Almost 30 years have passed since their break-up and 20 years after John Lennon's murder, The Beatles have emerged as Britain's top earning pop acts of 2000, a new survey has found.
The survey, by Heat magazine, revealed the Fab Four - following the release of their greatest hits album 1 - earned an estimated £55 million (HK$626 million) last year, beating closest rival U2 by £5 million despite the success of the Irish supergroup's All That You Can Leave Behind album.
The previous year's earnings-toppers The Rolling Stones fell to fourth place with £275 million while second-place Sir Elton John was relegated to third in the latest count.
David Bowie was fifth with £20 million followed by the Sade (whose long-awaited album Lovers Rock netted her £10 million), evergreen Welshman Tom Jones (£8.5 million), Phil Collins (£6 million), Spice Girls (who fell from sixth place with £5 million) and newcomers Westlife (£5 million).
