
Halloween is creeping up, so it's time for
Forbes to publish its
list of the highest-earning dead celebrities of the past year. The winner, once again, is Elvis Presley, whose dulcet tones, handsome visage, and rotting carcass pulled in $52 million, nearly $20 million ahead of No. 2, Charles M. Schulz. The other musicians near the top are John Lennon (seventh, $9 million) and Marvin Gaye (13th, $2 million), with ancillaries such as Velvet Underground manager Andy Warhol (eighth, $9 million) and presidential serenader Marilyn Monroe (ninth, $6.5 million) figuring in as well. What's most noteworthy, though, are two other pieces—one in
Forbes, the other in
Ad Age—that explains the nature of this list and call parts of it, indirectly, into question.
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