The aim of the present research is to investigate the rise and the evolution of research on the ‘creative economy’, which focuses on the convergence of four research pillars: contributions on the creative class, creative industries, creative city and cultural industries. Publications on Creative Economy Research have been collected from the ISI Web of Science database, which includes all the academic works starting from the contribution of DCMS in 1998 till 2013. Through the analysis of nearly 1.000 publications produced in 16 years, the birth and evolution of creative economy research is investigated. Besides, the second part of the paper focuses on a relational analysis developed through the use of Social Network Analysis, investigating co-citations of disseminators and founders of creative economy research. Results underline that the Creative economy may be considered a successful multidisciplinary paradigm born and developed in English speaking, North American and European countries, which has contributed to the rise of a new economic sector: the cultural and creative industries.