Celebrities never fade away: How their creative works keep them alive

The recent India Art Fair in Delhi was a living ode to “delebrities”. Delebrities are dead celebrities who continue to be remembered, celebrated, and valued. The art fair was ruled by the works of S H Raza, F N Souza, M F Husain, Vasudeo S Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta, and Gogi Saroj Pal among many others whose posthumous fame continued to attract richie-rich art collectors. These delebrity artists all command stratospheric prices, and their works sell like hot cakes to well-heeled, knowledgeable, discerning buyers.

 

Dead celebrities remain valuable because their creative works — art, music, movies, or books continue to generate exponential value through actual sales, through royalties, licensing deals, and merchandise even after their death, allowing their inheritors (or their estate) to earn significant revenue from their legacy. These celebrities were obviously highly influential figures during their lifetime; and their art or creative output continues to be consumed and appreciated by fans long after they are gone.

 

Michael Jackson, the Prince of Pop, died in 2009 but still makes hundreds of millions of dollars each year, more than many top celebs of today. Jackson was one of the biggest names in world music during his peak in the 1980s and 1990s. And even though controversies took away some of the sheen from his stardom, even death failed to dim his fame or fortune. After his sudden demise, Jackson’s estate has continued to monetise his celebrity status through royalties earned from his countless chartbusters. According to Forbes’ “The Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities of 2024”, Jackson has earned more than $3.3 billion since his death. His earnings of $115 million in 2023 ($600 million in 2024), for example, beat Elvis Presley ($100 million) and the Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek ($45 million) that year. Freddy Mercury’s earnings in 2024 were $250 million while Prince cashed in at $35 million and Bob Marley at $34 million. John Lennon at $17 million too was not far behind.

 

Painter Raza was already a legend by the time he passed away. But death has magnified the value of his works manifold as no new Razas will any longer hit the market. “Gestation”, a 1989 S H Raza painting, sold at a Pundole’s auction in Mumbai for ₹51.75 crore ($6.27 million). “Gestation” is possibly the most expensive Indian artwork ever to be sold at an auction. Husain was already repeatedly tipping the one crore mark by the time he died in 2011. But his prices have risen by 2000 per cent since then — an artwork by the late Husain titled Voices sold for ₹18.47 crore at an online AstaGuru auction in 2020. Similar statistics are true for other Indian masters.

 

An interesting debate, especially in today’s age of artificial intelligence, is whether the dead celebrities should be brought back to life beyond fan memories and love. Lennon’s murder in 1980 cemented his reputation as a musical visionary and cultural icon. Since then, Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon, the couple’s son, have maintained his legacy, cultural ubiquity, and fame. Until, that is, they allowed Citroën to use him to sell cars. In a 2010 advert, Lennon was seen in a studio setting, discussing the nature of nostalgia in grainy colour. His image was then cut to reveal the new Citroën. Squaring “imagine no possessions” with such a flagrantly commercial act is a tough ask, there being no cultural association between the man and the product. In his defence, Sean Lennon argued that it was designed to keep his father in the public consciousness and introduce his image and personality to a new, younger audience. In reality, it was an attempt to ensure the marketability of Lennon’s image, persona, and music. But a reputation can be easily tarnished. Lennon’s eloquence and idealism endowed him with unique intellectual weight and gravitas. To squander this by using him to sell a car was a mistake. 

 

India’s biggest delebrity, at least in recent living memory, has been Mahatma Gandhi. Since his death The Father of the Nation has adorned our currency notes and postage stamps, and has had his name emblazoned on hundreds of roads, gardens, public buildings and institutions. But Gandhiji’s delebrity brand is getting somewhat diluted and diminished as lesser and lesser currency notes are used today as everyone is going digital. And letters have long been replaced by e-mail. You see far less of the Mahatma today than in earlier decades. Munnabhai nevertheless rejuvenated his somewhat strong delebrities have a way of bouncing back — they rarely fade away.

 

The author is chairman of Rediffusion