Paul McCartney famously sang he didn’t care too much about money in 1964, but 60 years later, he has hit a milestone number with his finances.
The 81-year old former Beatle, for the first time in his illustrious career, has a net worth topping £1 billion, according to a new calculation by the Sunday Times. The paper’s calculations now estimate the fortune of McCartney and his wife, Nancy, at £1 billion ($1.3 billion), compared to £950 million ($1.2 billion) in 2023.
The increase came from McCartney’s extensive back catalog, the boost in Beatles interest last year with the release of what was termed the “final” Beatles song, “Now and Then”—and Beyoncé.
Wait. What?
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter features a reimagined version of the McCartney-written song “Blackbird.”
McCartney is one of the best-known musicians in the world and has never been exactly hurting for cash since the Beatles, but he has always fallen short of the £1 billion mark. He is, in fact, the first British musician to reach billionaire status in that country. Six years ago, according to the Times research, he was valued at £750 million.
His fortune is still far below the U.K.’s richest person. Gopi Hinduja and family, who control the Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group, have a fortune worth £37.2 billion.
In the coming year, McCartney’s income stream will see a potential boost as he prepares to release his latest album One Hand Clapping in June, the official release to the Wings live recording that Rolling Stone has called “one of the most bootlegged live albums of all time.” On the other hand, McCartney will no longer receive royalty payments from Cirque du Soleil’s long-running show “The Beatles Love,” which is scheduled to close next month as Hard Rock shuts down the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas to begin a significant multiyear renovation.