Yves Saint Laurent was the highest-earning dead celebrity last year, making $350 million (£213 million), according to the annual list compiled by Forbes. The fashion designer was followed by the composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein with $235 million, and Michael Jackson at $90 million. Elvis Presley was fourth with $55 million. Last year he topped the list of highest earning dead celebrities with $52 million.
Matthew Miller, the editor of the list, forecast that Jackson would rise in the coming year. “He will make tens of millions because he has lucrative publishing rights and rights to all his memorabilia,” he said. The rankings assess the earning power of dead celebrities, including musicians, authors, actors and songwriters.
Elvis had passed away 27 years before the creation of this list . However , he's topped it 7 times & his income increases steadily year after year ( & it could be even higher if BMG/SONY were doing a better job at promoting his music correctly...). This other singer passed away not too long ago & , yet , has not managed to get to number one . He might reach the top next year BUT he will be still behind the KING in terms of number of years at the top. Where will he stand 30 years from now ? Elvis , HE , will be be back to number one.
Oh my. Here we go again. I'm sure the fans on this site will come out full force siting how the King is still # 1. Better than this celebrity or that one. I hope I'm wrong but this brings out the childishness of many on this site.
I don't take much interest in lists. As long as Graceland makes enough money to stay open, that's the important thing. Other than that, the music is forever.
I bet Jacko wont be selling so much as Elvis did 30 years from now?(call it "childish" but it's a fact)..Elvis still 'officailly' the biggest selling SOLO ARTIST of all time.(source:guiness book of records)when Micheal Jackson has as many top ten hits and sold milliions every year for 30 years then i might start respecting him-till then i think he dont compare to elvis.(especially when you consider the fact "Jacko" didn't even have a no.1 album or single for 6 years prior his sudden death...i rest my case!)..its Elvis all the way for me.(childish or not)
I don't give a damn about such lists ! Even if Elvis wasn't on it I wouldn't care less. It's his voice and music that counts . Always El.
I could care less about this dumb list and it looks like the oldscudder was right on the money.
No problem for me if MJ is a bigger star then elvis and more talent, but for me elvis always be closest to me heart.Where ever he will be in such list :))
For a person, who has passed such a long time ago the earnings are still incredible. But what is most astonishing is, that Elvis career as a dead person lasts longer than as a living and working entertainer.
this is what i read on a forum....and how true it is,in my humble opinion MJ had no more talent then Elvis,just wait and see if MJ is still in the list over 32 years
..the fact that they even compare an artist such as Elvis to micheal jackson proves the impact he really had..do not forget he has been dead now for over 30 years and still has had big hits in the uk and us charts...this Hoo-Haa over micheal jackson has died down already and he didn't even manage to get a NUMBER 1 single with all the publicity over his death...Elvis sold 20 million records the day he died and Way Down went straight to the NO.1 slot in the uk(unlike Jacko recently)Wether your a micheal jackson or an elvis fan the fact remains elvis has out-sold "Jacko" ten to one...who's the ';best'..who cares!-facts speak louder than hearsay and conjecture!.
Hoo-haa over Jackson has already died down? 'This Is It' just took in over 101 million in 5 days worldwide. Sounds like he is still pretty popular doesnt it? Give the guy and his fans his due. He is more popular than ELvis now, as hard as that is to swallow, but its true. Of course maybe a year or 2 from now he wont be but you never know.
What does it matter how many money a dead body "earns" after 30 years ? This is not the scale to show popularity. I am sure Elvis would have hated this list, wouldn't he ?
i cannot understand that on an Elvis presley website thier are freaky "Jacko" fans who just want to slag the "King" off and try and cause some unwanted contention between us "elvis fans"..why dont these "Jacko" fans go on a Micheal jackson website and STOP slagging elvis off and grow up and stop trying to prove' that Micheal jackson is better than Elvis or has sold more records;etc,etc,.you make me feel sick-so do us Elvis fans a good favour and get away from this Elvis website.(it's not called Michealjacksonnews.com is it)grow up.
pass-ryu - If you are referring to me, I am not a MJ fan, never bought 1 record by him. I am stating what I read in the paper and heard on the news. After reading your silly post, I thought I should put some fact into it. Obviously it is you who needs to grow up and show some class in order to enage in an intelligent dialog and face reality.
dgirl - dont let it bother you. There are some on this site that feel you dont belong here if you say one contrary thing (even tho true) about Elvis. To them , you need to agree that everything Elvis ever did was great or you should go some place else. I hear it all the time. In fact what you said was not an opinion but indeed true. MJ is making more money than Elvis right now, and is riding a wave of popularity, so what? Elvis is gone 30 years, MJ not even a year so whats the big deal if this is true right now? You see how silly some people are? Pointless really.
are you real?,trying to say that Jacko has sold more than elvis??-ha ha ha ha..abolute rubbish and how many no.1 hit singles has jacko had then?(nowhere near a many as elvis,and elvis has had 4 no.1 hits since his death and has had the uk's 1000th uk no.1 single in 2005 with the release of all his 18 no.1's box set-i dont think jacko will be doing that feat in 30 years time?-especially when they start focusing on the truth of jacko being a sick peodophile-the worms will one day soon "come out of the woodwork" and then the public's 'opinion' will certainly change for good)Whatever you may say bad concerning our man Elvis,you could NEVER accusse of him being a child rapist or child abuser..the very worst thing the media has focused on agains elvis is his drug misuse-i'd prefer that anyday over a child rape allegation anyday..Elvis has the record for selling the most lp's,the most singles and being in the uk and usa charts more than any artist(check your fact and read a guiness book of records book)...i will not bother to comment on you two anynmore,so dont bother reacting to my truthful comment.(i rest my case)
what? who ever stated jacko sold more than elvis? tell me, please who? are you for real? no one has mentioned record sales, or number one records, or anything like that. and now you bring the child rapist angle in? I think it is you who needs a reality check or a chill pill. Get a grip and re-read the posts. If I make a person like you sick, well mission accomplished!
you steve are the one who said micheal Jackson has sold more tha Elvis(you re-read your own post)you and your ffriend dgirl started all this by trying to compare Jacko to Elvis(saying jacko has out-sold Elvis on an "Elvis" website)dgirl was even worse than your pathetic comments,saying that jacko just out-sold Elvis with the ne movie(not a cd sales or even a no.1 hit single)..how you can use a new movie to say that otu-sells Elvis i dont know?';Jacko didn't even manage a no.1 album in the uk or usa charts after his death(unlike elvis who sold millions the day he died)and Jacko di not even have a No.1 single-even after all the HOO-Haa about his death..RCA didnt need to cause Hoo-Haa after Elvis died,he sold millions anyway and had a No.1 hit due to his untimely death in 1977...You're the person who needs a 'check up' from the neck up son!-you know full well this is an Elvis Presley website and yet you and dgirl cannot resisit in trying to upset Elvis fans by saying Jacko is better or out-sold Elvis.(it's not just myself neither you fool)you grow up and worship Michealk Jackson,but worship him somewhere else and not on an Elvis webite(i cant beleive that you and dgirl even bothered to join this site as you obviously adore jacko over elvis?)And regarding the child abuse-it is truth that Jacko was accussed twice of abusing kids and in my or any 'normal' perons opinioin thats twice too much.(and he paid 22 million to get out of it)