ETTA James, the soul singer who passed away aged 73 on January 20, did not enjoy the commercial success suggested by the popularity of her songs. 'At Last', her best remembered recording, only reached number 67 in the Billboard Hot 100 on its release in early 1961. Her debut solo album of the same name, which also included the classics 'I Just Want To Make Love To You' and ' A Sunday Kind of Love', peaked at a lowly 68 in the U.S.

Much later, James would get the recognition she deserved, with an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and six Grammys, the first in 1994.

But it would take her death to skyrocket the soul star into the chart stratosphere. She was barely in the grave when a TV campaign launched for 'The Best of Etta James' album, no doubt triggered by the fact that, just two says after her passing, the 'Best Of' compilation had already climbed to 46 on Billboard, the highest ever placing for any Etta James release. 30,000 copies of James albums were sold in the week following her death, an increase of 378% on the previous week, and ' At Last' - the single - shifted an unprecedented 63,000 downloads.

The phenomenon of sales success after death is nothing new, of course, and Etta James is a long way off the top of the ' dead artists' chart.

That honour lies with Michael Jackson who has been the 'top-earning dead celebrity' for the past two years, according to Forbes. Last year Jackson's estate brought in around €130 million, making him the second highest-earning pop act, dead or alive, after U2. Other singers and musicians on the list include Elvis (in second place), John Lennon and George Harrison.

The death of the rich and the famous contines to fascinate. Michael Jackson was back at the top of another chart last week: ' The Death That Most Shocked The Net'.

Accuracast, a UK digital search agency, came up with this one, presumably to put themselves on the map. Their list is based on an analysis on one billion Google searches since 2004, and deceased stars are ranked by the number of searches in the wake of their deaths.

Jackson, who died in 2009, is way ahead of second-placed Osama bin Laden, with Amy Winehouse third.

According to Accuracast MD Farhad Divecha, 'Our study shows that, above all, death is the biggest driver of all Internet search activity especially just after it has occurred. Using figures from Google we have been able to analyse rises and falls in search to produce a unique league table'.

Unique as it is, this is not a chart any star will want to top.

Meanwhile, the funeral of Etta James at the weekend showed that while her records were not multi-million sellers, her influence on other artists was immense. 'Out of all the singers that I've ever heard, she was the one that cut right to my soul and spoke to me,' said Christina Aguilera, who joined Stevie Wonder in performing at the ceremony. There was even a note from President Barack Obama, who recalled that he and the First Lady had their first dance at the inaugural ball to Beyonce performing Etta's classic ' At Last'.

'Etta will be remembered for her legendary voice and her contributions to our nation's musical heritage,' said Obama, thereby fuelling the rush to download James' albums and pushing her name a few rungs further up the 'death' chart.

- WITH JIM HAYES