Elvis was found by Ginger Alden in his bathroom and rushed to the Baptist Memorial Hospital. There he was announced dead at 3:30 P.M.
The worldwide mourning that ensued has never been matched by another entertainer’s passing, not even Michael Jackson. To this day, fans like me still grieve over our loss.
Gone but never forgotten…
I Love You Elvis
This is probably the saddest time of the year for me ever since I fell in love with Elvis back in January of 2007. Tomorrow marks the 32nd anniversary of his death and every year at this time, this anniversary weighs heavy on my heart.
I can’t help but wonder how the world would have been different had he not left us when he did. Would we have had a lot more great music of his to listen to or was he at the end of his musical life anyway? Would Lisa Marie have married Michael Jackson? Would Elvis be a recluse at the age of 74? Would Elvis have been more inclined to share with us some of the the mysteries that we contemplate about him and his life? Would he be doing shows like Oprah, The View and Late Night? Would he accept the internet technology and be a presence here? Besides her brief moment of fame while appearing on Dallas, would we have to put up with so much of Priscilla or would she have faded into obscurity where she belongs by now? How may girlfriends would I have had to write blogs about in my Elvis’s Women Series or is it possible that Elvis and Priscilla may have reunited?
Pointless contemplations agreed. He’s dead and gone and none of the above questions even matter. But I wonder about them nevertheless.
It’s funny, while he was alive I never paid any attention to him. Even for 30 years after he passed, I never gave him any thought. But for one fateful moment back in 2007, he probably wouldn’t be on my mind constantly this week like he has been. I more then likely wouldn’t be breaking out into tears spontaneously when no one is looking. Early this morning I dreamt about him. That hasn’t happened in a long time but the dream this morning was extremely vivid. He was with me, I felt and heard his heartbeat, I leaned into him and he was real. I was thrilled. It’s a dream I will treasure.
Graceland is raking in millions of dollars this week while loyal fans spend money they probably don’t have to visit Elvis’s home and gravesite. All sorts of events are planned and tons of souvenirs are sold. I wonder that the organizers even give Elvis a second thought though or are the only motivated by this being their best time of the year for sales.
I know in my heart that the fans feel his loss deeply as I do and if I could, I too would be in Memphis this week spending money I don’t have and paying tribute to Elvis (and his mom whose passed away 51 years ago yesterday). Elvis believed that Gladys was 42 when she died. We later found out this wasn’t true and that his mom had lied about her age but the point is Elvis believed she was 42. He died 2 days after the anniversary of her death also at the age of 42. Significant?
We know that Elvis never stopped missing his mother or mourning her loss. We also know that Elvis changed drastically after Gladys passed. No longer worried about what she would say about his behavior, he let loose in ways he probably wouldn’t even had considered had his mom still been there to disapprove. Or so we’re told. I’m never really sure who to believe anymore although I tend to trust those with no axe to grind more then I do the so-called “insiders”. Debauchery, wild orgies, drug abuse and the list goes on of the things Elvis indulged in after his mom died. Was he on a self-directed path to his own death? 
These things and more I will explore when Gladys is featured in my Elvis’s Women Series. That one may be a series in itself considering what I know about all the layers of their relationship and the tons of layers I don’t know.
Elvis is one big beautiful onion that reveals new surprises and nuances with every layer you peel. He is a study in contradictions. The shy southern boy that never used first names for people who were older then him versus the raunchy egotistical emperor who demanded all near him to bow and pay homage whenever he was present. Who was the real Elvis? My study to answer this continues.
I love you and miss you, Elvis, and I know in my heart that you know that I love and miss you. Just like you know that millions of us miss you desperately every day. Tomorrow we formally celebrate your life. on Monday and for the following 364 days until next year, I will continue to celebrate your life every day. I hope and pray that you are at peace.
Like millions of people around the world, I am deeply shocked and saddened by the passing of Michael Jackson yesterday. Over the next few weeks, as with every iconic passing, all the skeletons and dirty little secrets will be exposed and every news agency in the world will have the latest dirt or suspicious item. We will all shake our heads and judge the decadence, the waste, the narcissistic need to be idolized and that same self-destruct button every celebrity seems to possess after they’ve made too much money. Self righteously we will reaffirm to ourselves that all that money sure can’t buy you happiness and Michael’s untimely death is more proof positive of that. We sleep well knowing that our commonality will protect us from ever having to walk in those shoes.
Invariably as you read the articles surrounding Michael’s passing you will encounter a strange need to compare this death with Elvis’. Every blog worth it’s salt is asking the questions:
Did the King of Pop’s death have more of an impact on the world then the King of Rock & Roll? Who was the bigger star, who had the most impact on the world, the music and the culture. Who sold more albums, had more platinum’s, bill board top 10′s? Was there prescription drugs involved and if so, where’s the damned doctor responsible for providing those drugs? Why wasn’t there an intervention? Couldn’t somebody have saved our precious star? How come we didn’t know he was addicted to prescription drugs? I’ve even read some moron comparing Michael’s child molestation issues with Elvis’ raping young girls. What?
The issue of the crowns they wore are being parallelled with Elvis fans reminding everyone that Jackson’s crown was self anointed while Elvis’ crown was bestowed on him by the fans, the critics, his peers and others. Remember also that Elvis disliked being referred to as a king of anything stating that there was only one king and he had died on the cross. He was just a singer, he said. Ah but what a singer he was.
The need to parallel is further driven by the fact that the King of Pop was actually the King of Rock & Roll’s son-in-law for a couple of years. Many Elvis fans have stated, as if knowing this to be fact, that Elvis would flip in his grave if he knew that Lisa Marie had married Michael Jackson. I can’t say myself but I would hope not. But unless Elvis comes back to tell us how he felt about it, everyone else is just guessing and adding their own racial prejudice to the mix.
Frankly I’m not seeing the parallels at all. Elvis was and is still the biggest thing to ever have hit the music world in modern history. His death rocked the world on it’s axis and to this day, people still cry in grief for his passing. Yes, me too. His fan base is loyal to a degree unheard of by any other artist with new fans, including young ones, signing up everyday. Elvis brought the black man out of the closet musically and allowed the white people to let their hair down and “dig” the beat. It’s my contention that Elvis also helped the woman’s movement significantly by giving women permission to publicly express their sexual response to his eroticism. This was something they had never been permitted to do before. No, not even Frank Sinatra was able to bring that gift to women. Suddenly after Elvis showed up, women were wearing pants a lot more and bikinis. Think about it.
Elvis impact on the culture of North America is unparalleled and even though I will concede that Michael Jackson’s contribution to the music world was huge, that he was brilliant, that he had huge talent and that he was a great creative force, he was not up to the level of Elvis. Frankly, I don’t think anyone could ever achieve that level ever again and the loss of Elvis back in 1977 is still going to remembered long after the loss of Michael Jackson yesterday has been all but forgotten.
And yet the whole world monumentally changed yesterday because Michael Jackson is no longer in it. Rest in peace, Michael. Free at last, free at last, Thank God you are free at last.
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