Michael Jackson is still raking in millions of pounds as the highest-paid dead celebrity – as his iconic track Thriller topped a Billboard chart again.
Jacko, who died in 2009, also topped business media firm Forbes’ list with an estimated £93.5m in earnings. He returned to the top spot after four years ahead of his ex-father-in-law Elvis Presley.
And the late star has bagged chart success as 1983 hit Thriller returned to the highest spot on Billboard’s R&B Digital Song Sales chart.
The late King has produced a whopping £82m so far in the 46 years since his death. Interestingly ex-Doors keyboard player and songwriter Ray Manzarek’s estate came in third after he sold his interest in the band’s work for £37m.
READ MORE: Michael Jackson’s Thriller girlfriend is ‘gorgeous as ever’ in new clip 40 years later
READ MORE: Michael Jackson face in ancient Egyptian bust leaves fans convinced time travel is real
Prince brought home £24.5m, as did fellow 80s icon Whitney Houston. Beatles icon John Lennon’s estate earned £18m, followed by reggae star Bob Marley with £13m.
(Image: Getty Images)
Crooner Bing Crosby keeps his relatives wealthy with £11.5m annually – the same as the Fab Four’s George Harrison. Late golfer Arnold Palmer still claims £6.2m income while Marilyn Monroe’s business dealings beyond the grave make the same.
It comes after Priscilla Presley opened up about her late daughter Lisa Marie Presley’s nearly two-year long marriage to Michael Jackson in a recent interview. Speaking with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, she confessed that she was “very” concerned when the pair tied the knot.
She told viewers: “He loved Elvis or respected Elvis, so I always felt that having the name, associating with the name with his daughter… I was concerned.”
(Image: Michael Ochs Archives)
The star went on to explain her concerns that Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley because of his love of the rock legend, which she confessed to her daughter at the time. But she wasn’t the only one worried, as Priscilla recalled her daughter Lisa was also “concerned” about Jackson during their marriage.
She went on: “She said, ‘I never see him, He is always gone’.” The doting mum claimed her daughter told her how the Billie Jean star would be away for three or four days before he called her.
The 78-year-old admitted that despite their marriage, she “never really got to know” her son-in-law enough to work out if her suspicions about his motivation behind the marriage were correct. When Lisa married Jackson in 1994, the King of Pop was facing accusations of child sexual abuse which surfaced a year later.
(Image: Corbis Via Getty Images)
Have you joined Threads? Follow Daily Star to keep up to date on all things showbiz here.
The former couple said ‘I do’ in the Dominican Republic during an intimate ceremony, with the pair later deciding to keep their union a secret for three months. They later divorced in 1996.
In 2007, Lisa told Marie Claire that leaving her first husband Danny Keough for Jackson in 1994 was “probably the biggest mistake of my life.”
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
