by Andrew Baker

You can’t live on the planet without having heard the name and seen at least one impersonator, but for most of us here, Elvis died long before we were born. Still fans are thronging to celebrate his life on this, the 30^th anniversary of his death, August 16, 2007 Here as a public service is the YouthRoots Essential Guide to Elvis.

Rock celebrities have always been worshipped and imitated. Some who died at the height of their careers continue to be worshipped many years later, and a few even continue to enjoy cult status. Of these, Elvis is certainly The King.

Elvis Presley was found dead in his bathroom 30 years ago on Tuesday, August 16^th, 1977. He was only 42. Although he’s long gone, he isn’t finished attracting fans to his home, nor is he finished making money from them. In 2006, he earned $42 million, which among dead celebrities was second only to Kurt Cobain. Graceland attracts over 600,000 visitors a year, and is considered America’s second most famous home. The first is the White House. 

Elvis was a musician and an actor, and is an American cultural icon. He had 149 songs that appeared on Billboard’s Hot Pop Chart in America - 18 became  number one on the charts. Elvis Presley has sold over 1 billion record units worldwide, which is more than anyone in the history of the recording industry. He found success in pop music, country, R&B, and gospel. He starred in 31 feature films, and 2 concert documentaries, which grossed over $400 million (corrected to 2005 dollars).

There are an estimated 85,000 Elvis impersonators in the world – enough to populate a town. The art of impersonating Elvis actually started before he died. Prior to 1977, there were only 170 Elvis impersonators. 

There are many different styles of Elvis impersonators ranging the years of his life, or even with a special focus on his looks, his music, a combination of both, or even special interests that are not usually attributed to the life of Elvis. Many Elvis impersonators feel like they were chosen by Elvis himself to be an impersonator. There are even books for Elvis impersonators, including I Am Elvis: A Guide to Elvis Impersonators, Living The Life, and The King and I: A little Gallery of Elvis Impersonators.

At Elvis.com, there is a Virtual Wall where fans from around the world can express their love for The King. There are currently 4998 messages from fans, most of which say the same thing. “You are and always will be the King,” to “I made my first trip to Graceland with my family. My children and grandchildren are even fans,” and especially “I LOVE YOU ELVIS.” Such a pouring out of emotion should be expected from people who were old enough to have experienced Elvis while he was alive, but at the Virtual Wall, there are many comments from people who were only a few years old when Elvis died, and also from fans who were born long after his death.

Elvis Week activities (August 11-16) include a two day Elvis Insiders conference at the Convention Center in downtown Memphis with special guests that include ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, and former band members who played and recorded music with Elvis, a Graceland Scavenger hunt, Movies and Music at Graceland hosted by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., an Elvis Scrapbooking Class, a Catholic Mass in Memory of Elvis with spaghetti dinner to follow, the yearly celebrated candlelight vigil at Graceland, and an Elvis concert with live music from former band members and Elvis singing by recorded video at the FedExForum in Memphis. Tickets go as high as $90 for this show. This event is expected to sell out. An estimated 50,000 Elvis fans will attend events during Elvis Week in Memphis. The full Elvis Week Event listing can be found at: http://www.elvis.com/elvisweek/2007/ew_events.asp

Elvis may be the only person in modern memory to have 85,000 impersonators, but Elvis is certainly not the only dead music celebrity who has been worshipped by adoring fans. How about Jimi Hendrix who died in 1970, or John Lennon who was murdered in 1980? Kurt Cobain who died in 1994 continues as the highest earner among dead celebrities. It’s amazing that as different as their styles of music were, only 17 years separate the death of Cobain and Elvis. How do people in their 20s and 30s feel about the death of Kurt Cobain? How about the more recent deaths of Tupac Shakur who was murdered in 1996 or the Notorious B.I.G. in 1997? 

Did the fact that they died at such a young age have something to do with it? At 42, Elvis was the oldest among this list. Lennon was 40, Hendrix was 27, Cobain was 27, Tupac was 25, and Notorious B.I.G. was only 24. Did these musicians make a huge impact on music before their demise, or did their music only become so important because they were no longer alive to make new music? Would we really care as much about their music if they had made a string of bad albums before they became too old to continue recording? Could Johnny Cash have been more popular if he had died during his drug years instead of many years after his Christian conversion?

What about the musicians that are popular right now? Which band or musician do you think you’ll be following around 30 years after they are gone? Do you think your grandkids will be making a living out of impersonating Britney Spears? Maybe some impersonators will focus on her teenage years, while others concentrate on the bald years. Will you be making a yearly pilgrimage to girlhood home of Avril Lavigne in Belleville Ontario? Only time will tell.