Music stars are being hit in the pocket by the recession, with the likes of Sir Elton John and Robbie Williams losing around a quarter of their personal wealth over the past year.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Sir Tom Jones, Phil Collins and Engelbert Humperdinck also lost substantial sums.

Even Sir Cliff Richard has been caught up in the economic storm - his personal fortune was down a fifth from £50 million to £40 million.

The plummeting value of property investments and share portfolios is the main reason for the hit, though Sir Elton's generous charitable donations contributed to his fall.

The list of the top 50 music millionaires, published along with the full list on Sunday, shows Sir Elton's fortune to have fallen 26 per cent from £238 million in 2008 to £175 million.

Sir Paul McCartney saw £60 million wiped off his fortune thanks to falling property and share values and Sir Tom Jones, saw his wealth fall 24 per cent from £170 million last year to £130 million.

Former Take That star Williams lost £25 million over the year, to be left with a mere £80 million.

Ian Coxon, who edited the list, said stars who relied on investments for their wealth had been the hardest hit.

"Robbie Williams is run as a business, and there has been a profit fall in 2007, so that's had a knock-on effect, and he's not been doing so much recently," he said.

"He's never quite fulfilled the promise that he had a few years ago.

"The ones where there's no change are the Beckhams, who although their property value has gone down, they're earning so fast there's no change."

The Beckhams' wealth remained steady at £125 million over the last year.

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