At 3:30 pm on Tuesday, August 16, 1977, the physical death of those who did not need this inevitable biological event to be considered a legend was made official. That's right, because Elvis Aaron Presley had already walked a leafy road in the show business to wait for that fatal moment four decades ago and then produce the usual commonplace in these circumstances: "Man died and the myth was born."
The burly 42-year-old man, native of Tupelo, Mississippi, provoked controversy the very day of his death from a stroke, a product of prolonged drug abuse and multiple health complications. The conspiracy theories, which are very popular with the American public, soon arrived, and the forensic report is suddenly falsified, giving access to a rosary of specialists and authors who made good money from a few books.
Another story that emerged from that day was the doctors' supposed finding when they were about to lift the body of the superstar. Many people take it for granted that Elvis had a book titled: A Scientific Search of the Face of Jesus , by Frank Adams, published in 1972.
The work is centered on the Shroud of Turin or Shroud, a theme with which Presley had been interested, after hearing that Adams demonstrated the direct relationship between the legendary cloth and the so-called Messiah of Christendom.
So far situations are reported that do not escape the great idols. Certain or not, the halo of deification, especially one of the first stars of that overwhelming popular music known as rock, which meant a very different modus vivendi for billions of people around the world. Nor is it a small thing that the only survivor of Vernon and Gladys Presley's twins had the impulse of television, a media that made its boom when the boy ventured with his sinful pelvis on the American stage.
But more earthly and tangible than any altar raised by its countless fans on all five continents, Elvis left enviable numbers for any artist in the recording business. The first of them are his 17 singles taken to the post of honor of Billboard American between the decade of the 50 and 70, but mainly in the years of the explosion of rock and roll.
In addition, the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA, has certified 90 gold records, 52 platinum and 25 multiplatinum records. There are altogether 111 singles for the King of Rock, 23 studio albums, six concerts, 11 compilations and 19 soundtracks, of almost 30 films in which he participated. Not content with this, the estimated discs sold on the entire planet exceeds one billion copies.
Therefore, rather than "commemorate", his followers will no doubt "celebrate" on August 16 of this year when the fortieth anniversary of his death. They will celebrate who also became an icon of the not less famous city of Las Vegas, and who has inspired a modality of disguise and imitator that has spread without cultural barriers in any terrestrial corner.
"Elvis Week" in 2017, from August 11 to 19, promises to be an outstanding event. The 600,000 "pilgrims" from year to year go in procession to Graceland, home of the singer in Memphis turned temple of worship, promise to pale in the tsunami that authorities and tourism agencies are waiting for next month.
The "menu" appears variously, with recitals, lectures, exhibitions, auctions, a tournament of imitations and various tributes for the man who, shortly before his death, starred in the first concert broadcast live on the globe, and admired by more than 1,500 million viewers .
Graceland has invested nearly $ 200 million for this occasion, expanding its attractions including two museums, a stage, a hotel, shops and restaurants. The complex has the ability to display close to one million Elvis-related archival objects. Not everything is music, and one of the most striking thematic rooms is the one related to the Superstar's collection of high-powered cars and motorcycles.
By: Juan Ernesto Páez-Pumar
