Here's How Much Dwight Yoakam Is Really Worth
Dwight Yoakam is considered to be one of country music's legendary vanguards, despite being at odds with Nashville's pop-crossover craze when he started playing in the '70s. The Pike County, Kentucky native — weaned on the state's signature bluegrass sound and traditional country — initially bombed in Tennessee at a time when neophytes were beating a path to Music City USA to become the next Kenny Rogers or Reba McEntire. Instead, Yoakam hunkered down in Los Angeles, where country music was a niche curiosity at best, finding work opening for alt-rockers like X and The Blasters, per GQ. Tenure in the post-punk circuit created a following among an unlikely contingent of malcontents that sneered at the disingenuous airs of commercial sounds, but dug Yoakam's earnestness in his brand of what he himself has dubbed "hillbilly music." He's been a pioneering force in country music ever since.
Admittedly, Yoakam hasn't had a hit in years, but after selling over 30 million albums worldwide, including a triple-platinum record called "This Time," the dude is hardly starving. He still earns royalties from sales and airplay of his songs and albums that put him on top. Yoakam hasn't toured as often as most country music stars, yet still can pack folks in to the rafters during his junkets. He also enjoys a multitude of other revenue streams we'll dive into below, all of which have generated what Celebrity Net Worth has estimated to be a personal fortune pegged at $45 million.
Dwight Yoakam drove trucks for a living
Shortly after Dwight Yoakam was born in 1957, his family moved to Columbus, Ohio. Growing up, he learned to play guitar while listening to traditional records from Johnny Cash to Earl Scruggs. After a brief stint at college and going nowhere in Nashville, Yoakam packed everything into his Volkswagen and relocated to the west coast around the age of 20. What Yoakam did for work during his more formative years is hard to say, but it was enough to purchase his compact VW Super Beetle. It's likely he bought a used '70s model, which today might cost as low as in the $9,000 range, according to listings in Classic Cars. Accounting for reverse inflation, back then, Yoakam might have purchased an old VW for around $2,000.
As for all those gigs in Los Angeles, Yoakam probably didn't pocket much at all. According to the Los Angeles Times, late in the '80s, several clubs forced bands to pay for the privilege of paying, although there's no evidence to suggest that Yoakam was ever put into that situation. Instead, Yoakam — then residing in a Hollywood Hills garage — made a living by driving freight trucks across California, per GQ, which today would amount to an annual salary of $50,000 for those just starting out. Adjusting for inflation, back then he would likely have been earning less than $15,000 a year, which would have allowed Yoakam time to put money aside to record and distribute his first release.
His indie outing led to his first million
In 1984, Dwight Yoakam put out his indie effort, a four-song EP called "Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc." that he sold mostly from the trunk of his car after gigs. Word of mouth about Yoakam's shows, especially at cowpunk hangout The Palomino Club, prompted Warner Music subsidiary Reprise Records to sign the performer. By 1986, the label reissued "Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc." as a full-length album with four additional songs that hit gold status and landed two Grammy nominations the following year, turning Yoakam into a country music star.
Today, "Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc." remains a Yoakam bestseller, having since reached double-platinum with more than 2 million copies sold — exceeded only by the triple-platinum 1993 outing "This Time" topping out after sales of more than three million units. Over the years, his discography has included five more platinum releases and four gold records, amounting to a staggering 30 million units sold.
But Yoakam's share of those sales is a matter of debate. According to Recording Connection, an act could get anywhere between 10-15% of revenue from retail transactions. For the sake of simplicity, by assuming each record sold for $10, Yoakam would have pocketed at least $30 million. But take away up to half a million dollars for costs for each of the 11 albums Yoakam recorded, and he would likely have wound up with $24,500,000. Even after using elementary and speculative math, the calculations still reveal he's made a pretty penny.
Dwight Yoakam sued his record company
With the multi-millions he's earned through record sales and star recognition via two Grammy Awards (out of 18 nominations), Dwight Yoakam has done very well for himself. Ditto for the Warner conglomerate, although the two parties have locked horns on occasion. In 1986, the label wanted Yoakam to delete any hillbilly references from his first album "Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc." Yoakam held his ground. "They were ashamed of the term 'hillbilly,'" Yoakam said to PBS SoCal. "They thought it was derogatory. I said, 'Oh no, that's something I'm proud of.'"
That hillbilly also sued Warner in a dispute surrounding his previous work. The short story goes that Yoakam filed papers against the company in 2021, following a Copyright Act stipulation that artists can reclaim their work after 35 years. That time span involved the release of "Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.," one of Yoakam's best-selling albums. But according to court docs obtained by Reuters, Warner claimed that Yoakam missed a one-week window in trying to get his music back, while a Rhino subsidiary that released two of his singles claimed they weren't to be included in royalty earnings because they were issued as promotion pieces. The following year, the lawsuit was settled with financial disclosures kept private.
There's no telling how much Yoakam would benefit from copyright control, but given that Bob Dylan sold his music catalog to Sony Music in January 2022 for up to $200 million, Yoakam could be sitting on a gold mine.
The country music star made some coin while touring
Anyone who's seen Dwight Yoakam in concert or videos like "Honky Tonk Man" and "Pocket of a Clown" not only gets an earful of his rocking treatment of traditional motifs, but are also visually treated to his signature sashays and wiggles onstage. But going over records of past live appearances, such as postings on Concert Archives, it seems that Yoakam has played less than 300 shows since 1985. Garth Brooks has performed more than twice as many concerts since 1990. Though not as prolific as most contemporaries, how much Yoakam makes per show in the absence of financial statements would be educated guesses at best, given that factors like seating capacity, ticket prices, and touring costs have to be built into the equation. That said, one Alabama country FM radio website claimed that Yoakam would perform a wedding or private party for as little as $75,000. High-rollers expecting more might pay as much as $150,000.
If true, Yoakam didn't likely have an opportunity to entertain private bookings more recently, due to the pandemic that put everyone's concert itineraries on life support in 2020. Back then, like most enterprising musicians, Yoakam sought unique ways to perform, such as hooking up with Lyle Lovett to perform a streaming show for fans who each paid $10 to log on and view the virtual concert. But since the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, Yoakam's been playing more, this time in a tour slated to end in Wisconsin in September 2023.
Sling Blade turned Dwight Yoakam into a viable actor
Sometimes, a honky tonk man gets to play the heavy when Hollywood beckons. Such was the fortune for Dwight Yoakam, who landed his first big-screen role as abusive boyfriend Doyle Hargraves in Billy Bob Thornton's 1996 Oscar-nominated "Sling Blade." The malevolent role nudged upward Yoakam's stock as an actor, whose previous appearances were limited to made-for-TV movies. "Billy Bob wrote that screenplay and amazingly, he wrote characters that had an enormous amount of relief to them and were very appealing to actors," he said to Conan O'Brien.
Gradually, Yoakam snared roles in shows like the sitcom "Ellen," the movie comedy "Wedding Crashers," the Steven King mini-series "Under the Dome," a voice-over part in the animated "King of the Hill," and memorable cameos as Jason Statham's sleazy physician, Doc Miles, in two "Crank" action romps. In 2016, Yoakam reunited with Thornton in the Amazon-streamed legal eagle drama "Goliath." As of this writing, he last scored a high-profile billing in 2021 opposite Clint Eastwood in "Cry Macho."
How much Yoakam got from each of those appearances isn't known, although a rule of thumb among most actors' unions is that a supporting actor gets $65,000 per movie — at least, as of this writing — as long as that person doesn't accept any other gigs while on that particular project. Still, with an itinerary that states Yoakam has starred in some 25 movies, that's nearly $1.7 million by today's standards, if he was paid the bare minimum. Given his celebrity cred, he's likely made much more than that.
His production company went bust
After establishing himself as an actor in "Sling Blade," Dwight Yoakam started getting a reputation for portraying malevolent hombres in film. "I've done a lot of good guys," he said to CMT while accepting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003. "It's just that the films that are most well-known to this point, I've played nefarious characters."
One time Yoakam had to wear a black hat in real life back came in 2000, when he was a producer on "South of Heaven, West of Hell," a movie he also wrote, directed, and in which he gave himself a lead role. According to unions representing actors and film crew members working on the film, Yoakam was allegedly underpaying his personnel and was taken to small claims court in the wake of complaints lodged against him. It's not known whether the plaintiffs included high-profile stars like Bridget Fonda, Billy Bob Thornton, and Vince Vaughn.
The crux of the problem involved sticking to the film's $4 million budget, with Yoakam — who started his own production company to administer the venture — throwing in $500,000 of his own money to ensure the film got completed. But it bombed on opening weekend at the box office, making less than $17,000, and grossing only $28,000 worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. The movie's premise, about a U.S. Marshal pursuing an outlaw gang while oblivious that he's actually deceased, might have been a haunting metaphor in itself. Bankruptcy forced Yoakam to eventually shut down the company.
Dwight Yoakam used to own a ranch
Despite his success in selling millions of records, not everything that Dwight Yoakam touched turned to gold. The box-office failure of his self-produced flick "South of Heaven, West of Hell" is testament to that assessment. Still, media curiosity over how Yoakam finagled funding for the movie has focused on a Malibu ranch he sold for $825,000 before transferring $500,000 to the film's production.
More than 20 years later, that ranch is worth more than $4.3 million, according to Realtor.com. The 12.6-acre spread on Yerba Buena Road — dubbed the Bony Pony ranch due to its proximity to the Boney Ridge mountains — is evidently meant to entertain guests, given that the lot boasts a guest house, four cabins, and several firepits. The main residence features three bedrooms and two bathrooms with a combination detached garage and loft. Other amenities include a barn, volleyball court, and an outdoor bar replete with a barbecue unit. Yoakam likes the property so much, he rebuilt structures destroyed in a firestorm in 1993.
After selling the ranch, Yoakam was hardly homeless, and he resides in a home somewhere in Los Angeles, as of this writing. According to Virtual Globetrotting, the country star owns a 5,830-square-foot house that includes six bedrooms and four bathrooms and was worth $1.24 million when he bought it in 1994. The listing doesn't mention any other amenities in the home, where Yoakam reportedly lives with his wife, Emily Joyce, and their young son, Dalton Loren.
He prefers Corvettes to Cadillacs
What with all the references to Cadillacs in Dwight Yoakam's material, it's easy to infer that the country star is likely to get behind the wheel of that legendary GM luxury ride, especially a classic model with the signature tail fins. While Yoakam doesn't gloat over any prized items he might have accumulated over the years, surprisingly, the one vehicle he loves driving is a Corvette C6 muscle car.
It's one of the most popular models Chevrolet ever produced, thanks to a V8 engine that kicks out 505 horsepower and can go as fast as 190 mph. And while it's an easy choice for a big-time celebrity to enjoy life in the fast lane, Yoakam discovered another amenity with his sweet ride. Its interior has acoustics similar to the confines of a recording studio, where he could listen to music at full blast on his high-tech sound system. While recording his album "3 Pears" in 2012, at the end of a hard day doing sessions, he'd listen to daily mixes while driving in the Corvette. "During that nine months, I was playing the rough tracks, the mixes, and everything in the car, because that's the final resting place for the voting," he once remarked. "That's the precinct that casts the deciding ballot."
Chevrolet ceased production of the Corvette C6 in 2013, although, according to Classic Cars, used models are available for as little as $45,000 or as much as $120,000.
This musician owns a biscuit company
Plenty of recording artists these days are selling more than just their music. Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker is vending his own personal care products laced with cannabis. Post Malone pitches a personal wine vintage. And everyone from Gwen Stefani to Kanye West are hawking their wardrobe lines toward any retailer willing to stock them. Then there's Dwight Yoakam, who evidently has biscuits on the brain.
Yep, on and off since 2002, the country legend has been endorsing Bakersfield Biscuits, a buttermilk-based snack that comes with sides of gravy ever since he sampled the stuff in Bakersfield, California at a stand occupied by a cook named Biscuit Boy. A few bites later, Yoakam liked the stuff so much, he went into business with the proprietor. Biscuits evoke strong memories for Yoakam, who grew up on his grandmother's variation of the treat. "When I think of biscuits, I also think of squirrel gravy," he said to Alabama-based webzine AL.com. "We were a squirrel-hunting bunch down there in East Kentucky. So, biscuits and squirrel gravy. That's where the music comes from."
Since then, the company has expanded into frozen chicken fingers, ribs, and even cheeseburgers. As for how the company is doing financially, it's hard to discern. But with the global biscuit market expected to be worth $135 billion in 2023, and increasing by 5% annually, it looks like Yoakam will be licking gravy off his fingers for a while.
Dwight Yoakam's a music deejay once a week
After several years in the studio and on the road, Dwight Yoakam finally got a steady job in 2018. That year, he signed on with satellite radio station Sirius XM to air a program once a week called "Dwight Yoakam and the Bakersfield Beat" on Channel 349.
On the show, Yoakam focuses on California-based country and country-rock acts that inspired him once he completed his journey to Los Angeles after spending his childhood in Kentucky and Ohio. He also demonstrates how the geo-cultural element mixes with the country music genre by playing a variety of artists, like Ricky Nelson, Buck Owens, The Byrds, Eagles, Los Lobos, and The Blasters — and like a sonic jigsaw puzzle, he explains where each piece fits. But the fun doesn't stop there, as Yoakam also picks up his guitar to jam with guests ranging from alt-rock vanguard Beck Hanson to former Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir on another show he co-hosts called "Greater Bakersfield" — even a celeb as unlikely as Post Malone has shown up to play a song or two.
It all sounds like a fun way for Yoakam to display his vast musical knowledge and strum on his six-stringer, but for sure, he's also getting paid to enjoy himself. As for how much, it's not known, but according to Career Bliss, the average Sirius XM DJ receives $51,000 annually. Yoakam is likely getting more than that, considering his celeb status, albeit nowhere near as much as Howard Stern, who's reportedly getting $100 million a year.