Tom Jones in top 10 rich list

Tom Jones with Cerys Matthews - a top double act

Veteran sex bomb Tom Jones features high in the top 10 pop and rock earners in 2000.

The resurgence of Tom's appeal, after linking up with some of the industry's hottest names, saw him earn £8.5m in the past 12 months, according to Heat magazine.

Charlotte Church: Earned £4.5m in 2000

His latest album Reload saw the60-year-old veteran star team up with musicians ranging from Van Morrison and Robbie Williams.

The record was also an opportunity for top Welsh musicians such as Cerys Matthews, the Stereophonics, the Manic Street Preacher's James Dean Bradfield to pay tribute to the godfather of "Cool Cymru".

Fellow Welsh singer Charlotte Church - who earned £4.5m last year - was just outside the top flight, behind West Life and the Spice Girls.

Ms Church's earnings were said to have been dented by an out-of-court settlement with her former manager Jonathan Shalit.

Top 10 earners

1. The Beatles - £55m

2. U2 - £50m

3. Sir Elton John - £35 million

4. Rolling Stones - £27.5m

5. David Bowie - £20m

. 6. Sade - £10m

7. Tom Jones - £8.5m

8. Phil Collins - £6m

9. Spice Girls - £5m

10. Westlife - £5m

The Beatles emerged as the highest earning UK pop stars of last year.

The results of the study showed that, more than 30 years after they split up, the fab four earned an estimated £55m, boosted by sales of their number one greatest hits album 1.

They beat the likes of Irish supergroup U2 who came in second with an estimated £50m after the success of their latest album All That You Can't Leave Behind.

The magazine's second highest earner of the previous year, Sir Elton John, fell into third place with £35m.

U2 came in at number two

While, among the relative newcomers, Westlife - who released their first single in the spring of 1999 - were the highest earning with £5m, just scraping into the top 10.

The Beatles's album 1, released in November 2000, has been number one in 30 countries and has simultaneously topped the charts in the UK and US.

By comparison, in 1999 - the first year Heat carried out their pop rich list survey - the group made an estimated £15m, coming in third place.

Last year's top earners, the Rolling Stones, were relegated to number four in the new survey with £27.5m.