Recently my friend, Caroline Weiss, snapped this picture of Elvis Presley’s grave on her visit to Graceland, Elvis’ Memphis, Tennessee estate.
It made me think about the annual Forbes list of the top earners from the grave. Yes, those entertainers who are bringing in the most money AFTER their careers and their lives ended.
The top performer this past year was the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, with the King of Rock ‘n Roll, Elvis Presley, coming in a distant second, but then Elvis has been dead for over 36 years!
Elvis Presley is buried on his estate. A relatively plain bronze grave ledger covers the memento-strewn grave that thousands flock to see every year.
The top five earners are:
Michael Jackson, 160 million, died June 25, 2009
Elvis Presley, 55 million, died August 16, 1977
Charles Schultz, 37 million, died February 12, 2000
Liz Taylor, 25 million, died March 23, 2011
Bob Marley, 18 million, died May 11, 1981
Gravely Speaking 
The house was constructed at the top of a hill, almost at the center of the property in a grove of oaks, with rolling pastures in front and behind it, and a western exposure towards the Mississippi River. A curving driveway, bordered by a six-inch concrete curb lined with small electric lights along the outside edge, approaches from the state highway at the foot of the hill and form a large loop that passes in front of the house and returns back down the hill. A wall constructed of pink Alabama fieldstone bounds the highway frontage on the west side, and runs along the side property lines almost to the site of the residence at the top of the hill. A tall, wooden fence abuts the ends of the stone wall and surrounds the remainder of the grounds.