Guitar hero Clapton takes home £4m

Eric Clapton proved himself no slow hand in the moneymaking stakes again last year as he took a salary of nearly £4m out of his music business.

Clapton has just filed accounts with Companies House for his Marshbrook business, through which he runs his music and touring management operations as well as the leasing of his luxury yacht.

Revenues were up nearly £2m to £12m, thanks to an increase in his touring revenues. However, that is likely to increase in the current year as he has been playing an intensive tour, taking in the Royal Albert Hall and cities across Japan and Thailand.

The artist famed for his classics "Layla", "Cocaine" and "Wonderful Tonight" paid himself £3.98m for the year ending 31 March, slightly up on the £3.92m of a year before. However, he did not pay himself a dividend, unlike in the previous year, when there was a £600,000 dividend.

Due to poor trading at his yacht management business, Marshbrook made a loss of £924,225 before tax.

Clapton's 47m yacht, Va Bene, has six bedrooms, a jacuzzi, a weights room and a crew of 13, and can be rented out for some £179,000 a week.

Clapton paid a hefty foreign tax bill of £482,913.