21 Nov 2013

30 years on, The King still rules

3:46 pm on 21 November 2013

Thirty years after his death, singer Elvis Presley is still the second highest earning dead celebrity in the world after Michael Jackson.

His estate earned $55 million in the past year. His brand has now been sold to a company that also owns the rights to Marilyn Monroe.

New York-based licensing company Authentic Brands Group says it plans to increase Elvis' popularity and fan base worldwide.

Media analyst Alice Enders says Elvis is still big business.

"Elvis benefits from having fans all over the world and those fans are very, very devoted to the King of Rock and Roll.

"These people will go all the way to Graceland - it's that fan base that you keep re-energizing because to some degree, Elvis isn't as current in music as Michael Jackson or The Beatles.

"So you basically have to constantly use every avenue. For example, today Elvis was named the single biggest solo artist in US history, having sold 180 million albums - that's another way of keeping him in the news."