Adele tops Forbes’ 30 under 30 music list

Johannesburg: Adele fended off competition from Swedish DJ Avicii and Justin Bieber to emerge as the “brightest star” of her generation in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Music list.

The 24-year-old singer was marked for inclusion after her mega hit album ‘21’ sold over 23 million copies worldwide, News24.com reported. Meanwhile, One Direction rose from anonymity to become the biggest boy band in the world in two years, after being put together on British TV talent show ‘The X Factor.’ British folk rock band Mumford and Sons have sold over a million copies of each of their albums ‘Sigh No More’ and ‘Babel’ in America. Not all the people in the 30 are best known as performers, with 26-year-old songwriter Skylar Grey - responsible for the hook of Eminem and Rihanna’s huge hit ‘Love the Way You Lie’ - included, as well as producer Benny Blanco, 24, who has songwriting credits on two of the year’s biggest singles, Maroon 5’s ‘Payphone’ and Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds.’ Also sitting alongside Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Rihanna on the list is Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, who rounded up a host of A-list stars including Florence Welch, Kelis and Ne-Yo for his latest album, ‘18 Months.’ Forbes’ 30 Under 30 music stars list of 2012 are: Adele Avicii Justin Bieber Benny Blanco Drake Daniel Ek Lady Gaga Skylar Grey Calvin Harris Matt Jones Kesha Wiz Khalifa Adam Kluger Kendrick Lamar Tom Lehman, Ilan Zechory Bruno Mars Mac Miller Marcus Mumford Frank Ocean One Direction Katy Perry Delta Rae Rihanna Elias Roman, Peter Asbill, Elliott Breece, Eric Davich James ‘J’ Sider Skrillex Taylor Swift Sam Tarantino, Josh Greenberg Alex White Sara Winter ANI