Adele earned £40m last year, says Sunday Times Rich List

Adele is the only solo woman among the Rich List's richest 20 musicians

A global arena tour and a few million more album sales earned Adele £40m last year, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

The pop star's fortune rose from £85m to £125m - meaning she's the richest solo female musician in the paper's annual wealth survey.

But she's only joint 19th in the list of the UK and Ireland's richest music acts, which is dominated by older men.

Sir Paul McCartney is in the top spot with £780m with wife Nancy Shevell.

They are followed by West End mogul Lord Lloyd-Webber, U2, Sir Elton John, Sir Mick Jagger and his Rolling Stones bandmate Keith Richards.

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Adele is tied in 19th place on £125m with Queen guitarist Brian May.

The rise in her bank balance was put down to a 122-date global arena tour, which has earned an estimated £138m at box offices, and the continued success of her third album 25, which sold 2.4 million copies around the world in 2016.

The singer will play four sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium this summer - but has hinted that she may not tour again after that, which could limit her future earnings.