Gerry Marsden may not have made a lot of money from his mainstream pop career, but when Frankie Goes To Hollywood recorded Ferry Cross The Mersey and put it on a B-side, it became an instant millionaire.
Rob Davis from piss poor glam rock group Mud, also his writing partner Cathy Dennis. They both enjoyed kind of successful careers in a band and as a solo artist but in more recent years they have made a shed load of money writing hit singles. I’ve seen them both on tv recently didn’t recognise either.
That's not the correct answer yet. Actually probably won't be even after Yoko passes, as he is quite famous - certainly much more so than James McCartney. Though Paul's much larger fortune from 40 extra years of music career with regular touring will be split more ways.
Not extant, but Laura Nyro is often cited on these boards as an example of an artist who ‘never made it’. In actual fact, Laura achieved millionaire status at the age of 20 when David Geffen sold her contract, plus she would have stacked up vast royalties via the hit versions of her songs from the 5D, Three Dog Night, etc. Her name was, and still is, unrecognised by most of the western world and in her lifetime she would have been able to travel anywhere she wanted without being recognised.
Low Profile?!!! Gerry and the Pacemakers were famous as the first act whose first three singles went to no. 1 on the UK pop chart.* The fact that not many remember them 50+ years later does not make them low profile for the time when they were one of the biggest bands in the country. *The next band to achieve that feat was , by coincidence, Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Nike Rodgers could be a contender. Had his own hits and performing career as half of Chic. Wrote and/or produced and played on hits for many other artists. Good Times could well be the most sampled tune in Hip Hop. I couldn't pick him out of a line up - and I have seen him perform twice, but from a distance each time.
Dan Wilson! Best known as the one hit wonder “Closing Time” guy from Semisonic who had other songs no one remembers. He was in the utterly amazing Trip Shakespeare but they barely made a dent and are pretty much completely forgotten. He put out some solo records that no one noticed as well. Somehow in spite of all this he has managed to make millions writing songs for folks like Adele, Pink, The Dixie Chicks and others. Dan Wilson (musician) - Wikipedia
Takashi Matsumoto - originally drummer with Apryl Fool, went on to write over 2100 songs including 130 top 10 hits in Japan, combined sales over 50 million. Joe Hisaishi is another musician who's had huge success but has a low profile as his albums almost never show him on the sleeve, as they are mostly soundtracks.
Michael Nesmith after The Monkees. He has his own solo career, but he was also a music, movie, and television producer, and a video and digital media mogul. Yet, he maintains a relatively low profile.
Also rich because his mother invented “Liquid Paper” a boon to secretaries who had to correct mistakes on anything typed through carbon paper.
Well, he does play for Roger Waters, and "The Wall" itself was the #1 grossing tour for a solo artist.
If you read Nez's autobiography Infinite Tuesday, you'll learn just how dirty PBS was. They're CLEARLY the villains in that saga.
As much as a question with two superlatives in it can ever properly be answered, this is the correct answer. Although his low profile isn't for want of trying; he did do a rave remix of the Tetris theme song that got onto Top of the Pops: Note: he doesn't seem to be on the stage, but so-called "Dr Spin" is him, and the recording is his work.
No way does Andrew Lloyd Webber have a low profile. He is one of the most famous names in West End musicals. He's been prominent in the campaign to support theatre workers during lockdown.
