Calculating the Records Beyonce Has Broken

There are a few facts that we inhabitants of the Earth have come to accept: The sky is blue, grass is green, and Beyonce is the queen. These are things we don't have to question, but instead understand that it's just the way it is. And now that we've received confirmation that new Beyonce music is on its way, I'm pretty stoked for the next era of Bey. Not that she actually needs to worry about trivial things like creating a product in exchange for money — between her sold out world tours and super secret release of her fifth album Beyonce last December, Blue Ivy's mom is officially the highest paid female musician in existence right now.

According to Forbes, the 33-year-old spent 2014 more than doubling her income from 2013, pulling in $115 million. That number is so intangible to most of us that it's hard to comprehend, so let's talk about this comparison: Taylor Swift, who's in second place, made $64 million — the most Swift has ever made in a single year. Knowing the success of Swift and then seeing the gap between her earnings and Beyonce's is kind of making me wish I could ask either of them to pay off my student loans.

This isn't the first record Bey's broken in the recent past, either. She's topped all kinds of lists because of her unique combo of talent and business savvy, and these are just a few.

Beyonce Holds The Record For Fastest Selling Album on iTunes

How many albums does it take to make that happen? As it turns out, 828,773 in the first 72 hours. And considering that her visual album was sold with exactly zero promotion and as a complete surprise, those kind of numbers become even more impressive. Of course, we have to consider that the album was sold exclusively through iTunes for those three days, but still. Amazing.

Beyonce is the Highest Paid Black Artist of All Time

Before the first half of 2014 was up, Beyonce had been named the highest paid black artist of all time by Billboard by the time her Mrs. Carter tour was finished. As Bey happily counted her cash, she surpassed the kind of paychecks Michael Jackson and Prince would've picked up in the height of their careers — and this was before she and Jay-Z even set off on their sold out On The Run tour.

She won the most Grammys in a single night for any female

It's not just us commoners who can appreciate the wisdom of "Single Ladies." The Grammys appreciated it, too — so much that, in 2010, the six Grammys that Beyonce won (including Song of The Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance) are the most that any female has ever taken home in a single night. The only artist who has ever come close is Adele, who tied with Beyonce's six awards in 2012.

In Beyonce's own words, "Bow down, bitches."

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