Elvis Presley tops list of wealthiest dead celebrities

Elvis Presley is the highest earning dead celebrity in a list compiled by Forbes.com.

The singer came top for the second year in a row aided by the 30th anniversary of his death in August 2007, which saw his estate take $52 million last year - thanks to new ventures including the Elvis Sirius Satellite Radio show, merchandise and visitors to his Memphis home Graceland.

even outdid hard-working, still-living musicians like Justin Timberlake and Madonna in the financial stakes, who raked in $44 million and $40 million respectively.

Other musicians on the list include Marvin Gaye at 13 with $3.5 million and the John Lennon estate, which came in at Number Seven, earning $9 million last year - the majority of which went to anti-war charities.

Presley has sat in the top spot for six of the seven year-history of the study, with only Kurt Cobain topping him in 2006 - on the strength of a new publishing deal for his back catalogue and the release of Nirvana rarities box set 'With the Lights Out'.