Harry Nilsson – $7 million
Greatest Hits: Without You, Coconut
As one of the few successful rock artists of his age, Harry Nilsson made history, never playing a major concert or touring, but enjoying significant commercial success. Known for his Great American Songbook style, mixed with Caribbean sounds, he is an artist. As a tenor, he had a three-and-a-half-octave range. He had an enduring impact on Indie rock. He wrote songs for bands such as The Monkees. Nilsson Schmilsson is his most commercially successful album.
Curtis Mayfield – $10 million
Greatest Hits: People Get Ready
Curtis Mayfield was a member of the big band The Impressions of the 1950s and 1960s, renowned for its civil rights activism and songs. Born in Chicago, as part of a gospel choir, he began singing. When he met Jerry Butler, a fellow artist, he joined the Impressions. He wrote songs that, because of their social consciousness, became part of the civil rights movement. His album “People Get Ready,” on Rolling Stone’s Greatest All-Time Songs, was listed as #24. He directed Super Fly as well.