A fan handed this crown to Elvis at the end of his “Aloha From Hawaii” via satellite concert, and he kept it. It’s now on display at Graceland, and I snapped a photo of it during my most recent visit in October 2021.

Baz Luhrmann’s ELVIS has sparked a new interest in the King of Rock and Roll. A whole new generation of fans has suddenly realized what I have always known, Elvis Presley was a Godsend.

I was at a holiday party this past Christmas, and someone approached me to chat about the King. They had heard I was a huge fan and wanted my opinion about the movie. As I explained my take on Luhrmann’s portrayal of Elvis, the person said, “I am obsessed with Austin Butler. The way he sings and dances and moves…oh my God!” I had to reign in my ego with the quickness. Although I agree that Austin Butler is something else, he can’t hold a candle to the real thing. I stood there opposite a person who was gushing more over Austin Butler than Elvis and said, “Listen, you need to watch the real thing.” When I said that, their reply was, “Why was Elvis coined as the King of Rock and Roll, anyway? Why not Ray Charles?” As our conversation turned in this direction, my eyes grew the size of the King’s belt buckles.

I am beyond proud that a whole new generation of Elvis fans has been born and bred, but there are some things they need to know.

Elvis’s Impact is Unprecedented

No other entertainer has had an impact on the world like Elvis Presley. Let’s touch on the Ray Charles comment. Artists like Ray weren’t given this title because they did not have the impact on the world that Elvis did. Elvis Presley wasn’t named the King of Rock and Roll because of the music. The music was only a tiny piece of this puzzle. There is no other entertainer that has ever had an impact on people the way Elvis did.

Allow me to elaborate…

Did you know that Frank Sinatra and other artists staged fainting women at their concerts? Elvis never staged a damn thing. He didn’t have to! When Elvis Presley walked on stage, it was an event. His presence was so magical and overwhelming that men and women were consumed by it. The tears shed by every audience member that eventually fainted were all real. His connection with his fans was a once-in-a-lifetime type of connection that no other entertainer has accomplished, to the point that it’s pretty mysterious. It’s bizarre because his fans are still crying, and he’s been gone from the physical world for 46 years. I am one of those fans.

Elvis drew the largest crowds. Every single concert he played throughout his career was sold out. Look it up. Elvis sold more records than his contemporaries. The man died on August 16, 1977, and he is still outselling artists that are alive. In the ’50s, acts like the Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Fats Domino, among others, could sell out concerts as a group but not individually. Elvis didn’t need an opening act. He sold out every show he played on his own. He also played in large venues like stadiums and Madison Square Garden. In 1972, Elvis became the first entertainer in history to sell out four consecutive shows at Madison Square Garden. He was scheduled to perform three concerts, but the tickets sold out so fast that he agreed to add on a fourth show. This paved the way for artists like Harry Styles, who had a 15-sold-out-show stint at the Garden in 2022.

Elvis’s Popularity

Elvis is in a league of his own. Elvis earned the prestigious title of King of Rock and Roll because of his popularity. No other entertainer (still to this day) has ever been as popular as Elvis Presley. His influence cannot be ignored. John Lennon described it, “Before Elvis, there was nothing. When I first heard Elvis’ voice, I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss…Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.” Elvis was not a man that conformed to society’s definition of popularity, so he was and still is a cultural icon. I bet some cavemen don’t have internet and televisions that know “Hound Dog.”

Let’s keep going. Like Elvis’s influence, his talent cannot be ignored, but for some reason, critics want to point out that Elvis did not write the lyrics to his songs. They are correct, but what he did do was produce the music. Baz Luhrmann did an excellent job showcasing that in the movie, especially during the Vegas Rehearsals scene. Many sources have labeled Elvis as the most underrated producer of all time. When we listen to some of his most outstanding vocal performances, such as “What Now My Love,” “Don’t,” and “It’s Now or Never,” Elvis himself is responsible for that sound. It’s a sound that has never been replicated. It’s a mixture of opera, orchestra, gospel, rock and roll, country, rhythm, and blues. Pair his orchestra sound style with his one-of-a-kind voice and good God; you have a miracle before you.

Speaking of his one-of-a-kind voice, music commentators and critics have been mesmerized by his range since the beginning. Like his influence and popularity, his vocal range is unprecedented. No other singer can do what Elvis did with his voice. No other singer has ever had the versatility Elvis had with his voice. Elvis can be called a lyric baritone, but he was such a genius with his voice that he could hit exceptional high notes and shocking rich low ones. At any given moment, if he wanted a song to sound a certain way, Elvis had the ability to be a tenor, baritone, and bass simultaneously. His pitch was considered perfect, but he often sang off-key notes when he felt that’s what the song needed.

If anyone ever doubts the miraculous range Elvis had, listen to his performance of “What Now My Love” from the 1973 Aloha from Hawaii via satellite concert that reached 1.5 billion viewers. At the end of the song, Elvis goes up three octaves. I have watched this performance probably 500 times (maybe more), and each time I watch, it’s like the first time. I can’t contain myself. The performance gives me cold chills, and I watch him in bewildered awe. No other performer has ever impacted me like that, and I am not alone. I invite anyone to pull that performance up on YouTube. After you listen to him sing “What Now My Love,” you tell me if you care who wrote the lyrics to the song.

Looks Matter

Whether a person wants to accept this fact or not, looks matter. No one has ever or will ever beat Elvis in this department. It’s not possible. His overall appearance was captivating, which played a significant role in the popularity contest between him and other performers like Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Jerry Lee was an exceptionally gifted piano player, and his style distinguished him from other entertainers. With his heavy left hand, Jerry Lee’s innate talent set him apart from other entertainers, but he still did not have what Elvis had. Jerry Lee knew that! He was notoriously jealous of Elvis and even went to Graceland one time with the intent to shoot the King.

What Elvis had was something special, something unusual, something people have never been able to explain. The way people responded to him was love in its purest form. If you have never watched him walk on stage, pull up the footage from his opening night in Las Vegas on YouTube. Those broad shoulders thrown back coupled with his legendary strut, flawless face, high cheekbones, smirky smile, and slender physique, Elvis Presley was not your average, ordinary human being. He was so good-looking that he made it impossible to compete with him.

Popularity, Precedent, Philanthropy, and Paula

It is estimated that Elvis has sold over one billion records worldwide, which is more than any other artist in history. Numbers like this matter. Plus, 40% of these record sales are outside of America. Elvis is one of the few internationally acclaimed artists of his era. Moreover, his historic television guest appearances changed music forever. His physical gyrations shocked and offended so many people that he was filmed from the waist up. Elvis took the heat and caused controversy, resulting in entertainers being allowed to perform as they pleased. He set one precedent after another in the music business.

Elvis was also a philanthropic God, and I wish Baz Luhrmann had highlighted Elvis’s God-like generosity. He gave away as much as he made. Elvis gave to numerous organizations, such as St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the University of Memphis, the American Cancer Society, and the USS Arizona Memorial. He was known for paying off mortgages and medical bills for loved ones and strangers. He made significant donations and did not write them off as tax deductions.

I can keep going, but I will stop here to give you a moment to think, “Is Paula actually related to Elvis or something?” No, I’m not, unfortunately. I am just one of the unquantifiable fans he deeply impacted. He earned the title of King for more reasons than one. I must point out his humility about this title. He is quoted as saying, “I’m not the king. Jesus Christ is the king. I’m an entertainer.”

Austin Butler’s Oscar nomination and the death of Elvis’s only child, Lisa Marie Presley, inspired me to write this article. I watched Austin Butler win the Golden Globe, and I was holding it together until they put the camera on Lisa Marie. When I saw her, I fell apart. I have watched her my whole life, and although I didn’t know her personally, I could still sense her broken heart. Her heart was broken permanently when her dad died, and ultimately it was her demise.

Thank you for taking the time to read my writing. I am a self-help author specializing in the Law of Attraction, so you may think it strays from my usual topics, but it doesn’t. Elvis Presley is the best example of what a person can accomplish with the Law of Attraction that I can think of. He saw his way out of the most profound poverty imaginable and became the most famous person to walk the planet besides Jesus Christ.



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