How much does Nelly make?
Nelly is an artist, actor, and business owner from the United States. He is worth $70 million. When Nelly first came out, his album “Country Grammar” sold more than 10 million copies around the world, making it his best-selling record to date. Songs like “Country Grammar (Hot Shit)”, “E.I.”, “Batter Up” and “Ride Wit Me” made that album a huge hit.
The release of his second record, “Nellyville” (2002), made him an even bigger hip-hop star. It had the number one hits “Hot in Herre” and “Dilemma” with Kelly Rowland, the latter of which won a Grammy Award in 2003. Nelly is one of the best-selling rap acts. He has put out 8 studio albums, which have sold more than 21 million copies in the US and 40 million copies around the world.
Besides singing, Nelly has done a lot of other things, like acting in movies like “The Longest Yard” (2005) and “Reach Me” (2014). He started a brand of drink called MoShine. He also started a non-profit group called Jes Us 4 Jackie to bring attention to the need for African American bone marrow donors.
Sale of Catalogs
Nelly sold a company called HarbourView Equity Partners a 50% stake in his song library for $50 million in July 2023. His whole library was worth $100 million after the deal.
Tax Trouble
In August 2016, Nelly was served with a federal tax lien that said he owed the IRS $2,412,283 in back taxes and fines. He also had state tax debts of about $150,000. Since the bill was so big, the government could take property as payment. In the end, the bills were paid off,
Early Years
He was born in Austin, Texas, on November 2, 1974, as Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. Nelly’s dad was in the Air Force when he was born. When he was seven, his parents split up, and he went to St. Louis, Missouri. Nelly’s first band was called the St. Lunatics, and it was made up of his friends Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, Slo’Down, and his half-brother City Spud. They were all in their teens. It was a big hit in their home country in 1997 with the song “Gimme What Ya Got.” Nelly gave up on the St. Lunatics and went solo after they failed to get a record deal.
A Career
Nelly made a deal with Universal Music to make a song in 1999. In the following year, he put out his first record, “Country Grammar.” Nelly’s best-selling record to date is still this one. The album was supported by singles like “Ride Wit Me” and “Country Grammar,” which were both Top 10 hits. “Nellyville,” his second record, came out in June 2002. There were number one hits on this record with “Dilemma” and “Hot in Here.” In 2004 and 2005, Nelly put out the albums “Sweat and Suit” and “Sweatsuit.” “Brass Knuckles,” Nelly’s fifth studio album, came out in September 2008. In 2010, Nelly put out the record “5.0.” Later, in 2013 and 2021, he released “M.O.” and “Heartland.” His album “Heartland” has a country sound to it, and the song “Lil Bit” was made with Florida Georgia Line. For remixes of their songs “Cool Again” and “She Drives Me Crazy,” Nelly also worked with country acts Kane Brown and Brett Kissel.
Nelly got two Grammys in 2003 and 2004. He also had a small part in the remake of “The Longest Yard” with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in 2005. From 2008 to 2009, Nelly was in four episodes of “CSI: NY.” Nelly was in 39 episodes of the BET reality TV spoof show “Real Husbands of Hollywood” from 2013 to 2016.
Nelly put out an exercise DVD called “Celebrity Sweat” in the fall of 2010.
Nelly was supposed to play his whole first record Country Grammar at the 2020 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee, but the event had to be pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Vokal and Apple Bottoms are his two clothing lines.
In July 2020, Nelly put on a Covid-19-friendly drive-in show at the Hollywood Park Amphitheater in St. Louis with Brad Paisley and other artists. People with music tickets can drive into the amphitheater parking lots, but each car can only hold four people at a time, and there should be enough space between cars to make safe tailgating zones.
That same year, Nelly worked with Burger King to push their “Keep It Real Meals” with the “Cornell Haynes, Jr. Meal.” Because the company had decided to get rid of 120 artificial chemicals from its food, this was given to them. He had a Whopper, small fries, and a small Sprite for dinner.
Legal Matters
The Tennessee Highway Patrol stopped Nelly’s tour bus in April 2015. One of the police officers said that he could smell weed on the bus. Police searched the bus and found what they thought was meth, marijuana, drug tools, and several handguns. Nelly was caught and taken to the county jail. He was given bail and let go. Among other charges, he was charged with illegal drug possession. After it was proven that the drug police found on Nelly’s tour bus was not meth, the felony charge was dropped. Nelly admitted in December 2015 that she had marijuana and drug tools on her person, which is a misdemeanor.
The IRS put a $2.4 million tax lien on Nelly for 2016 taxes she hadn’t paid.
In the fall of 2017, Nelly was arrested in Washington, near Seattle, on suspicion of rape after a woman said he had raped her on his tour bus earlier that day. Nelly was caught and taken to jail. The charges against him were dropped, and he was freed.
Life in general
It was in 2014 that Nelly began dating Shantel Jackson, an actor, model, and ex-girlfriend of Floyd Mayweather Jr. It came out in 2021 that the couple stopped their relationship on good terms. In February 2023, Nelly and Ashanti, a Long Island R&B singer he dated before Jackson, were seen together wearing the same Cuban link chain, which led to rumors that they were back together. Nelly and Ashanti announced in November 2023 that they were going to have a baby together.
Giving to others
Nelly also helps people in need by running the non-profit 4Sho4Kids Foundation. He began a program in March 2003 to teach African Americans and other minorities about the need for bone marrow transplants. After his sister Jackie was told she had leukemia, he also tried to get more people to sign up to be bone marrow donors. In March 2005, his sister passed away.
Nelly has been putting on the White and Black Ball in St. Louis to raise money for scholarships since 2006. Since then, these awards have let Nelly send her kids to college every year.
Michael Brown was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. Nelly set up a fund in his honor.
Nelly made a PSA for the Tackle Hunger campaign in 2010; it was put together by the charity Do Something. Nene pushed teens in the PSA to fight hunger by getting one million pounds of food for needy families to give them over the holidays.
Together with Vatterott College, Nelly opened the Ex’treme Institute By Nelly in 2011. It is a school for making music in the middle of St. Louis.
Homes for sale
Nelly spent $1.925 million in 2002 on a palace-like mansion that was only partly finished. It was in a gated neighborhood near the Hidden Valley Country Club in Eureka, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. There is a pool, hot tub, sports court, basketball court, and more on the 12-acre site. It took Nelly a few years of hard work to sell this house. In October 2021, he finally sold the house for $599,000. This was a big loss for him. Watch this movie to see how the house looked in the middle of 2021, when it had been left empty and was starting to fall apart:
He also bought a 2,679-square-foot ranch-style lake house in 2002, which was shown on MTV Cribs that year. In June 2010, he sold this house for $740,158.
