Paul McCartney of Beatles Fame Turns 78, Finds Spot in Forbes 100 Celebrity List

According to Forbes, 78-year-old former Beatles member Paul McCartney is one of the highest earning musicians.

Paul McCartney and George Harrison
Paul McCartney performing with former fellow Beatles member George Harrison. Wikimedia Commons

Sir Paul McCartney of Beatles fame who turned 78 recently is one of the highest earning celebrities in the world. According to Forbes, McCartney ranks No 91 among the top 100 highest earning celebrities. The list also contains the names of Oprah Winfrey, boxer Canelo Alvarez and NBA player Damian Lillard in the 91st spot as per their earnings.

According to Forbes, McCartney's earnings for 2019-2020 were $37m. Forbes prepared the list of top 100 celebrities considering the earnings of top musicians by looking at tour data from Pollstar [a trade publication for the concert industry] and numbers from Nielsen.

McCartney's earnings also come from MPL Communications, the company he established in 1969. The music publishing company owns the rights to more than 25,000 songs including McCartney's songs, songs of Buddy Holly, Fats Waller and Bessie Smith, according to Billboard.

Forbes, in its highest earning top 100 celebrities list, named Kylie Jenner as the top celebrity who earned $590m during 2019 and 2020. American rapper Kayne West is in the second spot with $170m. He is followed by Roger Federer ($106.3m), Christiano Ronaldo ($105m), Lionel Messi ($104m), Tyler Perry ($97m), Neymar ($95.5m), Howard Stern ($90m) and Lebron James ($88.2m). The tenth spot has been occupied by Dwayne Johnson ($87.5m).

McCartney's Earnings Take a Hit

McCartney's earnings are expected to be hit this year due to coronavirus restrictions. The Beatles co-founder has had to cancel a number of tours. His European tour titled Freshen Up scheduled between May and June was also cancelled.

But in April when lockdown restrictions were still in place, McCartney had taken part in the TV special show One World: Together At Home, and sang the number Lady Madonna. The show was organized by Lady Gaga in association with Global Citizen.

McCartney is credited with 17 studio albums and his latest is Egypt Station released in 2018. McCartney turned 78 on June 18. Here is a Twitter post by McCartney's daughter Stella, wishing her father on his birthday.

Top 10 Highest Earning Musicians of The Decade

Here is the list of top 10 musicians who earned hundreds of millions of dollars between 2010 and 2020. McCartney is the eighth highest earning musician.

Lady Gaga is in the tenth position ($500m) earned through live music and her successful albums. Katy Perry is in the ninth position ($530m); Jay-Z ($560m), Elton John ($565m), Diddy ($605m), U2 ($675m) are in the seventh, sixth, fifth and fourth places respectively.

The top three spots are held by Beyoncé ($685m), Taylor Swift ($825m); Dr Dre tops the list with $950m earnings, this decade.