Michael Jackson's This Is It tour was the singer's plan to try to regain some control over the debts he had amassed during his extravagant life, and ultimately the preparation for it played its part in his death. But it was also his death which proved just how strong his selling power was.
His estate received a huge boost in the wake of his death and saw him generate £173m in the 12 months after he died.
With a succession of timeless hits, sales of his material increased dramatically as fans rushed out to capture some of the magic which saw him labelled the King of Pop.
Coupled with radio play royalties, the star earned more than Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Madonna and Jay-Z combined during the year after his death in June 2009.
While it is not uncommon for major stars to get a sales spike following their death, figures complied by Forbes magazine showed Jackson was the highest earning dead celebrity of 2010, beating the pooled income of the next 12 stars on the list, and four times greater than second-placed Elvis Presley.
An increase in radio play and a massive boost in album sales is said to have brought in around £32m, while video games sales, memorabilia and a reissued autobiography also brought in a similar amount.
Sales from the This Is It film, assembled from footage of rehearsals for the 02 Arena concerts for which he was preparing when he died, helped add to the millions.
But Jackson's greatest money maker had always been his rights to other people's songs, which include his half-share in a catalogue of hits by artists such as Elvis Presley and the Beatles, which famously led to the end of his friendship with Sir Paul McCartney.
With his lavish lifestyle, Jackson would rely on his share of the rights to bring in revenue, which is said to have generated more than £30m each year.
His 2009 London shows were originally planned to help Jackson get back in control of his £300m debt, which he had amassed after ploughing through his fortune.
Following his death, an album containing some of his works in progress, entitled Michael, was released last December and peaked at number four in the UK album charts.
While it has gone platinum after selling in excess of 300,000 copies, it failed to emulate the success of Jackson's previous albums.
In the US alone, his biggest selling album Thriller sold a further million copies in the months after his death.
Source BY guardian.co.uk
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