Elvis, John Lennon and other top-earning dead people

When Forbes published its list of the year’s top-earning dead celebrities, we set ourselves a challenge.

If everyone is separated by six degrees (or less), shouldn’t it be possible to link every name on the list in a single map?
Hint: Click in map to explore connectionsStory continues below interactive map 

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The ranking, headed by Elvis Presley, includes 13 people - musicians, actors, a cartoonist, a children’s author, an artist and a Nobel Prize winner. Their birth years span nearly a century, from 1879 to 1971.

All 13 appear in the map above.

Here’s the Forbes list of beyond-the-grave moneymakers for the past 12 months:

Elvis Presley
John Lennon
Charles Schulz
George Harrison
Albert Einstein
Andy Warhol
Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)
Tupac Shakur
Marilyn Monroe
Steve McQueen
James Brown
Bob Marley
James Dean

The easiest link was between George Harrison and John Lennon. The Beatles connect to Elvis Presley and James Brown by way of Michael Jackson, former husband of Lisa Marie Presley and part-owner of the rights to Apple Records. Jackson also named Brown as his “greatest inspiration” when he spoke at his funeral.

Andy Warhol’s celebrity-centric art links him to Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Albert Einstein, whom he painted. Another famous subject of Warhol’s was Elizabeth Taylor, who co-starred with James Dean in the 1956 film Giant

Einstein, Charles Shulz, and Theodor Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss), share the same publisher: Random House.

Bob Marley and Eric Clapton both recorded the song I Shot the Sheriff. Clapton’s ex-girlfriend Sheryl Crow found inspiration in actor Steve McQueen, and penned a song named for him.

Finally, Tupac Shakur makes his way into the map by way of Elton John, whose sample the rapper used on his track Ghetto Gospel. Elton John’s famous song, Candle In The Wind, was written about Marilyn Monroe. It was later re-released as a tribute to Princess Diana, who is also on the map because her ex and Paul McCartney had the same divorce attorney.

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