Adele named UK's richest woman singer

Adele's best-selling album "25" added 30 million pounds ($43 million) to the London-born singer's fortune, putting her top of the Sunday Times newspaper's Young Musicians 2016 rich list for performers under 30.

The worldwide hit released last November boosted the 27-year-old singer's fortune to 85 million pounds and lifted her to 30th place in the paper's overall 2016 list of the wealthiest performers and composers in Britain and Ireland.

Paul McCartney tops the musicians' rich list for a second year in a row.

The former Beatle and his wife Nancy Shevell have a combined fortune of 760 million pounds, according to the Sunday Times on Thursday, a rise of 30 million on last year.

McCartney is followed by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, with 715 million pounds while the Rolling Stones are Britain and Ireland's wealthiest band with the fortunes of its four members totalling 630 million pounds.

Irish band U2, whose fortune jumped to 500 million from 431 million, was the highest-grossing rock act last year selling 1.29 million tickets worth 66 million pounds for 76 concerts.

Singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran has jumped five places making him the second-richest young performer after Adele and propelling him into the main music list for the first time.

The late David Bowie's family, who inherited 70 million pounds from his will, are also a new addition to the list with a combined fortune of 90 million pounds.

Although many musicians climbed the wealthy ranks over the past year, a few dropped including Cliff Richard, who fell four places despite a 3 million-pound addition to his bank account.

Former Oasis band members Noel and Liam Gallagher were the only performers whose fortune showed a marked decline, the paper said, with a loss of 12 million pounds, dropping them seven places.

The list ranks Britain and Ireland's richest musicians and performers and is published ahead of the annual Sunday Times Rich List this weekend.