McCartney richest man in rock

Sir Paul, with girlfriend Heather Mills: The £500m man

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has come top of another chart - of the richest musicians in the UK.

BusinessAge magazine estimates his fortune at £500m - far ahead of the second richest performer, Sir Elton John, who has £156m.

Sir Elton: Spent £40m in 20 months

Sir Paul heads the list of 40 rock and pop stars whose combined wealth comes to almost £4bn.

Rolling Stones veterans Mick Jagger and Keith Richards come third and fourth, and Tom Jones is fifth with £100m.

George Michael is the youngest star in the top 20, with an estimated £70m.

The rich rockers

1. Sir Paul McCartney (£500m)

2. Sir Elton John (£156m)

3. Mick Jagger (£145m)

4. Keith Richards (£125m)

5. Tom Jones (£100m)

5. Englebert Humperdinck (£100m)

7. David Bowie (£96.5m)

8. Sting (£96m)

9. Phil Collins (£95.9m)

10. George Harrison (£86.9m)

According to the magazine, Sir Paul has made his fortune through song royalties, as well as companies such as MPL Communications, which he owns, and the copyright to shows such as Grease.

If the figures are accurate, it shows that Sir Elton John's admitted spending spree of £40m in 20 months was a quarter of his current total fortune.

Eight of the top 10 made their names and fortunes in the 1960s and 1970s, with Phil Collins and Sting the only exceptions.

Chris Butt, editor of BusinessAge, said: "Age accounts for everything in this survey.

Robbie Williams is worth more than £10m

"Although it's the young turks like Noel and Liam Gallagher who have much higher profiles than their older peers, the real route to financial success is down to a stars 'classic' status."

Pop stars such as Oasis, the Spice Girls and Robbie Williams find themselves languishing at the bottom of the list.

Robbie Williams is 40th, with a personal fortune of £10.8m, considerably less than his verbal sparring partner Liam Gallagher, who can boast £18.8m.

While bands such as U2 share their fortune - each of the four members have £70.6m each - of the Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham emerges as the wealthiest, with £24.6m.