Don’t all music stars spend lavishly and throw TVs out of hotel windows? Apparently not. Here are six high-profile high earners who’ve got frugal in their blood.
Eminem
In 2010 when the The New York Times asked Eminem what he did with all his money, he said, “Save it… I invest. I always try to be smart. I try to treat all the money I’m making like it’s the last time I’m going to make it.” These days he’s so famous for his frugality, some guy even made a parody video about it.
Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger says his very British 50s upbringing taught him not to be wasteful. “We don’t like throwing computers away as soon as they don’t work…” he told The Guardian. “We like cars to be repaired instead of junked. We’re not brought up like Puff Daddy to be taking 30 free-loading friends to the south of France and spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on Cristal.”
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga also blames her upbringing for her thrifty habits. Various sources on the trashy interwebs trumpet her net worth at around US$275 million, but this 2012 Gaga tweet tells the inside story: “Why do people look at me like I’m crazy when I use coupons at grocery (stores) or try bargaining at retail, I’M FROM NEW YORK WHERE IS THE SALE RACK.”
Dave Grohl
Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl says he’s afraid to spend money. In an oft-quoted 2003 interview with USA Weekend he says, “Knowing I don’t even have a high school diploma to fall back on, I’m going to be really careful with what I’ve got.” He also told Red Bull that he drives a five-seater family car and doesn’t think about investing. “I’m not a banker, I’m a musician,” he says.
Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake is openly frugal, telling The Guardian: “I’ll probably shop [for clothes] for myself once a year, and that will last me for the rest of the year.” Mind you, we’ll never know how much he spends in that one shopping spree because he believes it’s “uncouth to talk about money”.
Ed Sheeran
And Ed Sheeran, who earned £37M just in the 12 months to June 2017, is even less inclined to shop. In 2014 he revealed that he looks for bargains like cheap DVDs, and only allows himself £1,000 a month to spend, which he keeps in his old Barclays student account. “If I had all my money in one account I would spend all of it,” he says.