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How dead pop stars might look now if they were still alive, in pictures

Elvis Aaron Presley 8 January — 16 August was an American singer , musician , and actor , one of the most popular music artists and among the century’s most significant cultural icons, known simply by his first name Elvis. He is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King” the latter in particular something he publicly felt was not warranted and is the best-selling individual recording artist of all time.

Disputed Love me tender, love me sweet, Never let me go. Misattributed The only thing black people can do for me is shine my shoes and buy my music. Misattributed in “He wasn’t my king” by Helen Kolawole in The Guardian 15 August apparently citing an unsourced anecdote, that has been debunked in Counterpunch 29 August which cites an article in Jet magazine 1 August : “Tracing that rumored racial slur to its source was like running a gopher to earth”, Jet wrote.

For instance, Priscilla Presley had this to say about Ginger in her book. Elvis was finally ready to set a date, according to Ginger. in December, she noticed Elvis uncharacteristically seemed to be forgetting some of the song lyrics.

As another celebration of a dead white hero winds up, in this hallowed Week of Elvis, shouldn’t the entertainment industry hold its own truth and reconciliation commission? It needn’t be a vehicle for retribution, just somewhere where tales of white appropriation of black culture, not to mention outright theft, can finally be laid to rest.

Following Michael Jackson’s recent outburst accusing Sony chief, Tony Mottola, of racism, perhaps he could officiate and champion all black musicians who have been ripped off by nasty white music business CEOs. This won’t happen of course. Media arrogance and dishonesty means we are eternally bound to live in a skewed world where Elvis is king of rock’n’roll, Clapton is the guitar god, Sinatra is the voice and Astaire is the greatest dancer.

Accustomed as we are to this parade of white heroes, the case of Elvis is particularly infuriating because for many black people he represents the most successful white appropriation of a black genre to date. Elvis also signifies the foul way so many black writers and performers, such as Little Richard, were treated by the music industry. The enduring image of Elvis is a constant reflection of society’s then refusal to accept anything other than the non-threatening and subservient negro: Sammy Davies Jnr and Nat King Cole.

The Elvis myth to this day clouds the true picture of rock’n’roll and leaves its many originators without due recognition. So what is left for black people to celebrate?