Adele on the U.K. Rich List, with Paul McCartney Still Ruling It
People love to know how much their favorite celebrity is earning. It is no surprise that when such lists, which reveal celebrities (identifiable) wealth status, are exposed, the news remains the hot topic for quite some time. The same is happening now. The latest edition of the Sunday Times Rich List 2017 is out! And ever since it was published on May 7, there has been a buzz in the town! While some constants like Paul McCartney, Elton John and Mick Jagger are still on the list, there are some surprises as well.
The New Entry
The fresh one to join the veterans on the list is none other than the hot pop sensation, Adele. The British star was named the wealthiest musician in the UK Under 30 several times before, but this time she has made it to the main list.
The entry of the ‘Hello’ hit-maker is making a lot of noise. The young star has not even turned 30 yet and is already among the wealthiest people in the UK. All the wealth can be accounted for her sheer hard work in the music industry.
Robert Watts, the compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List also attributes Adele’s entry on the main rich list to the strong sales and the supporting tour of her third album.
“What a year for Adele. Such strong record sales and a busy touring schedule propel her into our main list for the first time,” he said.
Credit Goes to Her Album ‘25’ and Her Supporting Tour
Adele did very well financially in 2016, all thanks to her third album titled ‘25’, which was a blockbuster. The number 25 proved quite lucky for her. The album was a massive success, becoming a top seller for the year 2015 and then again in 2016. It also won Adele the Grammy Award for ‘Album of the Year’.
With numbers multiplying on her album sales that went on to set new records, it also saw her bank balance numbers increase. The album sold 2.4 million copies last year. Behind the sales was also the effort of the chart topper, who toured around the world to support her album and is still in the midst of it.
The massive tour by Adele saw the singer perform on 122 dates and she made approximately £138m at box office. Adele’s wealth has grown from £85 million ($109 million) to £125 million ($161 million).This makes her London’s richest solo female musician at the age of 29.
For us these are big numbers, but the bank balance looks nothing when compared with those of the legends like Paul McCartney, Elton John and Mick Jagger. But nevertheless it is still quite a feat for the diva who is at the start of her career and has number of years ahead of her, unlike the older male rockers dominating the charts.
As it is, Adele shares the 19th position on the list of the richest musicians in the UK with Queen’s guitarist Brian May. In 2016, Adele made £40 million ($51 million) and no one in the top 20 could match the impressive figure.
Others on the List
The Beatles Man, the legendary Paul McCartney is ruling the charts with £780 million ($1 billion) along with his wife Nancy Shevell. Andrew Lloyd-Webber, the theater legend is on the number two spot, U2 on the third, Elton John stands at four, Mick Jagger follows with his Rolling Stones band mate, Keith Richards at number five.
Can Adele be Britain’s Highest Earning Artist of All Time?
The compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List, Robert Watts believes so. According to him she has the potential and the time factor also works in her favor.
He says, “Still in her 20s, if Adele’s career lasts as long as many of the other entries in our list, she has the potential to be the highest-earning British musician of all time.”
The Epic Tour
The global tour was a big achievement for the star. It brought in huge sales for Adele and was a big factor in propelling her to the main list. It was indeed a massive one with concerts across North America, Mexico, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In Australia alone she has set new record with huge tickets sales and that too with only eight stadium performances and sold out shows in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide. Her sales rivaled sales of Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms Tour of 1986 and AC/C’s Black Ice Tour in 2010. Her concert at ANZ Stadium on 11 March was a historic one because it was termed as the biggest concert in Australia that brought in around 100,000 fans who had come to see Adele perform live.
The Finale
After being on the road for more than a year, Adele’s tour is far from over. She still has to perform at the Wembley Stadium in summer and it has already been declared a sold out event. These are being called The Finale concerts and with that her 15 months long tour will come to an end. The Finale concerts will be taking place at the end of June and the singer will wrap it up with a last performance on July 2.
Will Adele be Touring Again?
There is something that Adele said in one of her final shows which is bothering the fans. It is a known fact that Adele is not very comfortable when performing in live concerts and this tour was quite a demanding one. She also had vocal cord issues. A break for the British star made sense, but fans were not expecting what she said.
At her final show in New Zealand, while addressing over 40,000 fans at the Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, Adele said, “Touring isn’t something I’m good at… Applause makes me feel a bit vulnerable. I don’t know if I will ever tour again. The only reason I’ve toured is you.”
Well if fans are her reason then the very reason may propel her to hit the road again. Her sold out tours are a proof of the over-whelming popularity she enjoys and how much her fans want to see her live in concert again.
Whether she continues touring or not remains to be seen. But if what she said is to be believed, then it can limit her earnings and who knows if she will be able to make it on next year’s list or not. Even if she doesn’t make it, she has little to lose. Going by her earnings she can very well choose not to do live performances anymore and still enjoy the royalties of her albums.
Michael Coppel, the promoter of her tour in Australia and New Zealand gave an open-ended statement saying, “Adele’s been quoted as saying she won’t tour again, she’s doing this big tour as a recognition of her huge record sales and the enormous demand to see her live. It’s impossible to tell what happens next. Then the future’s an open book.”
For the sake of her fans we hope that this was just a temporary phase brought on by the exhausting tour. We, like all her fans, hope to see Adele again on the stage, setting new records and making history once again.
