Musicians
Ray Manzarek Net Worth
Raymond Daniel Manczarek Jr.'s Net Worth as of 2024
$25 Million
Raymond Daniel Manczarek, Jr. was born on the 12th February 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, USA of Polish descent,. He was a musician, singer, producer, film director, and author, but probably best known as a founding member and keyboardist of The Doors, one of the most influential and controversial rock bands in history. His career was active from 1961 to 2013, when he passed away.
So, have you ever wondered how rich Ray Manzarek was? According to authoritative sources, it was estimated that Ray’s net worth was over $25 million, an amount most of which he acquired during his successful career in the entertainment industry. Another source came from the sales of his books.
Ray Manzarek Net Worth $25 Million
Ray Manzarek spent his childhood in Chicago, where he was raised by his parents Helena and Raymod Manzarek, Sr. At the age of seven, he was first introduced to the piano and took piano lessons as he was growing up. He attended Everett Elementary School and matriculated from St. Rita of Cascia High School, after which he enrolled at DePaul University and graduated from the University’s College of Commerce in 1956 with a BA degree in Economics. After this, he moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the film school at the University of California. However, he dropped out and spent his next couple of years as a prospective intelligence analyst for the Army Security Agency in Okinawa and Laos, before being discharged. In 1962 he decided to enroll again in the same program at the University of California, and received a M.F.A. degree in Cinematography three years later. At that time he met his future band co-founder, Jim Morrison.
Just forty days after finishing film school, Manzarek met Morrison purely by chance on Venice Beach in California. After hearing a few songs Morrison had written, the two of them decided to play together, and formed The Doors at that exact moment. They went on to hire Robby Krieger as a guitarist and John Densmore as a drummer. In the following years, The Doors released six studio albums, a live album and a compilation before the untimely death of Jim Morrison from a drug overdose in 1971. Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore continued to play as The Doors and released two more albums before they disbanded in 1973. Regarded as one of the most influential bands of all time, The Doors sold over 30 million albums in the USA, and over 100 million albums worldwide. They were the first American band to garner eight consecutive gold and platinum LP’s, and won many prestigious awards. The Door’s huge success certainly increased Manzarek’s net worth by a large margin.
After The Doors was disbanded, Manzarek went on to release solo albums, “The Golden Scarab” in 1973 and “The Whole Thing Started With Rock And Roll & Now It’s Out Of Control” in 1974, before forming the group Nite City, with which he released two albums, increasing further his net worth.
The surviving Doors members reunited a couple of years for various projects. Besides this, Manzarek collaborated with many other bands and musicians, including Iggy Pop, Echo and the Bunnymen, X, Weird Al Yankovich, Roy Rogers, Skrillex, etc. He also wrote and produced soundtracks for more than 100 film and TV titles. Additionally, he wrote, directed and produced several short and feature length films, all of which contributed a lot to his wealth.
In addition to music and film, he published an autobiography entitled “Light My Fire: My Life With The Doors” in 1998. He subsequently published two novels, “The Poet In Exile” in 2001, and “Snake Moon” in 2006, adding a considerable amount to his net worth.
Speaking about his personal life, Ray Manzarek married Dorothy Fujikawa in 1967. They had a son and three grandchildren. He passed away from a rare type of cancer at the age of 74, on the 20th May 2013 in Rosenheim, Germany.
Musicians
Tracy Byrd Net Worth
Tracy Lynn Byrd was born on 17 December 1966, in Vidor, Texas USA, and is a country music artist, best known for releasing hit songs including “Holdin’ Heaven” and “Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo”. He’s signed to MCA Nashville Records; all of his endeavors have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Tracy Byrd? As of early-2017, sources estimate a net worth that is at $10 million, mostly earned through a successful career in country music. He’s had more than 30 hit singles and has a double platinum certification from one of his albums. As he continues his career it is expected that his wealth will increase.
Tracy Byrd Net Worth $10 million
Tracy attended Vidor High School, and after matriculating in 1985, went to Lamar University, and then to Texas State University to study business. During his time there, he performed with a local band called Rimfire; during a recording session at a local mall, he performed a cover of “Your Cheatin’ Heart” which impressed the studio owner, who then submitted his cover to a local contest, and it led to Byrd being signed by MCA Records in 1992.
In the same year, Tracy released his first single entitled “That’s the Thing About a Memory”. His first few songs would not hit the Top 40 charts; but in 1993 he released the hit “Holdin’ Heaven”., included on his self-titled debut album which would go on to get gold certification. He followed it up with another album release called “No Ordinary Man”, which would become his highest selling album, earning double-platinum certification having sold over two million copies in the US. All of the singles he released from the album charted, and the song “The Keeper of the Stars” won a Country Music Association award for Song of the Year. In 1995, he released his third album – “Love Lessons” – but it had a decline in popularity, although still earning gold certification, and it led to a fourth album entitled “Big Love”. The lead single of the album reached the Top Five along with the song “Don’t Take Her She’s All I Got”. His final studio album for MCA was released in 1997, and was entitled “I’m from the Country”. His net worth was rising steadily.
In 1999, Byrd was signed by RCA Records and worked on the album “It’s About Time”, which featured more country pop songs, but no singles reached the Top 40. Three years later he worked on “Ten Rounds” which went back to the traditional country sound, and this time songs hit the charts, especially “Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo” which became his second number one hit. In 2003, he released “The Truth About Men”, which featured artists such as Blake Shelton and Montgomery Gentry; he had another top 10 hit in “Drinkin’ Bone”. The following year, he released a greatest hit albums, and it was followed by the album “Different Things” which was produced by the Blind Mule label. His net worth continued to improve.
For his personal life, it is known that Tracy is married to Michelle since 1991,and they have two children. The family resides in Beaumont, Texas. In 2009, he took a break from the music industry to take care of his family. Byrd has also been known to do charity work, hosting an annual music event as well as becoming a National Spokesperson for the Special Olympics.
Authors
David Ellefson Net Worth
David Warren Ellefson was born on the 12th November 1964, in Jackson, Minnesota USA, and is a bass player mainly known for his activities with the band Megadeth; he is regarded as the resting-pole and mediator of the band. Ellefson has been active in the entertainment industry since 1982.
How much is the net worth of David Ellefson? It has been estimated by authoritative sources that the outright size of his wealth is as much as $15 million, as of the data presented in the middle of 2017. Music is the major source of Ellefson’s modest fortune.
David Ellefson Net Worth $15 Million
To begin with, Ellefson began his career as a musician at the age of 11. After an initial training which included only keyboard and saxophone, the boy began playing the bass because of the explosion of heavy rock. Then he picked up the rhythm guitar; he was subsequently the leader of several groups in the music scene of the American mid-west.
After playing in several small groups, he moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18. There he met Dave Mustaine, and persuaded him to listen to the demos he recorded with Metallica (a band he just left), Ellefson decided to set up a band with him. This is how Megadeth created their first album “Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!” in 1985, which was a worldwide success during the 1990s. Over the years and changes within the group, Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson became the true backbone of the group. But in 2002, Dave Mustaine announced the end of Megadeth, which created a conflict between the two men. When the group eventually reformed in 2004, David became the leader. Among other things, he worked with the former Megadeth drummer Jimmy DeGrasso in the band F5.
At the beginning of 2010, he and the former Manowar drummer Rhino released the CD “Kingdom of Evil”, through their newly founded melodic metal band Angels of Babylon. In January 2014, an EP called “Altitudes & Attitude” – the name of the band – which Ellefson recorded together with Frank Bello, supplemented by Jeff Friedl (The Beta Machine), came out. In 2014, a debut album was released, called “Booze & Cigarettes”. Overall, all the aforementioned engagements have added sums to the total size of David Ellefson.
Concerning his technique and equipment, Ellefson played with his fingers. However, as Megadeth’s music became more complex and faster, Ellefson preferred to play with a pick. Currently, his bass arsenal consists of a pair of 4-string and 5-string American Deluxe P-Bass respectively, an Epiphone 5-string acoustic bass and 4-string Ovation acoustic bass. On his return to Megadeth, Ellefson began to use bass back Jackson as he did for much of his career with the band. David has used Hartke, Ampeg and Peavey amplifiers during his career.
Finally, in the personal life of Ellefson, he married Julie Foley in 1993.
Musicians
Walter Afanasieff Net Worth
Born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasieff on the 10th February 1958, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Walter is a Grammy Award- winning producer and songwriter, best known to the world for being the producer of the smashing ‘90s hit “My Heart Will Go On”, sang by Celine Dion. Also, he is known for his long-term collaboration with R&B star Mariah Carey.
Have you ever wondered how rich Walter Afanasieff is, as of mid- 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Afanasieff’s net worth is as high as $80 million, an amount earned through his successful career in the entertainment industry, which has been active since the ‘80s.
Walter Afanasieff Net Worth $80 Million
Walter is the son of Russian parents; his father was originally from Leningrad, while his mother was a part of Harbin Russians from China. Once he turned five, he and his family moved to San Francisco, although even before the move he had become interested in music, as he started playing piano when he was only three years old. During high school his musical aspirations became even greater, and he then enrolled at the Conservatory of Music in San Mateo, California.
Walter started his professional music career as a jazz musician, playing keyboards next to the violin player Jean-Luc Ponty, and then started his own band, The Warriors, with the guitarist Jaoquin Lievano, and drummer Narada Michael Walden who is also experienced in producing and songwriting. His collaboration with Narada continued beyond The Warriors, as Walden appointed Walter as a staff producer/arranger and the two scored a massive success when they produced Whitney Houston’s debut album in 1985. Walter continued working beside Narada, and scored collaborations with such artists as George Benson, Kenny G and Lionel Richie, before becoming the lead songwriter and composer for Mariah Carey in 1988. Their collaboration lasted for the next ten years, during which he worked on Mariah’s hits such as “Hero”, “One Sweet Day”, “Emotions”, “Dreamlover”, “Butterfly”, and “My All”, among others, all of which increased his wealth and popularity.
In 1998 he was producer and arranger for Celine Dion’s track “My Heart Will Go On”, which was used as soundtrack for the cult film “Titanic”, and Walter won the Grammy Award in the Record of the Year category for this massive hit. He has continued to work as producer, composer and arranger until present day, collaborating with a number of successful musicians, including Santana on the album “Shaman” (2002), then Darren Hayes on “Spin” (2002), Gladys Knight’s “Gold” (2006), Leona Lewis and her album “Spirit“ in 2007, then Julia Nachalova in 2013, working on her album “Wild Butterfly”, and in 2014 with Richard Marx on the album “Getaway”. Most recently, he worked with Barbara Streisand on the albums “Partners” (2014), and “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway” (2016), still adding steadily to his net worth.
Regarding his personal life, Walter is engaged to his girlfriend of 12 years Katie Cazorla and their wedding is scheduled for November 2017. Previously, he was married to Corine with whom he has three children together.
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