Music millionaires in
the Sunday Times Rich List
Gary Barlow, the creative force behind Take That, is among 12 new millionaires
from the music world to join the ranks of the richest 2,000 people in
Britain.
Barlow, 38, has reaped rich rewards from the success of Take That since it
reformed in 2006 without Robbie Williams. A million tickets have reportedly
been sold for the band's summer tour. Barlow's £30m fortune ranks him at
1,771= among the country's 2,000 wealthiest people in the 2009 Sunday Times
Rich List published this week.
Touring, album sales and repeated plays of Who tracks on the TV series CSI
keep the funds rolling in for 65-year-old rocker Roger Daltrey, who joins
the latest rich list ranked 1,673=, with a fortune of £32m. Successful tours
in Europe and America over the past two years, plus a new double album, Live
over Europe 2007, have boosted the personal wealth of Genesis star Mike
Rutherford, 58, who also enjoyed success in Mike & the Mechanics. The
profits from Rutherford's music career add up to £30m, the amount needed to
become one of Britain's richest 2,000 this year.
Among the young musicians, violinist Vanessa-Mae Nicholson has amassed a
fortune of £30m from performing and album sales at the tender age of 30.
Nicholson, who played violin with the London Philharmonia when she was just
10, has sold 10m albums worldwide. Ranked alongside her, also worth £30m, is
Sarah Brightman who had a busy time in 2008, releasing two albums and
undertaking a 32-date north American tour. Brightman, 48, first came to fame
with her risque dance toupe, Hot Gossip.
Annie Lennox, 54, orginally part of the Eurythmics, has recently reached
number two in the UK album charts with a compilation of her solo material,
which should further boost her £30m fortune when the time comes to calculate
next year's Rich List. Simple Minds vocalist Jim Kerr will be hoping the
group's new album Graffiti Soul, released later this month, will add to his
personal wealth of £30m.
Solo artists Dido and Sade both owe their £30m fortunes to huge album sales.
Dido, 37, the daughter of an Irish publisher and a French poetess, became
the biggest-selling female pop star in the world with her No Angel and Life
for Rent albums, which between them have sold 23m copies. Sade, 50, who has
enjoyed success with hits such as Your Love is King and Smooth Operator, has
sold 40m albums in a career spanning more than 25 years.
On the business side of the music industry, Ken Berry joins the 2009 list at
1,550=, worth £35m. With Richard Branson, worth £1.2 billion, at 32= in this
year's Rich List, Berry was one of the founders of Virgin Records. Berry,
57, who owns five homes in different parts of the world, netted about £25m
when the Virgin music operation was sold to Thorn EMI.
Even the combined wealth of the 12 new entries to the music list doesn't match
the wealth of Britain's richest performer, Sir Paul McCartney. His fortune
is down £60m this year because of falling property and share values. A 2009
Rich List valuation of £440m makes Sir Paul one of the 120 wealthiest people
in the country.
