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Girl power! In advance of the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List, to be released in full on 25 April 2010, most of the wealthiest young music millionaires in the UK have been revealed to be women. This section of the yearly list takes into consideration all musicians under the age of 30 – and bearing in mind many of the UK’s biggest stars are well under 30, this means that some of the most popular UK celebrities are present in this list.

Three musicians share the number one spot, with a fortune worth £11 million (approximately $17 million): Charlotte Church, Katherine Jenkins and Leona Lewis. Leona Lewis is probably the best-known of the three on an international level, having reached stardom by winning Simon Cowell’s X Factor. Charlotte Church has had a successful classical singing career from a very young age, before branching into a brief pop career, and is currently one of the judges in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Over the Rainbow – a quest to find a new Dorothy for the musical version of The Wizard of Oz. Katherine Jenkins is a very successful classical singer, who, like Charlotte Church, is Welsh.

The next two musicians on the list (joint fourth) are Cheryl Cole and Katie Melua, who are reported to have fortunes of £10 million (approximately $15 million) each. Cheryl Cole’s presence, after being at number ten last year, is no surprise. A band member of successful girl group Girls Aloud, she has now become successful in her own right as a solo singer and X Factor judge. Katie Melua is rather more of a surprise – although a well-known singer, she hasn’t been in the public eye very much over the past couple of years. She does have a new album coming out, although this was not advertised until after the Rich List was compiled.

These things are always subjective, but people are wrong to say modern rock and pop music can’t cut it. There’s still good music being made, but still no group comes close to matching The Beatles.

Firstly, The Beatles made music which will surely last as long as the popular song itself. Secondly, like Elvis Presley, The Beatles made a cultural impact which transcended their music. Finally, they were great entertainers – and their comic turns in the movies ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and ‘Help!’ shouldn’t be underestimated.

Even in a golden decade of creativity like the 1960s, which was often described as a second renaissance, The Beatles are remembered by most as the main creative force of that decade. Everything seemed to revolve around them, and bounce off them.

Individually, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were – apart from their music and a penchant for humour – four quite different individuals. John was complicated – acerbic, harsh on himself and often on others, but, overall, he had a great humanitarian streak, and with Paul formed arguably the greatest songwriting partnership in popular music history.

Paul was the diplomatic Beatle, though is often, unfairly, portrayed as the destroyer of the group. Paul’s love of animals and nature came through in songs such as ‘Blackbird’ and ‘Mother Nature’s Son’. George was underestimated – a deep thinker, and a quiet voice struggling to be heard. As a solo artist, his ‘All Things Must Pass’ album was maybe better than any solo album even John and Paul produced. Ringo was the most instantly likeable member of the group, and unfairly derided for his drumming skills by some critics. He was a good drummer, good singer, and no mean songwriter, viz. ‘Octopus’s Garden’. Also, his talent for comic acting was never fully utilised.

When Kings of Leon emerged in 2003 they were one of the last bands on the American rock n’ roll wave that had started with The Strokes and The White Stripes. Whereas bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were not scaling the dizzy heights many had predicted, it was tempting to think Kings of Leon might be around for a while. Mainly for two reasons. One they are made up of three brothers and a cousin and are a tight unit. Two, they have a unique sound, thanks to lead singer Caleb Followill’s dusty, whisky soaked voice.

Their debut Youth and Young Manhood was a bold and brassy start. Certainly one of the finest albums of the year, it was full of Southern fried punk / blues and produced two catchy singles in California Waiting and Molly’s Chambers which should have done so much better in the charts.

Next came Aha Shake Heartbreak. It had its moments like The Bucket and Day Old Blues, but felt much like it was the left overs from their debut. However, songs like the haunting Milk did signpost the material found on their new album Because of the Times.

Their sound has changed, it’s more expansive and a departure from the hick, Clarence Clearwater Revival sound that defined their earlier work. That becomes obvious from the outset with the plodding emergence from the fog of the band returning after nearly three years. Charmer is a frenetic head banger with Caleb’s Marmite screaming. On Call is the gorgeous single and the son of Milk. Probably the most mainstream track on the album, it is certainly the most instantly memorable.

Big things come in small packages, how about little?

Born James Cecil Dickens, the old school singing sensation and renowned country-novelty singer Little Jimmy Dickens is perhaps one of the smaller yet brighter stars of Hollywood. At 4-feet-11, Dickens is small but despite his miniature frame he achieved huge success.

Dickens was a regular performer for the Grand Ole Opry for decades and has been considered as the face of novelty music. He performed and traveled around the world specifically to Vietnam soldiers in the 70s.

Dickens was born and raised in Bolt, West Virginia in a family of 13 children. Dickens began his music career in the 1930s while still studying at West Virginia University. He first performed at a local radio station. Shortly, he quit college to pursue his dream of becoming a country singer.

During the decade, Dickens traveled around the country performing in small clubs and local radio stations using the screen name “Jimmy the Kid.”

In 1948 came Dickens’ biggest break, he was performing on a radio station in Michigan when the late Roy Acuff, the prominent country music singer and promoter, heard and invited him to sing on the Grand Ole Opry – a weekly country music program that features the best country music singers of America.

Dickens did not spoil the opportunity, he signed a contract to be a permanent member of the Grand Ole Opry. He then started using the name “Little Jimmy Dickens.”

In the spring of 1949, Dickens’ first single “Take an Old Cold Tater,” was released and was an instant hit, landing on top ten charts of the year.

The popularity of Dickens’ first single set up and launched succeeding novelty hits such as “My Heart’s Bouquet,”  “Country Boy,” “A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed” and “Hillbilly Fever.”