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He’s penned some of the greatest songs in rock music’s canon and was a leading light in its biggest band, but such minor achievements haven’t been enough to prevent Sir Paul McCartney from being voted pop’s most irritating star.

In a poll conducted by CD exchange site Music Magpie, Macca came out ahead of James Blunt, who, as well as singing some truly abysmal songs, also has the benefit of surname that’s conducive to rhyming-slang-based ridicule.

Lily Allen’s position at number 3 was surely cemented by her uniformly awful TV show, while Robbie Williams can probably count himself lucky only to have been voted fourth most annoying.

Perennial irritants Cliff Richard and Bono pop up lower down the list, as do UK soul ‘luminaries’ Joss Stone and Craig David. Blame a chocolate advert and Bo’Selecta for their appearances.

Here’s the top 10 in full:

1. Sir Paul McCartney
2. James Blunt
3. Lily Allen
4. Robbie Williams
5. Amy Winehouse
6. Bono
7. Cliff Richard
8. Pete Doherty
9. Joss Stone
10. Craig David

So, what do you think – is Sir Paul really the most irritating man in pop? Tell MusicRadar who raises your hackles below…