Can you tell Joel and Benji Madden apart from each other? The twins are so identical, neither can we sometimes. All you really have to look for when telling them apart is the lady on each of their arms.
If you see Cameron Diaz, odds are she's with her husband, Benji. If you see Nicole Richie, she's with Joel (it was actually Richie who introduced Benji to Diaz). But the brothers aren't just famous for dating two really famous women.
The brothers are like a more identical Noel and Liam Gallagher, and they work way better together too. They have always written and recorded together without breaking out into a feud, like many other famous brothers in the music industry. They have kept their band, Good Charlotte alive all these years, and have made seven studio albums.
Sometimes there's a rift between the guitar player and lead singer, but not them. Benji is happy on guitar and backing vocals and Joel is equally happy being the lead singer. Not even their different net worths have wedged a space between them. Joel is worth $25 million while Benji is worth $5 million less.
Here's why the identical brothers don't have identical net worths.
They Started Off On Equally Footing
Growing up in a broken household, the brothers bonded over their shared love for music. They both used it to express themselves after feeling like outsiders for most of their lives. So they taught themselves to sing and play instruments, and eventually, they became good enough to start the band that would become Good Charlotte.
After they graduated from high school, they dedicated all their time to the band. It took a lot of little gigs, opening for Blink-182, Lit, and Bad Religion, and trying their very best to get signed, and they eventually did in 2000 to A&R.
That same year, they released their self-titled album, which later went gold, selling 500,000 copies in the U.S. This was not what the record company wanted, but they went on tour right after and made a couple of successful music videos.
It wasn't until 2002, that the band released their most successful album, The Young and the Hopeless. It sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and finally catapulted the band into stardom.
After that, the life and death versions of The Chronicles of Life and Death came in 2004, followed by Good Morning Revival in 2007, which sold 4.5 million copies, Greatest Remixes in 2008, and Cardiology in 2010. In 2011, the band told Rolling Stone that they were going on a hiatus.
But the brothers weren't away for long, and soon started making music together when they formed the band The Madden Brothers in 2014. They first released a free mixtape called "Before — Volume One", and later on, "We Are Done." They later went on to become voice coaches for The Voice Kids Australia.
Around this time they also started their own music company, MDDN, in 2015. They wanted to start a company that would take care of young artists, helping with career development. Jessie J, Chase Atlantic, Hollywood Undead, and K Champ all went on to sign management deals.
In 2015, Good Charlotte announced they'd be coming out of their hiatus and later released Youth Authority in 2016, and their latest album GenerationRx in 2018.
During the lockdown, Good Charlotte did a live stream performance via Veeps, for charity. Veeps is Joel's live streaming company. This past December, Good Charlotte released a new single called "Last December."
Good Charlotte has sold 10 million copies worldwide. While it looks like the brothers have sometimes put the band on the back burner or moved on to other things completely, they'll probably always return to play together for some reason or other.
Taking the music industry by storm wasn't enough for the brothers, however. They had to conquer the fashion world as well, and prove that they are the best collaborative brothers. They didn't exactly succeed.
They opened a fashion line called Made Clothing, with their other brother, Josh, but the line shut down. In 2006, they renamed the line DCMA Collective, which fully opened in 2008 in Los Angeles. But that one wasn't successful either.
Among all this, both brothers, along with the rest of Good Charlotte, also had a brief stint in the film industry, having had cameos as themselves in the films Not Another Teen Movie, and Hilary Duff's Material Girls in 2006.
Both Brothers Have Gone On To Pursue Other Things
While the brothers have always done things together for most of their lives, they've had their own side gigs throughout the years as well. For example, they've both started producing more.
Benji's also had side gigs with bands like Dead Executives and Taint, and sang backup for several artists like Kill Hannah, Mest, Sean Kingston, and Matisyahu. He also co-wrote some of the songs on Hilary Duff's Most Wanted album, which came out in 2005, and the theme song for the reality shows My new BFF, hosted by Paris Hilton.
In 2010, Benji went up against Riki Rachtman in a boxing match. The first round lasted only 1 minute and 42 seconds, and Madden won by knocking Rachtman out.
Even though Joel has a higher net worth than his brother, it doesn't seem like he has that many other forms of income. He's done some work DJing, started The Richie Madden Children's Foundation with his wife, and is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador as well. He's also produced 5 Seconds of Summer's first album.
For the most part, the brothers have always been on the same page with each other and equal in every way, which is why it's so strange that there's a $5 million gap between them. They probably don't even realize one is richer than the other though. They don't really have lifestyles of the rich and famous after all. Or do they?
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