years old.

A Legend Who Deserved More

In 2021, Brian Wilson finally had a major financial windfall, striking a deal reportedly worth $50 million with Universal Music Group. The deal included rights to his solo work, later-era Beach Boys recordings, and other assets he had retained or regained over the years. It was a meaningful victory, both financially and symbolically, but it still did not include the core 1960s catalog he had lost as a young man.

Brian Wilson spent decades watching others profit from the songs he wrote while battling the mental health challenges that fame, trauma, and heartbreak left behind. And yet, through it all, the music endured. It always will.

He didn't die with the catalog. But he died with the legacy. And no one—not a lawyer, not a publisher, not even his father—can take that away. Rest in peace, Brian! You truly were one in a billion.

Read more: Bob Dylan Sold His Songs for $400 Million. Brian Wilson's Were Sold Behind His Back for $700,000

But by the 2010s, the man who once headlined Woodstock and revolutionized funk was homeless, living in a van on the streets of Los Angeles. His fortune had mysteriously vanished, his royalty checks had stopped, and he was battling legal disputes over who controlled the rights to his legendary catalog. In 2015, he finally appeared to score a major victory—a $5 million lawsuit judgment against his former manager, who had allegedly withheld decades of royalties.

It should have been the moment that turned his life around.

But instead, the money never came.

What happened next is a story of legal battles, industry exploitation, and one of music's greatest cautionary tales.

$50 Million Royalty Lawsuit

By the late 2000s, Sly Stone was in dire straits. News broke in 2011 that he was homeless, living out of a camper van parked in a rough Los Angeles neighborhood. The man who once owned multiple luxury homes was now surviving on small handouts and food from neighbors. In interviews, Stone blamed his former manager, Jerry Goldstein, for his financial downfall.

According to Stone, his royalty checks had mysteriously stopped arriving in the late 1980s. In 2010, after years of financial hardship, he filed a $50 million lawsuit against Goldstein, accusing him of fraud and breach of contract. Stone claimed that between 1989 and 2009, he had not received a single royalty payment, even as his classic songs continued to generate millions in licensing fees, record sales, and airplay.

The case went to trial in 2015, and Stone won—or so it seemed.

A Los Angeles jury ruled in his favor, awarding him $5 million in damages. The verdict found that Goldstein and his company, Even St. Productions, had essentially funneled Stone's royalties into their own accounts, leaving the musician with nothing. The ruling was hailed as a long-overdue victory for a once-great artist who had been wronged by the industry.

For the first time in decades, it seemed like Sly Stone was about to get his financial due.

But that victory was short-lived.

Just months after the verdict, Goldstein's legal team appealed the ruling, claiming that the jury had "gotten it completely wrong." In December 2015, the judge overturned the $5 million award, citing a crucial technicality: Sly Stone had legally signed away his royalty rights in 1989.

According to the ruling, Stone had willingly assigned his royalties to Goldstein's company, Even St. Productions, in exchange for a 50% ownership stake in the business. Goldstein's lawyers argued that the arrangement had been mutually agreed upon and that Stone had, in effect, been paying himself through his stake in the company.

Despite strong evidence that the contract had been misleading or exploitative, the court ruled that Stone no longer owned the rights to his royalties, which meant he had no legal claim to the $5 million judgment.

The money was gone.

Stone's lawyers appealed again, and in 2016, a California appellate court granted him a new trial, briefly reviving hope. But by 2017, the case was settled out of court. Stone never received the lump sum payout, though the settlement allowed him to regain control of some of his music rights, including the name "Sly & The Family Stone."

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

The Michael Jackson Connection

One of the most fascinating aspects of Sly Stone's legal and financial saga is its connection to Michael Jackson.

Ironically, it was Paul McCartney who first taught Michael about the publishing rights business. In 1982, while recording the song "Say, Say, Say" together in London, Michael briefly lived with Paul and Linda McCartney. After dinner one night, Paul retrieved a thick leather book from a shelf. The book, Paul explained, listed every song that he had purchased in the previous decade. As if that wasn't impressive enough, Paul bragged that in the last year alone, he had made over $40 million in royalties ($96 million in 2013 dollars) from his song rights. When Paul was done speaking, Michael looked at him and said:

"Someday, I'm gonna own your songs."

Paul laughed and responded:

"Great, good joke!"

Michael was not joking.

Between 1982 and 1984, he spent millions of dollars buying publishing rights from a wide variety of artists. One of his first purchases? The publishing rights to Sly & The Family Stone's catalog.

By purchasing Sly's songwriting catalog, Jackson's company, MIJAC Music, gained control over hits like "Family Affair," "Dance to the Music," and "Hot Fun in the Summertime." This meant that every time these songs were played, covered, or licensed for a commercial, Jackson's company (not Sly Stone) earned the publisher's share of royalties.

Jackson used the same strategy to purchase the Beatles' catalog in 1985, famously outbidding Paul McCartney for control of 251 Lennon-McCartney compositions. This made him one of the most powerful figures in music publishing, earning millions from classic songs he didn't write but owned the rights to.

So, what does this have to do with Sly Stone's lawsuit?

Sly's lawsuit wasn't about the publishing rights Jackson owned. It was about the writer's share of royalties—the money Sly should have personally received for composing those songs. While MIJAC Music controlled the catalog, Sly should have still been entitled to a portion of the revenue as the original songwriter. But due to the contract he signed with Goldstein's company in 1989, he had unknowingly signed away his own songwriter royalties.

Ironically, in 2010, when Sly Stone was struggling financially, the Jackson estate purchased his remaining catalog interests for $1 million. This means that Sly himself had to sell off more of his rights to stay afloat, ensuring that he would never regain full control of his catalog. By 2019, the Jackson estate fully secured the U.S. publishing rights to Sly's catalog in a final legal agreement, ensuring that Sly Stone would never again control the bulk of his music rights.

In short, while Michael Jackson's purchase of Sly's catalog didn't directly cause Sly's financial troubles, it meant that by the time Sly was desperate for money, he had almost nothing left to sell.

In February 2024, Sony paid $600 million for a 50% stake in MIJAC Music. This sale actually did not involve the Beatles' catalog. Long story short, as you now know, Michael bought the Beatles' song catalog in the 1980s for around $50 million. In 1991, Sony paid Michael $100 million to form a new company called Sony/ATV, which also merged some of Sony's music assets into the new entity. Sony/ATV was worth $1-2 billion at the time of his death, but Michael had borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars against the value to fund his lifestyle in his later years. In 2016, Sony acquired the other half from Michael's estate for $750 million. Today, Sony/ATV controls over 2 million songs and is worth 2-4 billion.

Final Years and Death

In his final years, Sly Stone lived a relatively quiet life in Los Angeles, surrounded by a small circle of family and friends. Though he never regained the vast wealth he once enjoyed, a 2016 settlement allowed him to reclaim some of his intellectual property rights, including the name "Sly & The Family Stone," and modest royalty checks helped stabilize his situation. His 2023 memoir, "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," offered a raw, unfiltered look into his life, career, and the exploitation he endured in the music industry.

In 2025, Questlove directed a documentary titled "Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)," which explored Sly's lasting influence and the weight of genius in a system that often discards its visionaries. The film featured interviews with George Clinton, D'Angelo, Chaka Khan, Q-Tip, and original Family Stone members like Larry Graham and Jerry Martini. It helped reintroduce Sly to a new generation of musicians and fans, many of whom had only known his music through samples and tributes.

Sly Stone died on June 9, 2025, at the age of 82, after a prolonged battle with COPD and other underlying health issues. He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his three children, his closest friend, and his extended family.

His legal saga remains one of the most cautionary tales in the music industry—a story of lost royalties, bad contracts, and a system that often fails the very artists who built it.

Sly Stone never got his $5 million, but at the very least, he got his name back—and perhaps, at long last, the recognition he always deserved.

Read more: Sly Stone's Battle for His Fortune: The Royalty Lawsuit And A $5 Million Victory That Disappeared

But when Universal Music Group (UMG) refused their termination request, and then pulled the albums from streaming platforms entirely, Cheryl "Salt" James and Sandra "Pepa" Denton decided to fight back. Earlier this week, they filed a federal lawsuit accusing UMG of violating copyright law, weaponizing their own catalog against them, and holding their music "hostage" in retaliation.

This may sound like a rare feud between a music label and a pioneering rap act. It's not. It's the latest chapter in a long-running, often bitter history of artists discovering that the rights to their biggest hits don't belong to them — and doing whatever it takes to reclaim what should've been theirs all along.

What Are Termination Rights?

In 1976, Congress overhauled U.S. copyright law for the first time in nearly 70 years. The Copyright Act of 1976 gave creators a powerful — though often misunderstood — legal tool: the right to terminate a transfer of copyright 35 years after the fact. In theory, this allows artists who signed away their rights early in their careers (often under lopsided contracts) to take back control later in life. But there's a catch: labels and publishers have fought hard to challenge or delay these efforts, usually by arguing that the artists were simply "work for hire" employees.

Salt-N-Pepa are now facing that exact challenge. In their lawsuit, they say UMG rejected their termination claim without merit, asserting their albums were "works made for hire" — even though the duo's original contracts make no such claim. And when the duo wouldn't back down, UMG allegedly retaliated by removing their earliest albums from U.S. streaming services, effectively cutting off a major revenue stream.

Their lawyers say this isn't just a business dispute — it's a fight over legacy, justice, and artist ownership. And they're far from the only ones to take this fight public.

Sandra and Cheryl in 1988 (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

The "Y.M.C.A." Lawsuit That Changed Everything

Victor Willis, the original lead singer of Village People, knows this fight well.

In the late 1970s, Willis wrote the lyrics to hits like "Y.M.C.A.", "In the Navy", and "Go West." But like many young artists, he didn't own the songs. The rights were held by production companies controlled by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo. For decades, Willis earned just $30,000–40,000 a year in royalties despite writing some of the most iconic songs of the disco era.

That changed in 2011 when Willis invoked the Copyright Act's termination provision. A brutal four-year legal battle followed. Lawyers for the labels argued that Willis had no ownership rights — that he was just a hired performer. But in 2015, a federal jury sided with Willis. He won back 50% ownership of 33 songs, including "Y.M.C.A."

Since that ruling, Willis has said he now earns millions annually. He even negotiated exclusive rights to perform and license the Village People name. Where he once made pocket change from his biggest hits, he now holds half the value of a catalog potentially worth tens of millions.

Willis's victory wasn't just personal. It set a legal precedent for what artists can reclaim — if they're willing to fight long and hard enough.

Paul McCartney's 40-Year Quest To Get Back Beatles Songs

Paul McCartney's journey to reclaim his music has been longer, quieter, and more complicated.

In 1963, McCartney and John Lennon signed away their publishing rights to a company called Northern Songs. At the time, they were young, unknown, and desperate for airplay. The deal would haunt them for decades. Their catalog passed through multiple hands, including ATV Music, then Michael Jackson, and eventually Sony/ATV. Along the way, McCartney had multiple opportunities to buy it back and didn't, sometimes because of money, sometimes out of concern for how it would appear to the Lennon estate.

In 2017, McCartney filed a federal lawsuit against Sony/ATV to assert his right to reclaim ownership under U.S. termination laws. Rather than risk a damaging courtroom precedent, Sony settled. Since then, McCartney has been quietly reclaiming the U.S. publishing rights to his songs one by one, starting with early hits like "Love Me Do." By 2026, virtually the entire U.S. share of the Lennon, McCartney catalog will be back in the hands of the songwriters and their estates.

Globally, however, Sony still controls most of the Beatles catalog. And unlike Victor Willis, McCartney didn't win full ownership — he negotiated it back slowly, piece by piece.

Why Are "Masters" So Valuable?

At the heart of Salt-N-Pepa's lawsuit is a fight over the ownership of their masters — a term that refers to the original sound recordings of a song or album. Whoever owns the masters controls how the music is licensed, streamed, sampled, or synced in TV, film, and commercials. It's the foundation of long-term royalties and passive income in the music business.

Historically, record labels have owned the masters by default, especially in deals signed by young or unproven artists. But as legacy catalogs become increasingly valuable in the age of streaming and sync licensing, ownership of masters has become one of the most lucrative assets in the entertainment industry.

In the last few years alone, there have been a number of massive catalog deals:

• In 2021, Bob Dylan sold his master recordings to Sony for an estimated $200 million (after selling his publishing rights separately for around $300 million).
• Bruce Springsteen sold both his publishing and masters to Sony for a combined $500 million in 2021.
• Justin Bieber sold his publishing and neighboring rights to Hipgnosis for a reported $200 million in 2023.
• Dr. Dre sold a portion of his music income stream — including royalties from The Chronic — in a deal reportedly worth $200 million.

The value of a catalog typically depends on how much income it generates annually. Buyers often use a multiple — sometimes 10x to 20x annual earnings — to estimate what a collection of masters is worth.

What Could Salt-N-Pepa's Masters Be Worth?

While Salt-N-Pepa's catalog doesn't rival the billion-dollar portfolios of Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen, it includes some of the most iconic and enduring hits in hip-hop history — "Push It," "Shoop," "Whatta Man," and "Let's Talk About Sex." These songs have been streamed billions of times, featured in countless commercials and films, and remain cultural staples nearly four decades after their release.

If the masters are generating $500,000 to $1 million per year, which is a reasonable floor given their popularity, sync potential, and global streaming audience, the catalog could be valued between $7 million and $20 million, using standard industry multiples of 12x to 20x annual revenue. That estimate could go even higher if there's significant interest from buyers seeking culturally resonant, evergreen catalogs with cross-generational appeal.

In short, Salt-N-Pepa aren't just fighting for control of their sound — they're fighting for a multi-million-dollar asset that could fund their families and legacies for generations.

Read more: Salt-N-Pepa Are Suing To Regain Control Of Their Masters