They haven't totted up the earnings from the Beatles' latest No 1 worldwide hit yet, but Paul McCartney is the richest rock star in Britain with a £500 million ($1.82 billion) fortune, a survey shows.
BusinessAge magazine estimated that the former Beatle was top of the rich rockers' chart, way ahead of Elton John with his personal fortune of £156 million (after florists' bills).
Mick Jagger and Keith Richard of the Rolling Stones came next, followed by crooners Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck.
Eight of the top 10 made their fortunes in the 60s and 70s. BusinessAge editor Chris Butt said: "Age accounts for everything in this survey."
* * *
The former manager of teenage singing sensation Charlotte Church has settled his multi-million pound dispute with the Welsh singer's parents. Jonathan Shalit, sacked in January, was reported to have agreed to a £2 million ($7.29 million) settlement.
The 14-year-old singing star, who has performed for US President Bill Clinton, the Pope and the Queen and sold millions of albums worldwide, said: "Now I have got Christmas back to myself again."
Shalit, who had launched a £5 million claim, was equally relieved.
The case coincided with the release of Church's third album Dream A Dream.
* * *
Hollywood star Jessica Lange was hailed by British theatre critics yesterday for her harrowing portrayal of the drug-addicted mother in Eugene O'Neill's classic Long Day's Journey Into Night.
Lange is the latest big-screen star to tread the boards in London's theatreland where Nicole Kidman, Kathleen Turner, Macaulay Culkin and Kevin Spacey have all garnered rave reviews.
The Times hailed the play as "a dramatic feast." The Evening Standard said "this haunting journey is a voyage of discovery." The Guardian said Lange gave "a magnificently unsentimental performance." The Daily Mail concluded: "She is marvellous."
Lange is missing a big celebration of her own back home - the launch in San Francisco of her partner Sam Shepard's latest play, The Late Henry Moss, with Nick Nolte, Sean Penn and Woody Harrelson.
- NZPA
<i>Showbiz:</i> He's top of the rich rockers
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.