SEOUL • South Korea's BigBang is set to become the first K-Pop act to land on Forbes magazine's Cele- brity 100 list, the publication said.

In an online article last week titled "BigBang Theory: How K-Pop's Top Act Earned (US)$44 Million In A Year, the American magazine said BigBang's earnings over the past year exceeded those of American rockers Maroon 5 by about US$10 million (S$13 million).

It said the US$44 million in pre-tax earnings by BigBang beat the US$33.5 million pocketed by "today's highest-paid American all- male arena pop group, Maroon 5".

The Forbes Celebrity 100 list will be out tomorrow .

It quoted Bigbang frontman G-Dragon, 27, who said: "We made more than Maroon 5? Did not know that. My mom is in charge of my earnings."