No prizes for guessing who it is either.
The Sunday Times have provided a sneak peek at their annual Rich List ahead of its publication this Sunday, confirming just how lucrative the music business really can be in the process.
It can be particularly lucrative for artists with a bit of longevity, with the vast majority of the top 20 places occupied by musicians whose peak years are, we think it’s fair to say, long behind them.
Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell top the pile with a net worth of a cool £780 million in 2017, a £20 million increase on the 2016 figure.
Lord Lloyd Webber and our own U2 make up the top three, with Bono and company seeing by far the biggest rise in the last year of all of the top 20 musicians, with their net worth of £548 million topped up by £48 million in the last year alone.
In 19th place, Adele is probably the only musician on the list still at the top of her game, with the rest of the list populated by luminaries such as Elton John, Sting, Rod Stewart, Tom Jones and various members of the Rolling Stones.
The Sunday Times Rich List, revealing the wealth of the 1,000 richest people in the United Kingdom, will be published in a special edition of The Sunday Times magazine this Sunday, May 7.
The Sunday Times Rich List top 20 richest musicians
- Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell: £780m (up £20m)
- Lord Lloyd-Webber: £740m (up £25m)
- U2: £548m (up £48m)
- Sir Elton John: £290m (up £10m)
- Sir Mick Jagger: £250m (up £15m)
- Keith Richards: £235m (up £15m)
- Olivia and Dhani Harrison: £210m (down £10m)
8= Michael Flatley: £200m (up £2m)
8= Ringo Starr: £200m (no change)
- Sting: £185m (no change)
11= Eric Clapton: £170m (up £10m)
11= Sir Rod Stewart: £170m (up £10m)
- Roger Waters: £165m (up £5m)
- Sir Tom Jones £160m (up £5m)
- Sir Tim Rice: £152m (up £2m)
- Robbie Williams: £150m (up £5m)
- Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne: £140m (up £5m)
- Charlie Watts: £130m (up £10m)
19= Adele: £125m (up £40m)
19= Brian May: £125m (up £5m)
