Death has always been around us and especially now with celebrities dropping like flies. Most of these celebs are past their artistic prime or have lost favor with the audience. Many of them have had scandals ruining their public image and popularity. Death changes that and like a cruel joke they are at the height of their career after crossing over to the other side. Past mistakes are forgotten and old jokes are in bad taste. The customary “lulz” turn into “too soon, bro”s. Following are some of the celebrities who seemed to have gained glory through death.

Steve Jobs

Pre-death - Co-founder of apple, inventor, and most famous for rocking a black turtleneck was often the butt of internet jokes due to his unorthodox style and line of apple products that seemed to slim down along with your wallet. Most popular being the hate directed to him due to i-phones not supporting flash and certain religious groups hating him for bizarre reasons.

Post-Death - After death he has been heralded as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the decade and was voted number 3 on ‘Engineering Heroes’ list. ‘The list of Engineering Heroes was chosen by around 900 engineering undergraduates in the UK who were surveyed by General Electric (GE) The man who brought you the iPad beat Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison (all whom ranked in the top 10). Not to mention the sale of the iPhone 4S and other Apple products which jumped up faster than you could say ‘iTunes update’!

Michael Jackson

Pre-Death- MJ was probably one of the greatest performers of all time but, he too was dogged by his fare share of haters and scandals. During his life he faced child molestation lawsuits and sex scandals and his ‘Neverland’ ranch. Whether they were true or not they still had a major effect on people perception of him. Even though these may have been the worst times of his life they were used as gags from movies like scary movie to Eminem music videos.

Post-death - Within minutes of his death Amazon.com reported that his and Jackson 5 cds were being sold out. The demand even surpassed that for Elvis and Lennon after their death. Many of his songs began appearing in the top 10 all across the world with people remembering him for the music that he made. His album sales beat all other contestants for top place. Even though he was not able to complete his ‘This is it’ concert the DVD sales itself were explosive. Being near bankruptcy before death, its now estimated that his net worth has reached the billions after death.  

Amy Winehouse

Pre-death- In 2007 she was known for winning the BRIT award for best female artist and also nominated for best British album. She also won the Ivor Novella Award three times (once for ‘Rehab’) and is also credited as an influence in the rise in popularity of female musicians and soul music, and also for revitalizing British music. However this soon changed and she was more popular for substance abuse and troubled relationships. In 2008 she was nominated for ‘Villain of the year’ along with George W Bush and Tony Blair while she won for ‘Worst dressed Performer’ and not to mention being voted second most hated personality in UK in poll conducted by ‘Marketing’ magazine.

Post-death- There was a special tribute for Amy at the VMAs with Bruno Mars and Russell Brand paying tribute. Her music was back on TV channels and back on top 10 charts and her popularity greatly increasing. Youtube witnessed many ‘God plz take beiber and give back Amy’ comments.

Dev Anand

Pre-death - Dev Anand has been the butt of almost every joke in almost every skit about early era Bollywood in comedy shows. His choices of recent roles and casting have been seen as feeble attempts at reclaiming youth and a foolish man not accepting his age.

Post-death - The same acting career, roles and casting are claimed to be due to his ‘young at heart’ nature and no other reason whatsoever. News of memorials and tributes have been abundant and now we may even have a museum dedicated to him.