By Alfonso Majetic
Do you think celebrities earn more millions alive or dead? This is a difficult question to answer.
We all know the principle: where there’s life, there’s death. Though a true statement, for some it seems that life and legacy continue on long after death. Many artists and celebrities have been able to live only through their stories, music, art and ideas. This is when the true meaning of the word legacy has its greatest effect on humanity. Perhaps they have even found a way to reach one of the most hidden secrets: immortality.
As a perfect example we have the so called King of Pop, Michael Jackson. For the second year in a row, Michael Jackson leads Forbes’ list of the top-earning dead celebrities, with earnings of over 170 million dollars; in fact he earns more than any living celebrity besides U2, which is of course a group and not an individual.
So how many living stars does it take to equal a year of Jackson’s post-mortem production? As it turns out, the combined earnings of Lady Gaga ($90 million), Justin Bieber ($53 million), Eminem ($14 million) and Kate Moss ($13 million) add up to one Michael Jackson ($170 million).
The Gloved One has earned half a billion dollars since his death in the summer of 2009. The striking brand sales produced by Michael Jackson were due, in a large part, to the successful tour of Cirque Du Soleil “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour”, as well as sales generated by the posthumous album “Michael” and the DVD ‘This is it’.
Continuing on the immortals list, the second place is reserved not for any other than the father-in-law of Jackson himself; yes we are referring to the king of another kingdom: Elvis Presley. Again “Cirque Du Soleil” is one of the principal reasons why “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” still produce millions, thanks to the show: “Viva Elvis”.
Another profitable immortal is the biggest sex symbol in history, Marilyn Monroe, whose annual earnings amount to around 25 million bucks per year. The cartoonist Charles Schulz is in 4th place making Snoopy, the most profitable dog with 23 million. Finally in 5th position John Lennon still win hearts and fans all over the world with his music heritage earning around 12 million dollars per year.
So to question , does celebrities earn more alive or death? we don’t really have an answer. However we know that the profound impact celebrities can make on humanity with their contributions make then truly living dead. After all they are celebrities and a little of posthumous fame and money, it is not bad at all.
