He Would Be 72

Some iconic statistics are hard to believe. Here are a few examples:

- Elvis died thirty years ago this week. Thirty years!!

- If he was alive today, he’d be 72 years old. Seventy two!

- Elvis recorded over 700 songs. Sixteen of them reached #1

- He is one of the few dead entertainers who had a #1 hit song in this decade … the remixed version of ‘A Little Less Conversation’ from the Nike commercial was released in the UK in 2002 and went to the top of the charts.

- Over 75,000 fans have converged in Memphis for the 30th anniversary of his death. Sadly, one of them died because of the heat wave there this week.

- Elvis bought Graceland fifty years ago at age 22.

- More than 750,000 people visit the estate each year. I was one of them in 1996.

Elvis is The King. But I don’t know that he influenced music as much as he kicked open the door to a new style of music for a restless generation of pre-Boomers and Boomers. Love him or hate him, it’s impossible to ignore him. Thirty years after his death, he is still a commercial empire, making far more money now than when he was alive.

Of the thousands of Elvis-related activities happening this week to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death, the most unique is the release of a duet with his daughter. Lisa Marie Presley, who is almost 40 now, laid down vocal tracks over the original recording of her Dad’s 1969 hit “In The Ghetto.” It’ll be available this week on iTunes as a fund-raiser for the New Orleans branch of Presley Place, a transitional housing facility for homeless families.

I don’t have anything else to say about him; I just didn’t want to let the week go by without some kind of mention. After I post this, I’ll be searching my collection for that double CD Greatest Hits that I know is around here somewhere.