For many, 'King' Elvis is still alive

Jan 8, 2010, 16:57 GMT

Washington - 'Elvis lives!' - For many fans, this is not a mere proclamation that the music of the 'king of rock 'n' roll' holds its ground today as it did in its golden age.

The phrase is also evidence of a firm conviction that Elvis Presley did not die in August 1977 and that he is about to celebrate - in hiding somewhere in the world - his 75th birthday on Friday.

This has become one of the biggest urban legends in the history of music and has generated scores of books, documentaries and, in the age of telecommunications, websites devoted to a single effort: refuting the death of the 'king' and documenting Elvis sightings.

There is no shortage of such material. There are hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of people who say they have seen Elvis Presley in places as common as restaurants, laundromats or stores in remote US towns, but also in countries like Britain and even Afghanistan.

'I never believed the Elvis alive sightings til November 12, 2000. On this day in Hutchinson, Kansas: I pulled into a gas station for pop and smokes. I went to the men's restrooms and yes, it was there I met Elvis. I said, 'You're the king!' to which he replied, 'Once, kid, but not anymore.' I promised not to tell anyone, but how do I keep such big news to myself?'

This is one of hundreds of messages posted on the Elvis Sighting Bulletin Board (www.elvissightingbulletinboard.com), one of the countless websites that track Elvis sightings 'as a public service so that the public will not be alarmed when seeing the king at their local supermarket or skinny dipping in the neighbour's pool.'

Director Adam Muskiewicz has devoted recent years to making the documentary, The Truth About Elvis, in which he interviews people close to the 'king,' people who witnessed his last few hours, in search of an answer to 'the many unanswered questions about Elvis.'

Marketing strategy or true curiosity? The fact is that Muskiewicz, who also set up Elvis sighting websites like www.elviswanted.com, even offered a generous reward for anyone who provided 'evidence' that Elvis is still alive. The money has so far not been claimed.

Elvis himself never claimed the two tickets that American football coach Jerry Glanville left for 'The King' ahead of a game in Memphis in the 1980s, an anecdote that almost gave him greater fame than his coaching ability. It also provided Glanville with a title for his autobiography, Elvis Don't Like Football: The Life and Times of the NFL's Most Outspoken Coach.

'I hear Elvis is living now in Michigan or Minnesota,' Glanville said at the time. 'Well, we'd like him to come and be on our bench.'

'I don't care how much weight he's gained. We still love him,' the then-coach of the Houston Oilers said.

Theories rejecting Elvis' death on August 16, 1977 at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, of an overdose of prescription drugs at age 42, were quick to emerge. There were allegations of an involvement by the FBI and even mention that the 'king' was in a witness-protection programme following his participation in a raid on organized crime.

As 'proof' - highly documented in websites and books like Gail Brewer Giorgio's The Elvis Files: Was His Death Faked? - those who insist on Presley's good health claim that the coffin did not hold him but one of his impersonators or even a wax figure.

Some point to inconsistencies in the death certificate or, most commonly, note the misspelling of Elvis' middle name - Aron - in the tomb at Graceland, where it was spelled with a double a.

Those in charge of Elvis' estate have long stopped paying attention to such theories, although some of them are refuted, discreetly, in Graceland's official website, www.elvis.com.

There, under 'FAQs,' the site explains that Elvis' middle name only has one a in his birth certificate - as Aron. But to honour his dead twin brother Jesse Garon Presley, 'toward the end of his life, Elvis sought to change the spelling of his middle name to the traditional and biblical Aaron,' the official website says.

His father knew of the plan, the website says, so he chose to write it with a double a on his tombstone.

The official website also devotes one page to Elvis sightings, but it actually asks fans to document their favourite films, books or 'any other cultural or social event' devoted to the 'king.'

Among them, hundreds of Elvis impersonators who every year crowd Memphis, Los Angeles, and above all Las Vegas stand out.

For Michael Romeo, one of the best-known Elvis impersonators in the Californian scene, there is no doubt: While Presley is indeed dead, his soul is still alive, he told the German Press Agency dpa.

'People like me keep his spirit alive. We have to. Elvis is the George Washington of American men. He was the first rock & roll star,' Romeo said.