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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe 10 richest musicians in the 2019 Sunday Times Rich List were ranked by estimated wealth in the UK—not by worldwide net worth or money earned that year. Andrew Lloyd Webber led the list at £820 million. The ranking, reported by Music Week on May 9, 2019, also includes couples, a band and heirs to an estate.
Who were the 10 richest musicians in the 2019 UK ranking?
The figures below are estimates in pounds sterling, as listed in the 2019 Sunday Times Rich List table reproduced by Music Week. The ranking includes writers as well as performers; its joint and family entries are retained as published.
| Rank | Name as listed | Reported wealth in 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lord Lloyd-Webber | £820 million |
| 2 | Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell | £750 million |
| 3 | U2 | £583 million |
| 4 | Sir Elton John | £320 million |
| 5 | Sir Mick Jagger | £275 million |
| 6 | Keith Richards | £260 million |
| 7 | Olivia and Dhani Harrison | £250 million |
| 8 | Sir Ringo Starr | £240 million |
| 9 | Michael Flatley | £204 million |
| 10 | Sting | £200 million |
What does “richest” mean here?
This is a wealth ranking, not a record of earnings during 2019. The Sunday Times Rich List estimated the wealth attributed to each entry; the figures are not audited personal balance sheets. Its coverage extended beyond singers and instrumentalists to writers, and it treated U2 as a group and the McCartney-Shevell and Harrison entries jointly.
Music Week reported that the top 40 musicians in the Sunday Times list had combined reported wealth of £7.721 billion. The 2019 edition of the broader Rich List covered the 1,000 richest people in Britain. Those details describe the scope of that UK ranking, not a global list of musicians.
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Why do some 2019 lists name different musicians?
“Highest-earning” rankings answer a different question: how much income musicians generated over a defined period. Forbes’ 2019 list, summarized by Hypebeast, was a global annual-earnings ranking, not a net-worth table. Forbes China described a methodology that considered touring, music and outside-business income, drawing on Pollstar and Nielsen Music data and interviews.
| Forbes 2019 earnings rank | Musician or act | Reported earnings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Swift | $185 million |
| 2 | Kanye West | $150 million |
| 3 | Ed Sheeran | $110 million |
| 4 | The Eagles | $100 million |
| 5 | Elton John | $84 million |
| 6 | JAY-Z | $81 million |
| 7 | Beyoncé | $81 million |
| 8 | Drake | $75 million |
| 9 | Diddy | $70 million |
| 10 | Metallica | $68.5 million |
Hypebeast reported the earnings figures and said the top ten earned just over $1 billion combined. Taylor Swift’s $185 million is therefore an annual-earnings figure, not an estimate of her total wealth. The Forbes and Sunday Times lists differ in measure, geography, reporting window, currency and how they present groups or families; their ranks cannot be compared as if they were one table.
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What the 2019 list says about music wealth
The UK ranking’s top three were Andrew Lloyd Webber, the McCartney-Shevell household and U2. Its inclusion of writers and joint entries is a reminder that a musician wealth list may count more than an individual performer’s recording income. The list compiler, Robert Watts, also pointed to the earning power of established touring acts: “Touring continues to be highly lucrative for the Rolling Stones and other long-established acts which have older fans able to pay more for tickets.” Watts separately said he believed Ed Sheeran had “the potential to become the first British musician to reach billionaire status.” These were comments about potential and touring economics, not additional rankings or measured outcomes.
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Sources
- Music Week: Sunday Times Rich List musicians chart, May 9, 2019.
- Music Week: Robert Watts on Ed Sheeran and the Rich List.
- Hypebeast: Forbes’ highest-paid musicians of 2019.
- Forbes China: 2019 highest-paid musicians methodology and ranking.
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