Here’s a legend of rock’n’roll past who’s now likely worth well over $400 million, and there’s no signs that his flourishing afterlife is set to diminish one iota. Presidents may come and go, but Elvis, it seems, will always be among us – and if the recent starry-eyed chart-topping albums produced in conjunction with the Royal Philharmonic are anything to go by, his music is still very much in demand four decades after his death.
Those albums meant finally Elvis took the title for most #1 UK solo albums, so there are clearly still new fans discovering Elvis, while for others his music forms an immovable mainstay of their playlists.
Graceland, his palatial home in Memphis, attracts over half a million pilgrims a year (second only to the White House in visitor numbers); there are now more Elvis impersonators than ever before, and Presley memorabilia is still very much on the up and up.
He may not be living on the moon, but for all intents and purposes Elvis Presley is still alive and kicking. And whilst every exacting detail about his mammoth catalogue is out there, from all the various outtakes through to the minutiae behind every song, there are still plenty of layers to be peeled back to reveal the human being living within the shell of the ‘King Of Rock’n’Roll’.
How much of Elvis’ life was out of his control? How many of his choices were actually his own? In this special tribute, we attempt to unlock the complex machinations of a man whose fame had entirely taken over his existence; a man who seemed to be in search of something bigger – and a man who relied on a network of others, whether he wanted to or not.
From his relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker to his various band members, his infamous Memphis Mafia clique and beyond, we explore the inside stories that shed light on the inner workings of Elvis Aaron Presley.
Few people outside his inner circle got to see the human being as he was: introspective, caring and – in many ways – forever bound to his chosen path. It’s a double-edged sword if ever there was one…