Money is still rolling in for the Fab Four
Chloe Ravat

10:23 16th August 2013

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Despite having formed over 50 years ago and splitting 43 years ago, The Beatles have still managed to turn over an £43.5 million fortune in 2012.

The figure is even £2 million higher than last year according to the band's business, Apple Corps Limited.

Living Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well has George Harrison and John Lennon's widows Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono will receive £5.1 million each in dividends, promotional activities and name and likeness payments.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, a source said: "The Beatles have been the most famous band in the world since the 60s and it keeps on paying.

''The obsession with the Fab Four has never stopped, even half a century after they started. 'So the money just keeps rolling in.''

Watch The Beatles' perform their classic 'She Loves You' live in 1963 below:

It is testament to music fans' ongoing love affair with the band and the phenomena they became that they continue to rake in such formidable sums all these years later.

Back in June, drummer Ringo Starr opened up about the possibility of a Beatles reunion in 2013 were all band members still alive today.

 

"It's a crazy question," he told the Mirror newspaper. "I'd like to think, yes, we would."

He continued: "Paul still goes out with his band, I go out with him and John would probably have been going out with his... But who knows, it could have come together."

Below: Have a look at some of the many Beatles tribute bands formed over the years

  • The Bootleg Beatles who have incredibly performed more than 4,000 live shows since forming in 1980. Hailing from West London, they've shared stages with the likes of David Bowie, Manic Street Preachers and Rod Stewart - no mean feat. Above is their parody of John Kelley's 'White Album' photos. Easilt the tribute band who most look like The Beatles.

  • Tribute act Beatlemania Again who regularly tour a stage show which charts a musical journey from when The Beatles first arrived in America up until their split. Here they are performing at a fund-raiser held in a synagogue in 2007.

  • The Mark Ronson of Beatles tribute bands, New York's The Fab Faux perform rare Beatles tracks with horn sections layered on top. Band founder Will Lee is bassist on the Late Show with David Letterman while guitarist Jimmy Vivino appears on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Formed in 1998 the group have sold-out huge venues like The Bowery Ballroom and Webster Hall in their native city.

  • 1964 The Tribute is an American Beatles tribute act that formed in 1982. Rolling Stone magazine has hailed the group as 'The best Beatles tribute ever' and they have performed over 2,700 live shows. Playing mainly early Beatles material, the band's aim is to recreate the euphoria of The Beatles first arriving on American shores.

  • Taking their name from a line in 'I Am The Walrus', Yellow Matter Custard is a Beatles tribute supergroup featuring Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, Neal Morse of Spock's Beard, Paul Gilbert of Racer X and Matt Bissonette of Jughead. They released their own self-titled live tribute album (above) in 2003 collated from a show at BB King's Blues Club in NYC.

  • Arguably the best known of all Beatles tributes acts, Oasis formed in 1994 and steadily pilfered John Lennon and Paul McCartney's songbooks for 15 glorious years. They split in August this year when Noel Gallagher had a family tiff with Liam.

  • To mark the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' impromptu gig on the top of the Apple building, David Catlin-Birch (Paul McCartney) Andre Barreau (George Harrison) from The Bootleg Beatles

  • Easily our favourite act on the list, as the name suggests Beatallica are a mash-up band melding songs by The Beatles and Metallica together. Track names include 'The Thing That Should Not Let It Be' (an amalgamation of 'The Thing That Should Not Be' and 'Let It Be') and 'And Justice for All My Loving' ('And Justice For All' and 'All My Loving'). Since 2001, the group have unleashed a number of spoof albums each with an inspired parody sleeve.

  • Unlike every other band on this list, The Buggs were a tribute act who were active while the Beatles were at the height of their meteoric fame. Hailing from Omaha, Nebraska the group released only one album 'The Beetle Beat' in 1964.

  • California-based Beatles tribute band The Fab Four was founded by John Lennon impersonator Ron McNeil in 1997. NcNeil is also the President of The Fab Four Corp. The group have a number of high-profile gigs under their belts as well as TV appearances on shows like Entertainment Tonight and Good Morning America. The group have released not one, but two Christmas albums.

  • Rubber Soul are a Canadian tribute act whose live shows draw heavily from the period of 1962-1966 when The Beatles themselves were on the live circuit.

  • Legendary fictional band The Rutles aren't a tribute band of sorts, more a hilarious pastiche. Featuring Eric Idle and Neil Innes, the group was created for a 1978 mockumentary TV show called 'All You Need Is Cash' (George Harrison himself appeared in it as a TV presenter) which later spawned a soundtrack. They released another album 'Archaeology' - based on 'Anthology' - in 1996 then appeared in a second mockumentary 'The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch' in 2002.

  • Beatles promoter Sam Leach claims that American English are the best tribute act to the Fab Four ever. Based in Chicago, the multi-aged collective offer 'The complete Beatles experience' drawing from the breadth of their back-catalogue.

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Photo: WENN.com