MJ Tops Forbes List of Top-Earning Deceased Celebrities for a Second Year
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http://www.mjjunderground.com/2011/10/25/michael-jackson-tops-forbes-list-of-top-earning-deceased-celebrities-for-a-second-year/<br /><br />
(Forbes) - It’s been two years since Michael Jackson passed away at the age of 50 but the King of Pop’s earning power shows no sign of waning.<br /><br />For the second year in a row, Jackson tops our annual list of the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities. Over the past 12 months Jackson’s estate brought in $170 million from sales of his music and his stake in the Sony/ATV catalog. That’s a big drop from the $275 million Jackson earned in the previous 12 months but it’s still enough to make him the second highest-earning pop act over the past year, dead or alive, after U2.<br /><br />Songwriters who own their own work usually fare best on our list because their catalogs can keep selling well long after they’ve passed away. But now there’s a new way for dead pop stars to earn big: Cirque Du Soleil.<br /><br />Jackson headed out on tour again this month with the Cirque Du Soleil show Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. If it’s successful, Jackson could net more touring in death than he did in life. Cirque and the King of Pop’s estate will split costs and profits evenly, and the cost of touring a Cirque show is less than that of a glitzy Michael Jackson round-the-world extravaganza. On top of that, the estate will collect performance royalties every night because the show uses his songs, most of which he has songwriting credits on.
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