Paul McCartney becomes UK’s first billionaire musician
Paul McCartney has been confirmed as becoming the first billionaire musician in the UK, with his net worth skyrocketing over the past year.
The former Beatles icon was among those named in the 2024 edition of The Sunday Times Rich list, and was revealed to be the UK’s first musician to become a billionaire.
In the list, the singer, songwriter and bassist was placed between Vladimir Makhlai and Chris Sheppard and his family, and ranked as the 165 richest person. In the listing, he is said to have a net worth of £1billion – a figure which has grown significantly over the past 12 months.
In the past year, The Sunday Times reports, the 81-year-old music icon boosted his wealth by £50million. This will have been aided by his time touring across 2023 and the lucrative value of his lengthy discography.
It will also have been aided no doubt by the release of ‘Now And Then’ – the “final” song by The Beatles to feature all four members, which was shared in November – and the hype around the re-release of their 1970 documentary Let It Be.
Pop icon Beyoncé will most likely have helped with the £50million increase too, as she recently shared the moving cover of ‘Blackbird’ – a track which McCartney wrote in 1968 – as part of her ‘Cowboy Carter’ album.
Others from the music world that made the 2024 Rich List included Sir Elton John, who broke records for his headline appearance at Glastonbury last Summer, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham who is listed alongside her husband David, and West end legend Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber.
Gopichand Parmanand Hinduja – co-chairman of conglomerate Hinduja Group – and his family were once again crowned the richest people in the UK, with their wealth hitting £37.2billion. The figure marks the largest fortune ever recorded by the newspaper.
The list contained 250 individuals and families, and the combined wealth totalled £795.3billion, which the outlet claimed was a larger sum than Poland’s economy.
Other notable listings in the report included Sir James Dyson and Sir Richard Branson seeing their wealth drop the most between 2023 and 2024. For the latter, his net worth fell to £2.4billion, making it the same level it was in 2000.
While the number of musicians on the list were limited, names including Harry Styles and Adele were among those who featured in the outlet’s 40 Under 40 Rich List.
Styles was listed as Number 17, with a reported wealth of £175million, while Adele ranked at Number 19 with £170million.
The richest musician on the list was Ed Sheeran, who is now aged 33 and came in 10th place with a reported £340million.
In other Macca news, it was reported last month that Paul McCartney & Wings are set to release their 1974 live studio album ‘One Hand Clapping’ for the first time next month.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
