Between the royalties their music produces and the businesses that have been built around them, these artists made their descendants millionaires. Check out who else is on the list.

No matter how many years they have been dead, a handful of artists continue to generate profits as if they were alive and in their prime . Their legacy was so important that to this day they continue to be remembered, but above all, consumed.

Names such as former Beatle John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and some more usually appear on this list , but which of them was the one that produced the most money in 2023?

Who are the dead musicians who made the most in 2023?

George Harrison

Just a few days before his 22nd death anniversary, the guitarist of The Beatles generated 10 million dollars from the sales of the music of his former band and his solo career. Spoiler: Harrison is not the dead Beatle who earned the most money this year.

Bob Marley

The reggae legend has been dead for 42 years, but he continues to make millions. This year there were 14 due to the royalties generated by his music, but also due to the rights to use his image . Everything looks like the author of ‘Jamming’ will continue on this list in 2024 and we will even see him higher, since next year his biopic ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ will be released, in which Kingsley Ben-Adir plays to the Jamaican singer.

John Lennon

As if the royalties that The Beatles generate with their music and John Lennon’s catalog were not enough, their new single ‘Now and Then’ earned them more money than in other years . It is estimated that this year the elder Beatle made $16 million . Surely in 2024 we will also see it on the list, since this song has only been on the market for two weeks.

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Whitney Houston

The one who is considered the best R&B singer of all time would have pocketed 22 million dollars if she had been alive , as a result of her music and the film that was released last year based on her life ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ .

Prince

Since he passed away in 2016, three posthumous albums have been released by the Minneapolis genius, earning Prince , along with his brilliant discography, $30 million in 2023 .

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Ray Manzarek

How is it possible that The Doors keyboardist has made more profits than George Harrison and John Lennon combined this year? Very easily, their descendants, who own the rights to the group’s music, sold the band’s catalog to Primary Wave Music for $40 million .

Elvis Presley

“The King” is always in the first three places of dead celebrities that generate the most money year after year, but beyond the royalties his music produces, it is the other businesses that make the greenbacks rain, such as income that receives its home in Memphis, Tennessee, with the sale of tickets for tours and merchandise, for example. This year it was only 45 million dollars.

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Michael Jackson

The controversial singer earned 100 million dollars in 2023 both with his music and with the musical that was made on Broadway ‘MJ: The Musical ‘, the rights to bring his life to the cinema and the show offered by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas based in the singer .

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