Only One King

“There have been a lotta tough guys. There have been pretenders. And there have been contenders. But there is only one king.”
Bruce Springsteen

"If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead."
Johnny Carson

Today is the 29th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. August 16, 1977. Yet no one would deny that in many ways besides the ubiquitous "sightings," he is still with us.

Mark Twain once said, "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
He could have been speaking of Elvis. Elvis Presley is still more popular than any of today's artists, and more recognizable to people around the world than any other public figure has ever been.

“There are several unbelievable things about Elvis, but the most incredible is his staying power in a world where meteoric careers fade like shooting stars.”
Newsweek, August ,1969

"I don't think there is a musician today that hasn't been affected by Elvis' music. His definitive years - 1954-57 - can only be described as rock's cornerstone. He was the original cool."
Brian Setzer

“Elvis was the king. No doubt about it. People like myself, Mick Jagger and all the others only followed in his footsteps.”
Rod Stewart

"No-one, but no-one, is his equal, or ever will be. He was, and is supreme."
Mick Jagger

"When we were kids growing up in Liverpool, all we ever wanted to be was Elvis Presley."
Paul McCartney

“Before Elvis, there was nothing.”
John Lennon

"Elvis was God-given, there's no other explanation. A Messiah comes around every few thousand years, and Elvis was it this time."
Little Richard

"It was Elvis that got me interested in music. I've been an Elvis fan since I was a kid."
Elton John

"He was the firstest with the mostest."
Roy Orbison

"Elvis was a major hero of mine. I was probably stupid enough to believe that having the same birthday as him actually meant something."
David Bowie

"The highlight of my career? That's easy, Elvis recording one of my songs."
Bob Dylan

"Describe Elvis Presley? He was the greatest who ever was, is or ever will be."
Chuck Berry

"Elvis had an influence on everybody with his musical approach. He broke the ice for all of us."
Al Green

"Elvis was a giant and influenced everyone in the business."
Isaac Hayes

"Without Elvis, none of us could have made it."
Buddy Holly

"Elvis is the best ever, the most original. He started the ball rolling for us all. He deserves the recognition."
Jim Morrison

"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."
Bob Dylan

"Elvis is my religion. But for him, I'd be selling encyclopedias right now."
Bruce Springsteen

"I remember Elvis as a young man hanging around the Sun studios. Even then, I knew this kid had a tremendous talent. He was a dynamic young boy. His phraseology, his way of looking at a song, was as unique as Sinatra's. I was a tremendous fan, and had Elvis lived, there would have been no end to his inventiveness."
B.B. King

"I'm just a singer, Elvis was the embodiment of the whole American culture."
Frank Sinatra

“Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it’s a whole new social revolution - the 60’s comes from it.”
Leonard Bernstein

"We've lost the most popular man that ever walked on this planet since Christ himself was here."
Carl Perkins

"It was like he came along and whispered some dream in everybody’s ear, and somehow we all dreamed it.”
Bruce Springsteen

And in his own words:

"I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to."

"Talent is being able to sell what you're feeling."

“The image is one thing and the human being is another...it’s very hard to live up to an image.”

"Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away."

"I ain't no saint, but I've tried never to do anything that would hurt my family or offend God...I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world."
Elvis Presley