by Ed Keeble Contributor | Photos by WENN.com

Musicians' earnings at Woodstock 1969 revealed, they're shocking

Let's not forget about four decades of inflation now

 

Woodstock 1969 artist earnings revealed Photo: WENN.com

The amount that musicians earned at the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival has been revealed, and it's pretty surprising.

Widely regarded as one of the most important events in music history, the literal crest of Hunter S. Thompson's hippie "wave", the event took place in August 1969, with half a million people in attendance. Acts on the bill included legends like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead - just to mention a few. 

The breakdown of earnings is quite shocking when viewed alongside todays booking fees. Jimi Hendrix for example was $18,000, which scales to around $112,000 in 2015. Now compare that to Justin Timberlake's whopping $1 million and you have a rough idea how things have evolved.

Considering you could have The Who play for around £3,000, things have certainly changed. 

Find the full list of earnings below (via ultimate guitar):

1. Jimi Hendrix – $18,000
2. Blood, Sweat and Tears – $15,000
3. Joan Baez – $10,000
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival – $10,000
5. The Band – $7,500
6. Janis Joplin – $7,500
7. Jefferson Airplane – $7,500
8. Sly and the Family Stone – $7,000
9. Canned Heat – $6,500
10. The Who – $6,250
11. Richie Havens – $6,000
12. Arlo Guthrie – $5,000
13. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – $5,000
14. Ravi Shankar – $4,500
15. Johnny Winter – $3,750
16. Ten Years After – $3,250
17. Country Joe and the Fish – $2,500
18. Grateful Dead – $2,500
19. The Incredible String Band – $2,250
20. Mountain – $2,000
21. Tim Hardin – $2,000
22. Joe Cocker – $1,375
23. Sweetwater – $1,250
24. John B. Sebastian – $1,000
25. Melanie – $750
26. Santana – $750
27. Sha Na Na – $700
28. Keef Hartley – $500
29. Quill – $375


Ed Keeble

Contributor

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