MUSIC RICH LIST

The 40 richest musicians in the UK and Ireland

Who’s making record profits from their back catalogues? Plus, the Top Ten rising stars from Harry Styles to Stormzy

From left: Adele; Paul McCartney; Harry Styles
From left: Adele; Paul McCartney; Harry Styles
ARTWORK BY HEATHER ELLIOTT
The Sunday Times

Pop is a young person’s game, they say. Well they used to. Now, though, pop — or at least its upper echelons — is a parade of pensioners who won’t stop working. Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sting and the Rolling Stones — all in their seventies and touring somewhere near you soon — continue to dominate the Music Rich List.

It is not only sales figures and streams that keep McCartney right at the top, with a fortune of £865 million, £45 million up on last year. It is also the ticket sales for his Covid-delayed Got Back tour. Not to mention the brilliant The Beatles: Get Back documentary, which had the world gawping at the Fab Four eating white toast in