Is Elvis Still the King?

8/14/2007 Stephen L. Betts   Does Elvis Presley still matter to a world that “has traded ballyhooed TV specials for amateur YouTube clips, vinyl albums for iTunes and evolutionary careers for the bright but brief spotlight of American Idol?” That’s the question posed in a USA Today feature that suggests there’s evidence that The King’s “kung-fu grip on the world's imagination may be easing.” The story notes that Thursday, Aug. 16's 30th anniversary “hasn’t produced the avalanche of album reissues and book tributes of past milestones,” and also offers that Elvis slipped last year to No. 2 on Forbes magazine's list of top-earning dead celebrities, behind Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. However, Alanna Nash, author of Elvis and the Memphis Mafia, predicts, “This is just the calm before the second coming. Elvis is such an ingrained part of America that I expect the flag to be redesigned any day to include his picture.” In 2009, the Canadian troupe Cirque du Soleil will perform its offbeat circus spectacle to Elvis' music, as it recently did with The Beatles. And in the next five years, fans can expect the release of new Elvis music, some never heard before, according to Robert F.X. Sillerman, CEO of CKX, the company which bought an 85% stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises in 2004, and plans to transform Graceland, a with a $250 million overhaul of the Colonial-style house and its adjoining property, including the addition of a hotel and interactive museum. Meanwhile, Elvis’ influence on country music remains intact. Born a few months before Elvis died, Jason Aldean learned about the singer from his parents. “My parents saw him in Macon (Ga.), and they said it was nuts,” Jason recalls. “I've watched a lot of things on him, all the movies. My generation hasn't seen an artist that big, not only someone who is a musical star, but also a public figure. The closest my generation has is Michael Jackson.”