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Dead Music Stars Rake in the Big Bucks | PopEater.com

2009-10-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

Dead Music Stars Rake in the Big Bucks | PopEater.com

Michael Jackson's posthumous documentary and CD 'This Is It' is released this week, and if history is any guide, his estate stands to make a lot of money. Since his death in June, 9 million Jackson albums have been sold -- which means he's already beaten John Lennon and Elvis Presley in his fourth act.

Actors like Marilyn Monroe and Heath Ledger also earned a whopping amount of money after they died. In a dead celebrity shocker, Forbes just announced its list for 2009, with deceased fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent topping the dead celebs at $350 million. (They auctioned off his estate, which contained all his fancy stuff-art, furniture, and clothing.)

MJ debuted at number 3, and the year isn't even done.

Michaelangelo Matos, who's written for Rolling Stone and Spin, says of the post-death sales bump: "This goes back quite a ways in music. You can go all the way back to Hank Williams. He died on New Year's 1952-3, and his sales skyrocketed after his death."

Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield, who writes the Pop Life column, adds: "MJ hasn't had a new record that anyone cared about in years, and it's hard to imagine people would care about his new performances if he were still alive. When an artist dies suddenly, and fans have mass grief, they want to hear the music as part of the mourning process. But with MJ, it's almost like people reconnected with music they'd forgotten how much they loved."

We take a closer look at some artists who've gotten even bigger after they entered the big house in the sky.

Michael Jackson

After Jackson died this year, everyone rushed to buy his old records. Interestingly, it was the compilation, Number Ones that tallied the most sales in the week following his death -- not 'Thriller.'

"Nostalgia is much of it," says Matos. "Some of it is also changing media: people who abandoned their cassettes or LPs or even CDs and didn't replace their copies of 'Off the Wall' and 'Thriller' will seize the opportunity to remember. But it's part of a public act of grieving, too."

MJ's already expected to move 300,000 copies through the end of the week.

"Until now, I think Elvis had the record for the biggest posthumous publicity bump, but death didn't make people buy Elvis records the way it makes people buy MJ records," says Sheffield. "I don't think there's been anything like this before. No pop star's death has had this kind of impact on the public's appetite to hear his music."

Elvis Presley
According to Forbes, in 2008, Presley was still the King. Last year he topped the magazine's list of Dead Celebrities, bringing in $52 million on the 30th anniversary of his death, a feat he's managed most of the years they've done their survey. (All the Elvis memorabilia, plus visits to Graceland, help boost Presley.) This year, he came in fourth on the list -- making a measly $55 million.

"His catalog is enormous and has never stopped selling," says Matos.

Presley's dominance might only be toppled in the future by a few megastars, he says. "If Madonna or Prince were to keel over tomorrow it might spur similar reactions -- they were as defining, generationally, as Michael was, and are only in their early 50s. "

Kurt Cobain

After he shot himself at age 27, Kurt Cobain's mom infamously said: "Now, he's gone and joined that stupid club." The Nirvana frontman belongs to another exclusive club: that of dead celebrities whose records hit number one. MTV: Unplugged in New York From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah both debuted at the top. Since his death, Cobain's estate earned $50 million in 2006 alone, putting him above the King on the Forbes list that year.

John Lennon
The Beatle has had a great run in the afterlife. After being unceremoniously shot by Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's career experienced a resurgence. His comeback record, 'Double Fantasy,' which featured his wife Yoko Ono, was released a month before he was killed. Prior to his death, 'Fantasy' only reached number 11 on the charts; after his death, it was number one in the U.S. for 8 weeks straight. It went on to sell three million copies, paling in comparison to other posthumous releases. However, Lennon was a critical success: the record went on to win a Grammy for Album of the Year and Lennon was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist.

Bob Marley
If you were in college in the 80s or 90s (and even in the aughts), chances are if you bought a reggae CD, it was Bob Marley's 'Legend.' The record is a classic: it contained the eternal hits, 'No Woman, No Cry,' 'I Shot the Sheriff,' and 'One Love.' The collection -- released three years after his death from cancer in 1981 -- has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. His sales were so strong, that he placed ninth on Forbes Top Earners list of Dead Celebrities in 2004.

Notorious B.I.G.
Biggie Smalls' double album, 'Life After Death,' sold 690,000 copies the week after he was killed. His two singles, 'Hypnotize' and 'Mo Money Mo Problems' also reached the top of the charts, a first for a non-living artist. The record went on to sell ten million copies and received the distinction of being certified diamond by the RIAA in 2000.

Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur released more records as a dead man than he did when he was alive. Two of his posthumous records went to number one -- they were made possible by the hundreds of tracks Tupac left in his wake. One of his albums, 'The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory' (under his other nom de dic, Makaveli), recorded in seven days and released just two months after he was shot, sold over 7 million in the U.S and 28 million worldwide In 2003, he pulled in a cool $12 mil.

Source: Popeater
http://www.popeater.com/2009/10/28/dead-music-stars-rake-in-the-big-bucks/

A title with signifigance.

2009-10-27T16:42:00.000-07:00

Wow. I'm excited. Tomorrow me and my friend Zazyl are seeing This is It, the Michael Jackson documentary. I'm excited but at the same time , its really sad...I preordered the tickets, because i knew they would sell out. lol. Ok , well I have a few awesome things to share. Different things I found on the inter webs.
Dexter Merchandise, becuae i effin love this show.

Downtown and Etsy.

2009-10-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

I think that with every paycheck , I'm going to get it something either downtown or from a handmade site like etsy. hey you got to support your local businesses and your people making their own stuffs online :)
plus both have good stuff <3

=]

Michael Jackson-DIrty Diana.

2009-10-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

He put on the best performances. The BEST.

killing time

2009-10-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

Halloween almost, and now my outfit is fucking up. So plan 2. Go to another thrift shop tomorrow, lol. I hope to find some kind of vintage inspired dress or something. Or just go as Michael Jackson lawl. Anyways, so yeah, I'm so excited , so uh I'll write later when i actually have something to say.
Misa

2009-10-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

Dig a pony

2009-10-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

***********
I wish i could say i am tired, but im really not.

its really bad to stay up this late on a computer too. Messes with your sleep and eyesight. ugh. oh well. uhm ok but yeah, im totally super excited for halloween! lol ive though up the most random dress up halloween outfit idea ever. But its oh so awesome. I'm basically going to be a steam punk human cat hybrid. lol. with a funky pink and black wig. I'm not quite sure if I'm going to have Halloween off at work, but if i do work, you can wear you oufit! I'm super excited. And I asked off for the 30th because there is going to be a Halloween party at the library, and I beleive most of my friends are going to be there, and i may go on this ghost tour things with either kyle or kyle and krystal,afterwords, so im super excited. And if i am off on halloween i want to go to a graveyard. that'll be pretty kewl. I've already gotten some books for halloween and all of Edgar allan poe's poems to read. A awesome vampire book and some other stuffs. <3 UHms so yeah. Im trying my darndest to get a savings account. I need to see how much i have left in my bank account lol, but i need to start thinking about the future. I was going to get Christmas gifts for everyone , but I don't think i can sacrafice my small paychecks for it...so probaly not. I like to get my friends small things, then and their anyways. =] N-ways. I'm way too hyper for it to be 12:19 lol When I get my outfit together, I'll post pics! Oh yeah and I just got back from shopping. I got a good bit of things. I also went shopping the other day too. I found this amazing vegetarian chili, its the bomb. Uhm but i really use a lot of my mulah for foods and non-treated on animal products. I guess you could say i really stand up for what i believe in. :] I got some more soy milk, the good stuff, Original Silk flavor, Some of Tom's Toothpaste, organic and not treated on animals, some St. Ives scrub for acne treatment, some Treseme shampoo, conditioner, and mousse {surprisingly they don't test on animals!}, some more noodle things, some Morning farm burgers and fake bacon (yumms), my awesome pink and black awesome wig for my costume, some hair clips, some cat ears, and i also got some vege's and fruits cuss i got this juicer at home and i'm going to make some juice! (cheaper than v8 lol and healthy). I got some potatoes, apples, carrots, broccoli, celery, and red grapes<3. =] OKay. I'm gone to do useless things on the interweb and listen to some Beatles songs.