NEW YORK -- He's 'bad' and nobody can beat it.
Michael Jackson, who is expected to rake in $65 million in 1989, is the entertainment world's highest-paid performer for the second straight year, Forbes Magazine says.
The 31-year-old star earned $60 million in 1988 for a tidy two-year gross of $125 million, said the magazine in its Oct. 3 issue.
Jackson has made only two albums in the past seven years, 'Bad' in 1987 and 'Thriller' in 1982, but those two recordings combined have sold some 60 million copies, earning him $100 million. Jackson's 'Bad' concert tour alone grossed more than $125 million.
Steven Spielberg, 41, who should earn about $64 million in 1989, was No. 2 on the Forbes list of highest-paid entertainers, which ranks stars by their combined gross income for the two-year period 1988 and 1989.
The director of this year's hit movie 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' is expected to make about $105 million for the two years, moving him up one rank from his third-place position on last year's list.
Spielberg, who has had a hand in four of the top 10 grossing films of all time, made nearly $70 million selling 'E.T.' videotapes in 1988 and 1989.
Spielberg's success knocked Bill Cosby, 52, down one notch to the third-place position on the Forbes list.
Cosby, a one-man entertainment conglomerate, is expected to earn some $60 million this year from records, videos, commercial endorsements, three bestsellers and the phenomenal success of 'The Cosby Show.' He is listed as having $95 million gross income for the years 1988 and 1989.
Cosby is expected to earn $167 million by 1992 from the syndication fees from his half-hour situation comedy.
The youngest heavyweight champion in history, 23-year-old Mike Tyson, will haul down some $71 million in two years -- $26 million in 1989 and $45 million last year -- to place him in the No. 4 position on the list, up from No. 8 last year.
Charles M. Schulz, 66, creator of the syndicated cartoon 'Peanuts' and perhaps the most popular artist in the world, bumped comedian Eddie Murphy out of fifth place on the Forbes list with a two-year total of $60 million.
The 28-year-old Murphy wound up in the No. 6 spot on this year's list with a two-year total of $57 million.
Rounding out the top 10 is Pink Floyd, the three-member rock group that is expected to earn $56 million for the two-year period, vaulting the band to the No. 7 position from 19th last year.
The Rolling Stones, who did not make last year's list, are No. 8 in 1989, with projected gross two-year earnings of $55 million.
Talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey, 35, moved up to the 9th position from No. 14 last year, with an expected two-year income of $55 million.
And two-year earnings of $47 million was good enough to get singer George Michael the No. 10 spot, up from 13th last year.
