<\/p>\n
\u201cDying,\u201d the pop culture <\/strong>critic Chuck Klosterman once wrote, \u201cis the only thing that guarantees a rock star will have a legacy that stretches beyond temporary relevance.\u201d<\/p>\n It also still pays well. In 2024, several music greats\u2014including Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, Bob Marley and Whitney Houston\u2014are once again topping the charts of the highest-paid dead celebrities. Music catalog income and estate deals remain the top income generators for deceased recording artists.<\/p>\n The King of Pop\u2019s estate scored a huge win in August, after a judge ruled that the $600 million catalog sale<\/a> of his publishing and recorded masters\u2019 rights to Sony could proceed, despite protestations from the late artist\u2019s mother, Katharine Jackson. Meanwhile, multiple revenue streams keep the dollars moonwalking in, including MJ\u2019s Broadway musical and touring productions. All told, Forbes estimates that Jackson has earned more than $3.3 billion since his death in 2009.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Queen\u2019s Freddie Mercury remains rock royalty in the afterlife, rejoining the list for the first time since 2020 with an estimated $250 million due to the group\u2019s $1 billion catalog sale<\/a> to Sony in June. Proceeds were split four ways among Mercury and the still living original band members Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, according to a source with close knowledge of the deal.<\/p>\n In keeping with estate deals, Ric Ocasek of The Cars (who died in 2019) earned $45 million after Primary Wave acquired a stake in his publishing<\/a>, name, likeness, and image rights in September.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not all musicians who are earning the big bucks in the great beyond. The late Friends star Matthew Perry became the rare television actor to ever make the list. (The comedy duo Abbott & Costello\u2014primarily considered film stars\u2014were the first back in 1988, when Forbes launched the Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities list.) Perry, alongside costars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer, are estimated to pull in some $18 million annually in royalties from the megahit sitcom.<\/p>\n And if this year\u2019s listmakers are hanging out at that Great Central Perk in the Sky, there is probably an iced tea and lemonade drink on the menu. Arnold Palmer\u2019s namesake drink generates some $300 million annually<\/a> in revenues, while spiked versions from Molson Coors pull in millions more, thanks to billionaire Don Vultaggio\u2019s AriZona Beverages<\/a> as well as the unquenchable love from Arnie\u2019s Army.<\/p>\n Here are 2024\u2019s highest-earning dead celebrities:\n<\/p>\n The King of Pop still reigns in Germany, thanks to the international touring version of MJ: The Michael Jackson Musical. Jackson\u2019s longtime estate attorney, John Branca, claims that tickets for the Hamburg opening in 2025 are selling out, with the potential to be the show\u2019s largest market. Additional productions in London, Las Vegas, and the U.S. tour\u2014separate from the Broadway show\u2014pull in $6 million weekly.<\/p>\n Queen\u2019s inimitable frontman returns to the list for the first time in four years. The band\u2019s $1 billion catalog sale in June<\/a> was the highest price ever recorded at the time. In total, Mercury earned $241 million more than his 2020 appearance, thanks to a jump in estate earnings from the Rami Malek-helmed biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody.<\/p>\n The beloved children\u2019s book author (born Theodor Seuss Geisel) continues to delight young readers as The Cat In The Hat, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Lorax are introduced to new generations. Licensing for theme parks, TV, movies, and apparel make up the rest of the author\u2019s earnings. Two new offerings include gold and silver collector\u2019s coins<\/a> and Dr. Seuss Babies<\/a>, which are pint-sized versions of The Grinch and Cindy Lou Who, among others, are designed to entice the littlest of readers.<\/p>\n The King is dead, but his fans haven\u2019t left his building. A combination of licensing, music streaming, and revenues generated by Graceland, his Memphis, Tennessee home, remain extremely profitable. Graceland welcomed 600,000 visitors in the past year, according to family representatives\u2014despite a fraudster\u2019s best efforts to sell it at a foreclosure auction in May. In August, the Department of Justice charged a Missouri woman<\/a> with attempting to defraud the Presley family of millions.<\/p>\n Ocasek\u2019s millions came from a September deal with Primary Wave, with the company acquiring a stake in the late Cars\u2019 frontman\u2019s publishing, name, image and likeness rights. Among many hits, Ocasek penned the group\u2019s most popular single, \u201cJust What I Needed,\u201d which was named one of Rolling Stone\u2019s \u201c500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Ocasek and The Cars scored 13 Top 40 singles and have sold over 20 million records.<\/p>\n Income from Prince\u2019s masters, including the iconic Purple Rain album, make The Purple One millions annually, along with revenues from his name, image, and likeness\u2014as well as visitors to his Minneapolis compound, Paisley Park. Controversy has followed Prince into the afterlife, after news broke in July that a nine-hour Netflix documentary on his life and work may never see the light of day<\/a>. Among the estate\u2019s reported objections: they did not like the look of how Paisley Park, was shot on film, and they disliked a sequence comparing the lyrics of his song \u201cLet\u2019s Go Crazy\u201d, which mention an elevator, with where the late singer\u2019s body was found\u2014an elevator in Paisley Park.<\/p>\n Marley\u2019s posthumous income includes royalties from the singer\u2019s catalog, in addition to what a source close to the estate calls a \u201cbig brand business,\u201d including merchandise and other licensing opportunities. The Reggae legend\u2019s earnings spiked in 2024 thanks to the release of his biopic Bob Marley: One Love. The Marley family also entered into (appropriately enough) a joint venture with the cannabis brand Jeeter<\/a> on a one-of-a-kind cannabis brand this year.<\/p>\n \u201cSparky,\u201d as the late Peanuts cartoonist was known to his friends, earned another $30 million in 2024, thanks to brand collaborations and streaming. Snoopy stan accounts on TikTok are igniting Gen Z\u2019s interest<\/a> in the 70-year-old franchise, with merchandise featuring the beloved beagle, plus friends Charlie Brown and Woodstock, from retailers including CVS, Aeropostale, and Urban Outfitters selling out.<\/p>\n Perry\u2019s accidental overdose from ketamine in October 2023 caused a national outpouring of shock and grief, especially as the actor was publicly open about his past substance abuse and addiction issues. At least five people have been charged to date in the actor\u2019s death. His 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, which details his battle with addiction, has reportedly sold over 2.5 million copies since publication. And like all of his castmates on Friends, he continues to earn more than $17 million a year in royalties\u2014even in death.<\/p>\n The legendary Beatle pulls in a reliable income annually due to fans\u2019 everlasting devotion to his music. In November 2023, director Peter Jackson used the same A.I. technology he employed to restore The Beatles\u2019 1970 documentary, Let It Be, to produce a 1978 demo Lennon was unable to finish prior to his 1980 murder. The result was the single \u201cNow And Then,\u201d an effort bandmate Paul McCartney described as \u201cthe last Beatles song.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The intellectual property of the \u201chardest working man in show business\u201d generates millions annually. But Primary Wave, which holds Brown\u2019s publishing, masters, and name and likeness rights, is aiming to supercharge earnings with its ownership<\/a> of his South Carolina mansion. Restoration and archiving of Brown’s possessions in the 60-plus acre property are underway, with the goal of turning the home, and nearby city of Augusta, into a regional tourist attraction on par with Elvis\u2019 Graceland.<\/p>\n What began as a homemade drink Palmer would carry on the links is now a bona fide business success. The Arnold Palmer iced tea and lemonade drink produced by AriZona sells some 500 million cans annually and his estate receives a royalty. Meanwhile, Molson Coors, which makes an alcoholic version of the 50\/50 drink, says the hard Arnold Palmer is the nation\u2019s no. 2 spiked tea<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whitney Houston may not have lived long enough to have a Las Vegas residency, but she is winning big in Sin City\u2019s favorite casino game, the slot machine<\/a>. Gamblers can try their luck at Whitney-branded slots that play her music and videos, while income is generated through a royalty percentage that increases as more games are played. At least 1,000 Whitney slots are set to launch through 2025, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.<\/p>\n This year’s Dead Celebrity ranking includes pretax earnings from sales, streams, licensing deals and other sources between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024, as well as estate acquisitions made or announced during the same period. Forbes compiles the numbers with the help of data from Luminate and interviews with industry insiders. Fees for agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted.<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n
#1. $600 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Michael Jackson<\/strong><\/h2>\n
June 25, 2009 (50<\/strong>) | Cause Of Death: Overdose\/Homicide<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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#2 \u2022 $250 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Freddie Mercury<\/strong><\/h2>\n
November 24, 1991 (45<\/strong>) | Cause Of Death: AIDS<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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#3 \u2022 $75 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Dr. Seuss<\/strong><\/h2>\n
September 24, 1991 (87<\/strong>) | Cause Of Death: Cancer<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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<\/h4>\n
#4 \u2022 $50 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Elvis Presley<\/strong><\/h2>\n
August 16, 1977 (42<\/strong>) | Cause Of Death: Heart Attack<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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#5 \u2022 $45 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Ric Ocasek<\/strong><\/h2>\n
September 15, 2019 (75<\/strong>) | Cause of Death: Cardiovascular Disease<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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#6 \u2022 $35 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Prince<\/strong><\/h2>\n
April 21, 2016 (57<\/strong>) Cause of Death: Overdose<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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<\/h4>\n
#7 \u2022 $34 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Bob Marley<\/strong><\/h2>\n
May 11, 1981 (36<\/strong>) | Cause of Death: Cancer<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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#8 \u2022 $30 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Charles M. Schulz<\/strong><\/h2>\n
February 12, 2000 (77<\/strong>) | Cause of Death: Cancer<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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#9 \u2022 $18 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Matthew Perry<\/strong><\/h2>\n
October 28, 2023 (54<\/strong>) | Cause of Death: Overdose<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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#10 \u2022 $17 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
John Lennon<\/strong><\/h2>\n
December 8, 1980 (40<\/strong>) | Cause of Death: Homicide<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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#11 \u2022 $15 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
James Brown<\/strong><\/h2>\n
December 25, 2006 (73<\/strong>) | Cause of Death: Heart Failure<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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#12 \u2022 $14 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Arnold Palmer<\/strong><\/h2>\n
September 25, 2016 (87<\/strong>) | Cause of Death: Cardiovascular Disease<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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#13 \u2022 $13 Million<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Whitney Houston<\/strong><\/h2>\n
February 11, 2012 (48<\/strong>) | Cause of Death: Drowning<\/strong><\/sup><\/h4>\n
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\nMETHODOLOGY<\/strong><\/h4>\n
MORE FROM FORBES<\/strong><\/h4>\n