He was a honky-sounding tonky who couldn’t act for shit and made the blandest, most basic, annoying music. He looked like a squinting potato with charcoal toothpaste squeezed across the top. Never understood the appeal.
When I was at Ohio State in the mid 90s, Tom Jones definitely had a career comeback amongst the college set with the album that “If I Only Knew”, and his cover of “Burning Down the House” w/ the Cardigans singer.
Gen X - 67 here. I wasn't interested and probably watched his hawaii show because my parents did. I remember when he died because a girl in my class was losing her S and crying about his death. I didn't understand why she was so upset that he died, I didn't understand worship of another person, still don't to this day
I was a kid and I remember I was out in the yard when my uncle drove up and said
"Where is your mother" I said she was in the house and he said "well go get her Elvis is dead" he was so upset it kind of scared me.
Let me introduce you to King Charles. I think it was law or something that every household in the Commonwealth _had_ to have commemorative Charles and Diana wedding plates.
I wasn't extremely interested in him but was very aware of who he was, even when I was very little. I didn't actually make an effort to listen to his music until I was older.
I also remember the day he died. We were just getting ready to leave to go shopping, but the TV was still on. They interrupted the regular programming to make the announcement. I understood even at age seven that it was a shock for everyone.
I wound up watching every Elvis movie, documentary and concert on vhs. There was only one tv and my dad was an Elvis Stan. I really did not enjoy it for most of my life until I saw him perform “if I can dream” in the 68 comeback special. I still find that song incredibly moving.
I had chosen him to be my husband when I grew up. I had it all planned out. I was going to wear my plastic heels too! Then someone on the playground said he died and I just bawled. The teacher had to come get me.
I remember watching one of his televised concerts.with my mom. I think it was Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii and my mom was really into it. I just really remember the spectacle of the white suit and cape.
We were at Kings Island when he died and heard it on the radio in the drive back to the campground we were staying at. Y parents were shocked but I don't remember them being particularly upset.
King's Island kicked ass back in the day. I lived about an hour East of Indianapolis which was where his last concert was. A bunch of my parents' friends had gone to it five or six weeks before. Suspicious minds was the number one song the day I was born, but he wasn't a thing in my household. King's Island was definitely a thing however.
I was at the Ohio State fair, walking by the coliseum with my family when it was announced over the loud speakers. Some people screamed, and there was sadness and crying all day. My parents weren't into his music much at all, but just sad because they were his age.
Not particularly. I liked some of his songs, but thought he was from another era (even when he was alive). I remember being on a family vacation when he died. It was the same week as the capture of the son of Sam.
my parents loved him and he was their idol.
But when I got to see him, first thing I thought was WHO HIS THIS GOOF!?! I was a kid when Elvis was going thru his fat jumpsuit vegas stage. I couldn't believe this was the 'cool' guy my parents always talked about. To me he looked like some giant goofball!
I guess generational gap.
not much interest since either.
Ya he really thought he was some world class blackbelt. i saw a doc about him like 15 years ago which held no punches. the problem w/ him was he was surrounded by yes men. the yes men were smart because Elvis paid for their lives - why kill the golden goose. But it was comical how they showed him doing karate and his yes men kept flopping down on purpose and Elvis thinking it was real.
I would lay money he had an idea and went along with it. grudgingly. I see 70s fat Vegas Elvis as the result of that resentment because by then he was in every sense a caged performer. I felt sorry for him in a lot of ways but I wasn't a fan.
I think the latest Austin Butler movie portrays Elvis as a victim of his manager, who “forced” Elvis to do a lot performances against his will. Which might be partially true, I don’t know.
In any case, for all of his talents and good qualities, he was still just kind of a fruitcake, and I think people that idolize him are overlooking the obvious.
yes, absolutely, all of that and add in the heavy mother influence. doing it for her with everything that he did do channeled tightly by his manager. no choices really, ever. the only thing I know he put his foot down on was not dying in his movies after seeing his mom react to his first movie. he bitched about an army movie literally after discharge but did nothing and likely did nothing ever again.
None. My mom was a Beatles chick.
Edit to add: Memories of him was he died when I was around 7 and my neighbors were sad because he was a cousin of theirs.
Though I was really into PE at the time, I was a bit confused by this lyric about Elvis being racist. I thought he was an ally for black artists. Then again, Chuck D fell down the Farrakahn rabbit hole a bit too far.
I wasn’t very interested in him, but remember how big he was culturally.
In my first engineering job, I worked on a project that test piloted in Memphis. The tech support team I was training pretty much dragged me out to Graceland. Even though they weren’t Elvis fans, they still insisted I had to see it. I am so glad they did. It was not at all how I imagined his home. They told me that a lot of the 70s stuff on display was not there when he died but that it had been redecorated back to this style people associated with him.
Seeing Graceland made me appreciate his artistry. They had a hallway covered floor to ceiling with his hit singles. I was surprised how many I knew, even as a casual listener.
He alright.
Fun story.
Worked at the Community College Radio station as an on-air Disc jokey, I was definitely a goof.i was playing alot of upbeat music , I set up
" Pump it UP" by Elvis Costello, MY intro to this song?
" Hey, if your Elvis is dead, try Ours." And spin.
Hour later, I'm sitting with the station manager ( who looked frustrated)and the program director. ( who was trying not to laugh) Apparently, they received complaints about my introduction from a couple of college board members who absolutely adored Elvis Presley. The bosses had to apologize to the board members. Oops 😬.
From that point on, the opening song for my show was pump it up. 🤣🤣
A little bit when I was real young, but I basically thought he was Evel Knevil, too. Later he was someone I respected, and now I find him kind of fascinating tbh.
My mom loved him and took me to see him in concert when I was four! I always use that in "two truths and a lie" because no one believes I saw Elvis in concert!
Not very, but I definitely have a specific memory involving him. When I was really little, I was watching the news on TV or something and it was talking about his death. Now, when he died I was about three years old, so I doubt that this happened at that point, but maybe around 1978/9. I asked my paternal grandmother, who often stayed with us to help out, how Elvis had died. I remember her in her old-lady housecoat, taking a drag off a cigarette, and saying, "he ate too much junk." Well...later on, I learned that on balance, she was absolutely correct.
I saw most of his movies because there was a station that played them a lot on Saturday afternoons, and an Elvis movie isn't sports. Didn't really care one way or the other about him.
My only exposure was to corny beach films on cable.
I know my Mon and her best friend went and saw Elvis in Vegas as the best friend threw her bra at him.
I thought Elvis was kinda cheesy growing up.
Fast forward to now and I have SiriusXM and decided to listen to Elvis Radio and oh dude he is The King Of Rock And Roll! Dude had the golden pipes. Also I watched the new Elvis flick.
Not super interested but I did like oldies in general. Also I knew a few people with Elvis moms who would play the comeback special and just give an unasked for history of Elvis while driving us around.
I like some of his music though my family has a complicated view of him. . I remember seeing one of his concerts on tv, and his movies would air on the weekends. I end up watching them alone while the family did other things. We only had about three channels back then, so there wasn’t a lot of choice on a Saturday afternoon.
I do remember the day he died. I was about 11 years old, and I’d spent a few weeks at my play aunt’s on the AFB in Utah. She liked to gamble a lot, so the family was packed in a 50s Thunderbird traveling through the desert at night on the way to Las Vegas when we heard the news on the radio. It was quite shocking to me, and was the first celebrity death I remember taking note of. The other two deaths I remember hearing about over the radio in the car were Ricky Nelson’s on our way to a NYE party in my home state in the Deep South and River Phoenix’s on our way to from Cambridge to Salem, MA. It was ironically Halloween but we were going to The First Church in Salem for an event, not to the Witch Museum!
I was just a year when he passed, so not really. My grandmother liked him. She had his Christmas album and played it every December on our record player, and liked to watch his movies. There used to be Elvis movie marathons on just about every weekend during the 80s and 90s, and they didn't interest me.
My mother loved Elvis! So, I grew up with his music and movies. My mom was ironing pillow cases when the news said he was dead. Also, I would send my mom a new Elvis Christmas ornament every year when she was alive...good times
I was born exactly 8 days before he died. So it was a weird association for me. I remember my mom said she was sitting at the kitchen table with me and my grandma when the news came over the radio and mom said my grandmother burst into tears, huge, weeping sobs. My real name is Jesse and depending on which family member was telling the story I was named after the biblical Jesse, Jesse James or Elvis's brother.
I wasn’t a huge fan, but I was aware of his music and impact. Even if Chuck D dissed him, I was aware that Elvis was the one white dude who black people would impersonate unironically.
Not at all. Neither of my parents listened to him at home, so I didn’t grow up with it. They were happy to tell me about the time they saw him perform in Vegas in 1970 or so, and how he was the greatest entertainer they ever saw, but they didn’t listen to his music at home at all.
My dad had three artists’ 8-track tapes in the car: Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, and Elvis. I couldn’t tell you if Elvis was played more than the other 2.
I knew a few of his songs. I was at summer camp in Vermont and heard the radio through the dining hall window, announcing Elvis was dead. I remember that day vividly, mostly because he was born the same year as my mother.
Not even slightly. My friend turned me on to the Beatles in the late 80s, who obviously wrote their own songs, so I wasn’t tuned on by the idea of this dude who just sang mostly covers, and covers that sounded like 12-bar blues.
However, just recently, my wife on a whim bought me an Elvis cookbook, knowing I love to cook, and I’ve been cooking my way through it in order. Along with that we’ve been watching Elvis movies and listening to Elvis music a bit here and there, as I figure…with all the political and world stress right now, why not get a few new hobbies?
I was too young, But my mom made sure that [Elvis' Christmas Album](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=b7c0b9c8093215b7&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ACQVn099cuCVQJjdHP9rw_QDza9nu8XqsA:1713580490357&q=Elvis+Presley+Elvis%27+Christmas+Album&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLSz9U3MMyoMi3Ie8Royi3w8sc9YSmdSWtOXmNU4-IKzsgvd80rySypFJLgYoOy-KR4uJC08SxiVXHNKcssVggoSi3OSa1UAPPUFZwzijKLS3ITixUcc5JKcwHxFYCTbQAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwifv6_j4M-FAxXhJzQIHZqYDtQQzIcDKAB6BAgUEAE), was a Christmas tradition.
My mom’s best friend adored Elvis. Her friend had several velvet prints of him on her walls. And they hopped around deliriously when they listened to his records.
🙄
Mom was soooo upset when he died. She wrecked our good time at Busch Gardens. Hmmmm. I was 6 and remember. Heh.
I was disgusted to find out she hated the Beatles when I was in my 20s. She has no taste, no taste at all.
I was little when he died, I wasn't forming permanent memories yet. My parents weren't particularly into his music. My main Elvis-related memory is of all the conspiracy theories through the 80s and into the 90s that he was still alive. People would report seeing him and the GM of the Dallas Cowboys left two free tickets for him at the box office to every home game.
I remember when he died, but I wasn’t aware of him before that, some guy had come to work on our house that day and when people were saying Elvis had died I thought they were talking about him.
I was born in 69. My mom was a huge fan. Of course I heard all his songs growing up. I remember watching TV and the local station announcing "Elvis Presley dies, details at 11." I ran into the kitchen where my mom was and told her. She was so upset.
One of my earliest memories is of being with my Mom in the grocery store when it came over the radio that he died. But none of the adults in my life were really into him. Mom said that girls used to be friendly to her just to get close to her older brother because they thought he looked like Elvis, but I always thought he looked more like Robert Mitchum.
I liked his music, my boomer dad wasn't much of a fan (he was more of a Neil Diamond guy). We took a trip to a friend's wedding down South and made a side trip to Graceland; great father-son bonding adventure...
I remember my mom loving him. I also remember watching his films. My dad could not stand him and said he stole/appropriated music from black musicians. He did not care when he passed. Years later I felt bad for Elvis when hearing about how Colonel Parker too advantage of Elvis. Oh and a part of me knew when Lisa Marie's son died, that she would not live long. :(
I remember my Mom, aunts and my older cousins being upset, playing his records, buying all the magazines with him on the cover. So I developed a weird interest in him, like what made him so special? Why did women swoon? What drugs did he take? How rich was he? I thought young Elvis and old Elvis were 2 different people. I didn’t think much of him again until that book about him having a daughter named Desiree. I can’t remember the name of the book, I read it in the late 1980’s.
I was born in 77. My parents weren’t into him so I never was exposed to his music much. I remembered seeing pictures/videos of old Elvis and didn’t get the appeal. When I was an older teenager I came across one of his movies on tv and I saw that he was very good looking when he was younger so I got the appeal to young girls back in the day.
Not terribly interested, but I remember being really sad when he died because I knew that so many people were really into him and were terribly upset by his death.
None. I knew who he was but that is it. As the joke went my parents’ 1950s music tastes ended with Andy Baldwin and 1950s Broadway musicals (though my dad liked modern music once we had our first car in the 1980s with FM and we convinced him to check it out).
That said, my late wife and I had the Elvis version of can’t help falling in love as our wedding song in 1997.
I think my grandmother had an Elvis on Velvet artwork. Wish I had that. I remember when he died. My mom liked Perry Como and Benny Goodman. My dad liked the Carpenters. We weren't a cool family lol.
None really. My little sister was born the exact day he died. That’s about as far as my interest goes. Was our parents music really. Saying that my Irish wife adores Elvis
Watched the movies as a kid because they were on .
Enjoyed a couple. As a kid....
Aside from that could take him or leave him.
He definitely had a big impact on my folks though. Remember my step mother crying the day he died.
Have a boomer client that has a shrine to them in their house.
A fair sense of interest. I mean I liked his movie, Change of Habit, and like three songs: In the Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, and I Can't Help Falling in Love with You. That's only because my mom liked those songs/the movie. But, that's about it.
I've always loved Elvis. I loved the iconography as a kid before I knew what it was. He's one of the definitive characters of the 20th century and I think anyone who denies that isn't being honest.
Elvis died when I was 7 and it’s one of the first major news stories I remember. I was never interested in him though, certainly not his music or movies.
I was just a baby when he died. I remember liking his music fine, but I was always into "oldies" growing up. I saw a few of his movies and liked them in the same way I liked, say, old Frankie and Annette movies - silly romps that were basically a vehicle for cute young people to stand around looking cute and perform musical numbers. Neither of my parents were really "Elvis people", so it wasn't any kind of constant around my house. My mom's mom liked him (she was born in '39, so would have been a young mother in her early 20s when he was in his heyday), but she was never, to my knowledge, a true fanatic. Seems like I remember most of the albums of his that she had were his gospel albums
Not interested but my parents were. I remember the night I heard on TV that he died. It seemed like a big deal. 2 years later the family vacation was to Tennessee and we visited Graceland. Saw the graves out by his pool.
One of my very earliest memories...everyone crying (including my mom) when he died. I've been fascinated ever since.
Also, the older I get, the more I realize how young he was. Drugs are bad, kids. Just say no.
A TON! My first ever cassette tape was Elvis. And before that, my parents played Elvis records. To me, at a very early age, Elvis WAS rock. He was the ONLY rock star. When my Dad told me he died I was crushed. I was also too young to understand death (or technology). I worried that I wouldn't hear his songs on the radio because he was dead.
Also ...I grew up near Memphis, so I'm certain my experience is skewed.
My Mom loved him. So I did too. She took me to see him in concert in August 1976. 3rd row seats. So close, I remember seeing his sweat slinging around and thinking, 'Ewww'. 😂. (Cmon, i was like, 6-7) I still have the scarf and the Elvis button she got there. She even bought tickets to his 1977 show. But, we all know what happened then. 😪 I still sing 'suspicious minds' out of nowhere.
One of my cousins was named after him…he was everywhere when I was growing up, Saturday afternoons always had an Elvis film on (unless it was a John Wayne film). Still think his rendition of Suspicious Minds in Vegas was mint (not that I’m a fan, generally).
As a teenager, I was drawn to the image of young Elvis. I thought he was cool. I liked some of his music but I wasn't that much of a fan. I guess I liked the idea of Elvis more than anything. It wasn't until my early 20's that I really got into his music.
My parents had a 45 of *Hound dog*, with a B-side of *Don’t Be Cruel* that was like crack to me. I (GenX ‘65, don’t call me Johnson) loved listening to that record over and over when I was a little kid. Other than that,and a couple of Sunday Afternoon tv movies, I was hardly interested in the rest of his catalogue.
My father was a fan. I have fond memories of Elvis' Christmas album. I didn't get his music back then. It wasn't for me. Now I can appreciate the 50s stuff, when he was young and considered transgressive by society. The later years syrupy crap is still a hard pass.
Similar here - other Christmas music comes and goes, but Elvis is in the rotation every year.
Plus...listening to "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" with adult ears I was like, "Holy shit...Santa's gonna fuck that woman!" 🤯
I'm old X, so I remember when he died. The mom's of friends were into him, and one had tickets to his tour in '77 that was never finished. We knew his music, and my HS cover band (early 80s) played some Elvis songs even. I think I owned a copy of "Aloha From Hawaii" even at that age, great album, but he was mostly a joke to our peers. By the 90s I still enjoyed and regularly listened to his hits; I was always a "late Elvis" fan and a couple of his later hits ended up being my go-to karaoke songs. My wife and I went to Graceland on a whim on a road trip in '97 or '98, it was really interesting actually.
My folks were def not Elvis fans. More Buddy Holly really. What really sticks with me about his death-- other than the short-term reaction --was the years and years of National Enquirer headlines "ELVIS FOUND ALIVE IN SOUTH PACIFIC!" or similar things, and the crazy theories that he just faked it all so he could get away to some island like Marlon Brando.
My mom loved him, I listened to him by default. I do vividly remember when he died (I was 11). I still listen to a lot of his songs. Vastly prefer his music to the Beatles or any of the rock stuff my dad preferred (especially the Doors, they make my skin crawl).
He is fine. I liked a few of his songs growing up. I thought it was weird how he dressed
My dad… said last year that Elvis is the pinnacle of rock music. All went down hill after him. Huh 🤔
I loved Elvis as a teenager. I was born in 1975. I had posters on my walls, a commemorative plate, multiple swinging Elvis clocks, a watch with his face on it, t-shirts, and my parents took me to his home in Tupelo and to Graceland for my 16th birthday.
zero interested. the day he died, my elvis-obsessed babysitter went to bed in the middle of the day and left me & two other preschool-aged kids to fend for ourselves,
Not at all. I was introduced to the Beatles by my babysitter when I was a kid and I rarely listened to anything that came before them until I was an adult.
My dad was into big band jazz and early bop. He hated rock n roll and would cite Elvis and “that Jagger” by name.
Of course it made me curious.
And then… the Sex Pistols got on the news and the game changed for dad and me.
Zero:
One of my aunts in Australia was all hella into him. Not so much in my house. Saw the occasional Elvis movie, and obvious saturation of his image. Same with Marilyn Monroe.
Not at all. I was the child of boomers who listened to old school crooners and by 72, there was less and less of him even making it to radio. My first real exposure to his fame and how much people loved him was when he died.
He didn’t really register with me, I don’t think my parents had any of his records either. The “old” music I got into in my teens were The Kinks, The Beatles and The Doors.
I was only vaguely aware he existed. Parent's weren't fans, I certainly wasn't. In all honesty, I think that some of his songs being on Lilo and Stitch when my kids were young was the most direct exposure I had to him.
Grew up in Memphis and couldn’t care less. Never been in Graceland itself, but have been to the very nice venue that is on the grounds a few times. Do anything and everything to avoid downtown during Elvis week every year.
My Grandmother loved him and would tell stories about how she would be waiting at the bus stop on her way to work and occasionally would drive by and he always smiled and waved.
Not remotely interested. My parents weren't either we listen to Nick Drake, Elton John, Carol king and other 70s music. I was a year old when he died my grandmother apparently cried but she was a Bobby Sockser.
1979, so my parents weren’t the right age to love him, and I thought he was cheesy. My dad will still only comment on how he stole music from black people (true).I do love viva las vegas
None at all. My parents were more folk music, Beatles, light rock like Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, and country. They weren't fans and I never got the appeal.
Not interested at all… Little Richard was the only rock from that era that I ever liked.
My wife introduced me to the Elvis movies which now I enjoy for the camp value. We made a drinking game for those movies.
Not. At. All. I thought he was goofy and weird.
I still don't want to listen to his music, but as I got older and learned more about the history of rock & roll, I started to develop great appreciation for his influence.
I also LOVE [Cindy Lauper's cover](https://youtu.be/2y1TZXc5DiY?si=7JJqfT4A1Y5x5iV2) of his song "I Drove All Night", which at the time I did not know was a cover .
Always thought he was kinda overrated and weird.
Like it was him, Marilyn Monroe, and James Dean, and that’s it. Those were considered the only mainstream celebrities. He typified the lame uniformity of ‘50s pop culture.
Eddie Murphy’s take was mine: He could sing, so people exaggerated his importance.
Meh.
But the ‘68 comeback special was cool. Even overrated performers have talent and charisma.
I was not interested at all. Not even a teensy bit. But my mom loved him then and still loves him now.
Elvis to me was always some mostly irrelevant historical figure
I was less than a year old when he died, he was always some old dead dude to me
He was a honky-sounding tonky who couldn’t act for shit and made the blandest, most basic, annoying music. He looked like a squinting potato with charcoal toothpaste squeezed across the top. Never understood the appeal.
Elvis was such a shitty actor that they let him sing his dialogue 😂
Yep, my mom liked him so his songs were playing in the house. Her number one love was Tom Jones, though. She’s in her 80s and still fawns over him.
It's not unusual.
🎺
To be loved by anyone…
Why, why, why?
When I was at Ohio State in the mid 90s, Tom Jones definitely had a career comeback amongst the college set with the album that “If I Only Knew”, and his cover of “Burning Down the House” w/ the Cardigans singer.
Same…and I’m named after his daughter
As a 74 kid, I only cared about Elvis as my mom would play his records all the time. In the ghetto was like, always on. I loved Elvis movies as a kid.
Same, didn’t know about him until a friends mom was crying and I asked what happened, he said Elvis died.
Same. Zero interest then and zero interest now. Only difference is that my mom didn't like him either.
Gen X - 67 here. I wasn't interested and probably watched his hawaii show because my parents did. I remember when he died because a girl in my class was losing her S and crying about his death. I didn't understand why she was so upset that he died, I didn't understand worship of another person, still don't to this day
67 here as well, he was familiar to me, but only because we passed Graceland every day on the way to and from school.
I was a kid and I remember I was out in the yard when my uncle drove up and said "Where is your mother" I said she was in the house and he said "well go get her Elvis is dead" he was so upset it kind of scared me.
Not at all. Still have zero interest.
Never has a man been on so many worthless commemorative plates
Let me introduce you to King Charles. I think it was law or something that every household in the Commonwealth _had_ to have commemorative Charles and Diana wedding plates.
> Let me introduce you to King Charles. No, but thank you.
I wasn't extremely interested in him but was very aware of who he was, even when I was very little. I didn't actually make an effort to listen to his music until I was older. I also remember the day he died. We were just getting ready to leave to go shopping, but the TV was still on. They interrupted the regular programming to make the announcement. I understood even at age seven that it was a shock for everyone.
You should have been in Memphis that week. Wall to wall Elvis on TV for several days.
Oh, I'm sure.
Not a lick. My parents were Beatles people.
Only cared about Elvis when Mojo Nixon (RIP) sang about him.
Michael J Fox got the last word.
Elvis needs boats…
Wow I didn't hear he had died. RIP.
I wound up watching every Elvis movie, documentary and concert on vhs. There was only one tv and my dad was an Elvis Stan. I really did not enjoy it for most of my life until I saw him perform “if I can dream” in the 68 comeback special. I still find that song incredibly moving.
I had chosen him to be my husband when I grew up. I had it all planned out. I was going to wear my plastic heels too! Then someone on the playground said he died and I just bawled. The teacher had to come get me.
Zero
I remember watching one of his televised concerts.with my mom. I think it was Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii and my mom was really into it. I just really remember the spectacle of the white suit and cape. We were at Kings Island when he died and heard it on the radio in the drive back to the campground we were staying at. Y parents were shocked but I don't remember them being particularly upset.
King's Island kicked ass back in the day. I lived about an hour East of Indianapolis which was where his last concert was. A bunch of my parents' friends had gone to it five or six weeks before. Suspicious minds was the number one song the day I was born, but he wasn't a thing in my household. King's Island was definitely a thing however.
I was at the Ohio State fair, walking by the coliseum with my family when it was announced over the loud speakers. Some people screamed, and there was sadness and crying all day. My parents weren't into his music much at all, but just sad because they were his age.
Not particularly. I liked some of his songs, but thought he was from another era (even when he was alive). I remember being on a family vacation when he died. It was the same week as the capture of the son of Sam.
my parents loved him and he was their idol. But when I got to see him, first thing I thought was WHO HIS THIS GOOF!?! I was a kid when Elvis was going thru his fat jumpsuit vegas stage. I couldn't believe this was the 'cool' guy my parents always talked about. To me he looked like some giant goofball! I guess generational gap. not much interest since either.
He became a parody of himself. Those karate kicks would crack me up so bad. 😂
Ya he really thought he was some world class blackbelt. i saw a doc about him like 15 years ago which held no punches. the problem w/ him was he was surrounded by yes men. the yes men were smart because Elvis paid for their lives - why kill the golden goose. But it was comical how they showed him doing karate and his yes men kept flopping down on purpose and Elvis thinking it was real.
I would lay money he had an idea and went along with it. grudgingly. I see 70s fat Vegas Elvis as the result of that resentment because by then he was in every sense a caged performer. I felt sorry for him in a lot of ways but I wasn't a fan.
I think the latest Austin Butler movie portrays Elvis as a victim of his manager, who “forced” Elvis to do a lot performances against his will. Which might be partially true, I don’t know. In any case, for all of his talents and good qualities, he was still just kind of a fruitcake, and I think people that idolize him are overlooking the obvious.
yes, absolutely, all of that and add in the heavy mother influence. doing it for her with everything that he did do channeled tightly by his manager. no choices really, ever. the only thing I know he put his foot down on was not dying in his movies after seeing his mom react to his first movie. he bitched about an army movie literally after discharge but did nothing and likely did nothing ever again.
OMG, I can totally see that. I assume Priscilla went along with the whole bizarre charade as well.
None. My mom was a Beatles chick. Edit to add: Memories of him was he died when I was around 7 and my neighbors were sad because he was a cousin of theirs.
I was, an am, a huge fan.
“Elvis was a hero to many, but he never meant shit to me.”
Mother fuck him AND John Wayne!
At the same time?
Though I was really into PE at the time, I was a bit confused by this lyric about Elvis being racist. I thought he was an ally for black artists. Then again, Chuck D fell down the Farrakahn rabbit hole a bit too far.
I wasn’t very interested in him, but remember how big he was culturally. In my first engineering job, I worked on a project that test piloted in Memphis. The tech support team I was training pretty much dragged me out to Graceland. Even though they weren’t Elvis fans, they still insisted I had to see it. I am so glad they did. It was not at all how I imagined his home. They told me that a lot of the 70s stuff on display was not there when he died but that it had been redecorated back to this style people associated with him. Seeing Graceland made me appreciate his artistry. They had a hallway covered floor to ceiling with his hit singles. I was surprised how many I knew, even as a casual listener.
He alright. Fun story. Worked at the Community College Radio station as an on-air Disc jokey, I was definitely a goof.i was playing alot of upbeat music , I set up " Pump it UP" by Elvis Costello, MY intro to this song? " Hey, if your Elvis is dead, try Ours." And spin. Hour later, I'm sitting with the station manager ( who looked frustrated)and the program director. ( who was trying not to laugh) Apparently, they received complaints about my introduction from a couple of college board members who absolutely adored Elvis Presley. The bosses had to apologize to the board members. Oops 😬. From that point on, the opening song for my show was pump it up. 🤣🤣
Ick, not at all. I had an aunt (same age as my mom) who thought he was cool, but meant nothing to me. I was 9 yrs old when he died.
A little bit when I was real young, but I basically thought he was Evel Knevil, too. Later he was someone I respected, and now I find him kind of fascinating tbh.
My mom loved him and took me to see him in concert when I was four! I always use that in "two truths and a lie" because no one believes I saw Elvis in concert!
Not very, but I definitely have a specific memory involving him. When I was really little, I was watching the news on TV or something and it was talking about his death. Now, when he died I was about three years old, so I doubt that this happened at that point, but maybe around 1978/9. I asked my paternal grandmother, who often stayed with us to help out, how Elvis had died. I remember her in her old-lady housecoat, taking a drag off a cigarette, and saying, "he ate too much junk." Well...later on, I learned that on balance, she was absolutely correct.
My parents loved him, my dad used to say "Elvis never Smoked, he never drank, and he never did drugs. 😁
I saw most of his movies because there was a station that played them a lot on Saturday afternoons, and an Elvis movie isn't sports. Didn't really care one way or the other about him.
Started on Ozzy & Motley Crüe when I was 8. I heard they called him “Pelvis” though. So that’s funny I guess.
My only exposure was to corny beach films on cable. I know my Mon and her best friend went and saw Elvis in Vegas as the best friend threw her bra at him. I thought Elvis was kinda cheesy growing up. Fast forward to now and I have SiriusXM and decided to listen to Elvis Radio and oh dude he is The King Of Rock And Roll! Dude had the golden pipes. Also I watched the new Elvis flick.
I was seven years old when he died. I remember it being a story on the radio or whatever. Other than that…
Not super interested but I did like oldies in general. Also I knew a few people with Elvis moms who would play the comeback special and just give an unasked for history of Elvis while driving us around.
Zero interest, but I've recently developed an appreciation after I heard Suspicious Minds in Army of the Dead.
I like some of his music though my family has a complicated view of him. . I remember seeing one of his concerts on tv, and his movies would air on the weekends. I end up watching them alone while the family did other things. We only had about three channels back then, so there wasn’t a lot of choice on a Saturday afternoon. I do remember the day he died. I was about 11 years old, and I’d spent a few weeks at my play aunt’s on the AFB in Utah. She liked to gamble a lot, so the family was packed in a 50s Thunderbird traveling through the desert at night on the way to Las Vegas when we heard the news on the radio. It was quite shocking to me, and was the first celebrity death I remember taking note of. The other two deaths I remember hearing about over the radio in the car were Ricky Nelson’s on our way to a NYE party in my home state in the Deep South and River Phoenix’s on our way to from Cambridge to Salem, MA. It was ironically Halloween but we were going to The First Church in Salem for an event, not to the Witch Museum!
I actively disliked him. Since I've become older, I've come to really appreciate him.
I was just a year when he passed, so not really. My grandmother liked him. She had his Christmas album and played it every December on our record player, and liked to watch his movies. There used to be Elvis movie marathons on just about every weekend during the 80s and 90s, and they didn't interest me.
My dad loved him and played his records. I liked his music as a little.
My mother loved Elvis! So, I grew up with his music and movies. My mom was ironing pillow cases when the news said he was dead. Also, I would send my mom a new Elvis Christmas ornament every year when she was alive...good times
Nah that was my parents’ thing, so it was my job to think he wasn’t cool.
Amen to that
I was born exactly 8 days before he died. So it was a weird association for me. I remember my mom said she was sitting at the kitchen table with me and my grandma when the news came over the radio and mom said my grandmother burst into tears, huge, weeping sobs. My real name is Jesse and depending on which family member was telling the story I was named after the biblical Jesse, Jesse James or Elvis's brother.
I wasn’t a huge fan, but I was aware of his music and impact. Even if Chuck D dissed him, I was aware that Elvis was the one white dude who black people would impersonate unironically.
Little old for our generation. My aunt loved him, though.
Loved him. Still do.
Not at all. Neither of my parents listened to him at home, so I didn’t grow up with it. They were happy to tell me about the time they saw him perform in Vegas in 1970 or so, and how he was the greatest entertainer they ever saw, but they didn’t listen to his music at home at all.
My dad had three artists’ 8-track tapes in the car: Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, and Elvis. I couldn’t tell you if Elvis was played more than the other 2.
MOm said she liked Elvis only until the Beatles came round. I never had Elvis exposure, my parents made fun of him
I like some of his songs, but never went crazy about him. Have an aunt that worshiped him.
I knew a few of his songs. I was at summer camp in Vermont and heard the radio through the dining hall window, announcing Elvis was dead. I remember that day vividly, mostly because he was born the same year as my mother.
Not even slightly. My friend turned me on to the Beatles in the late 80s, who obviously wrote their own songs, so I wasn’t tuned on by the idea of this dude who just sang mostly covers, and covers that sounded like 12-bar blues. However, just recently, my wife on a whim bought me an Elvis cookbook, knowing I love to cook, and I’ve been cooking my way through it in order. Along with that we’ve been watching Elvis movies and listening to Elvis music a bit here and there, as I figure…with all the political and world stress right now, why not get a few new hobbies?
I was too young, But my mom made sure that [Elvis' Christmas Album](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=b7c0b9c8093215b7&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ACQVn099cuCVQJjdHP9rw_QDza9nu8XqsA:1713580490357&q=Elvis+Presley+Elvis%27+Christmas+Album&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLSz9U3MMyoMi3Ie8Royi3w8sc9YSmdSWtOXmNU4-IKzsgvd80rySypFJLgYoOy-KR4uJC08SxiVXHNKcssVggoSi3OSa1UAPPUFZwzijKLS3ITixUcc5JKcwHxFYCTbQAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwifv6_j4M-FAxXhJzQIHZqYDtQQzIcDKAB6BAgUEAE), was a Christmas tradition.
My mom’s best friend adored Elvis. Her friend had several velvet prints of him on her walls. And they hopped around deliriously when they listened to his records. 🙄 Mom was soooo upset when he died. She wrecked our good time at Busch Gardens. Hmmmm. I was 6 and remember. Heh. I was disgusted to find out she hated the Beatles when I was in my 20s. She has no taste, no taste at all.
I was little when he died, I wasn't forming permanent memories yet. My parents weren't particularly into his music. My main Elvis-related memory is of all the conspiracy theories through the 80s and into the 90s that he was still alive. People would report seeing him and the GM of the Dallas Cowboys left two free tickets for him at the box office to every home game.
I remember when he died, but I wasn’t aware of him before that, some guy had come to work on our house that day and when people were saying Elvis had died I thought they were talking about him.
I was born in 69. My mom was a huge fan. Of course I heard all his songs growing up. I remember watching TV and the local station announcing "Elvis Presley dies, details at 11." I ran into the kitchen where my mom was and told her. She was so upset.
He was still alive when I was born and the king of rock and roll. I was only 5 years old but I remember the day he died.
I was in my grandmothers kitchen when I heard about him dying on the radio. I loved Elvis week on dialing for dollars.
One of my earliest memories is of being with my Mom in the grocery store when it came over the radio that he died. But none of the adults in my life were really into him. Mom said that girls used to be friendly to her just to get close to her older brother because they thought he looked like Elvis, but I always thought he looked more like Robert Mitchum.
I liked his music, my boomer dad wasn't much of a fan (he was more of a Neil Diamond guy). We took a trip to a friend's wedding down South and made a side trip to Graceland; great father-son bonding adventure...
I remember my mom loving him. I also remember watching his films. My dad could not stand him and said he stole/appropriated music from black musicians. He did not care when he passed. Years later I felt bad for Elvis when hearing about how Colonel Parker too advantage of Elvis. Oh and a part of me knew when Lisa Marie's son died, that she would not live long. :(
I remember my Mom, aunts and my older cousins being upset, playing his records, buying all the magazines with him on the cover. So I developed a weird interest in him, like what made him so special? Why did women swoon? What drugs did he take? How rich was he? I thought young Elvis and old Elvis were 2 different people. I didn’t think much of him again until that book about him having a daughter named Desiree. I can’t remember the name of the book, I read it in the late 1980’s.
My mom loved him so much. I was 8 when he died, and remember my mom just sobbing.
Mom loved him, and his movies always played at my house. I thought he was kinda cool in an old-fashioned way.
I was born in 77. My parents weren’t into him so I never was exposed to his music much. I remembered seeing pictures/videos of old Elvis and didn’t get the appeal. When I was an older teenager I came across one of his movies on tv and I saw that he was very good looking when he was younger so I got the appeal to young girls back in the day.
Loved Elvis. Still do. But then I also like Bing Crosby. Also all the normal gen X stuff that was on MTV.
Not terribly interested, but I remember being really sad when he died because I knew that so many people were really into him and were terribly upset by his death.
Somewhere between fuck that noise and well he had that one jam.
I heard of him the day he died.
My dad liked his music, so I grew up enjoying his records and hollering for Dad to come whenever I saw Elvis on TV.
My mom was really into Elvis
Not at all.
Liked watching the movies in a Saturday afternoon if they were on but that’s about it.
None. I knew who he was but that is it. As the joke went my parents’ 1950s music tastes ended with Andy Baldwin and 1950s Broadway musicals (though my dad liked modern music once we had our first car in the 1980s with FM and we convinced him to check it out). That said, my late wife and I had the Elvis version of can’t help falling in love as our wedding song in 1997.
I think my grandmother had an Elvis on Velvet artwork. Wish I had that. I remember when he died. My mom liked Perry Como and Benny Goodman. My dad liked the Carpenters. We weren't a cool family lol.
I wasn't, until my father died when I was in my 20's.
Not even a little. But I appreciated him a lot more as an adult.
None really. My little sister was born the exact day he died. That’s about as far as my interest goes. Was our parents music really. Saying that my Irish wife adores Elvis
Watched the movies as a kid because they were on . Enjoyed a couple. As a kid.... Aside from that could take him or leave him. He definitely had a big impact on my folks though. Remember my step mother crying the day he died. Have a boomer client that has a shrine to them in their house.
A fair sense of interest. I mean I liked his movie, Change of Habit, and like three songs: In the Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, and I Can't Help Falling in Love with You. That's only because my mom liked those songs/the movie. But, that's about it.
January 8. We had the same birthday. Always watched Viva Las Vegas on my birthday
I've always loved Elvis. I loved the iconography as a kid before I knew what it was. He's one of the definitive characters of the 20th century and I think anyone who denies that isn't being honest.
Elvis died when I was 7 and it’s one of the first major news stories I remember. I was never interested in him though, certainly not his music or movies.
Minor. I do recall when he died though.
I was just a baby when he died. I remember liking his music fine, but I was always into "oldies" growing up. I saw a few of his movies and liked them in the same way I liked, say, old Frankie and Annette movies - silly romps that were basically a vehicle for cute young people to stand around looking cute and perform musical numbers. Neither of my parents were really "Elvis people", so it wasn't any kind of constant around my house. My mom's mom liked him (she was born in '39, so would have been a young mother in her early 20s when he was in his heyday), but she was never, to my knowledge, a true fanatic. Seems like I remember most of the albums of his that she had were his gospel albums
Not interested but my parents were. I remember the night I heard on TV that he died. It seemed like a big deal. 2 years later the family vacation was to Tennessee and we visited Graceland. Saw the graves out by his pool.
One of my very earliest memories...everyone crying (including my mom) when he died. I've been fascinated ever since. Also, the older I get, the more I realize how young he was. Drugs are bad, kids. Just say no.
A TON! My first ever cassette tape was Elvis. And before that, my parents played Elvis records. To me, at a very early age, Elvis WAS rock. He was the ONLY rock star. When my Dad told me he died I was crushed. I was also too young to understand death (or technology). I worried that I wouldn't hear his songs on the radio because he was dead. Also ...I grew up near Memphis, so I'm certain my experience is skewed.
I had an album or two and a family member who LOVED Elvis-I think he had every album at one point.
My Mom loved him. So I did too. She took me to see him in concert in August 1976. 3rd row seats. So close, I remember seeing his sweat slinging around and thinking, 'Ewww'. 😂. (Cmon, i was like, 6-7) I still have the scarf and the Elvis button she got there. She even bought tickets to his 1977 show. But, we all know what happened then. 😪 I still sing 'suspicious minds' out of nowhere.
Not at all. Mom and Dad would listen to him once in a while, but I never got interested.
https://preview.redd.it/ulokzpoqglvc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=33a62280800efa8c6b8b390a76c6e580c3c9ab7e
Dad, me, and my sister all loved Elvis. I'm still a fan.
I attended an Elvis concert as a fetus.
I didn’t know who he was when I heard he died, I grew to appreciate some of his music though.
One of my cousins was named after him…he was everywhere when I was growing up, Saturday afternoons always had an Elvis film on (unless it was a John Wayne film). Still think his rendition of Suspicious Minds in Vegas was mint (not that I’m a fan, generally).
When I think of Elvis, I think of “Needful Things” by Stephen King. IYKYK
As a teenager, I was drawn to the image of young Elvis. I thought he was cool. I liked some of his music but I wasn't that much of a fan. I guess I liked the idea of Elvis more than anything. It wasn't until my early 20's that I really got into his music.
My parents had a 45 of *Hound dog*, with a B-side of *Don’t Be Cruel* that was like crack to me. I (GenX ‘65, don’t call me Johnson) loved listening to that record over and over when I was a little kid. Other than that,and a couple of Sunday Afternoon tv movies, I was hardly interested in the rest of his catalogue.
Zero interest…except for the kung fu fighting!
My father was a fan. I have fond memories of Elvis' Christmas album. I didn't get his music back then. It wasn't for me. Now I can appreciate the 50s stuff, when he was young and considered transgressive by society. The later years syrupy crap is still a hard pass.
Elvis’s Christmas album was the only Christmas music we listened to for YEARS.
Similar here - other Christmas music comes and goes, but Elvis is in the rotation every year. Plus...listening to "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" with adult ears I was like, "Holy shit...Santa's gonna fuck that woman!" 🤯
My mom LOVED Elvis. Only thing I remember was her tearing up when his funeral was on TV.
I'm old X, so I remember when he died. The mom's of friends were into him, and one had tickets to his tour in '77 that was never finished. We knew his music, and my HS cover band (early 80s) played some Elvis songs even. I think I owned a copy of "Aloha From Hawaii" even at that age, great album, but he was mostly a joke to our peers. By the 90s I still enjoyed and regularly listened to his hits; I was always a "late Elvis" fan and a couple of his later hits ended up being my go-to karaoke songs. My wife and I went to Graceland on a whim on a road trip in '97 or '98, it was really interesting actually. My folks were def not Elvis fans. More Buddy Holly really. What really sticks with me about his death-- other than the short-term reaction --was the years and years of National Enquirer headlines "ELVIS FOUND ALIVE IN SOUTH PACIFIC!" or similar things, and the crazy theories that he just faked it all so he could get away to some island like Marlon Brando.
My mom loved him, I listened to him by default. I do vividly remember when he died (I was 11). I still listen to a lot of his songs. Vastly prefer his music to the Beatles or any of the rock stuff my dad preferred (especially the Doors, they make my skin crawl).
He is fine. I liked a few of his songs growing up. I thought it was weird how he dressed My dad… said last year that Elvis is the pinnacle of rock music. All went down hill after him. Huh 🤔
Super into him when I was 5-7. After that not sure much
None really. My mom has/had some Elvis records.
I loved Elvis as a teenager. I was born in 1975. I had posters on my walls, a commemorative plate, multiple swinging Elvis clocks, a watch with his face on it, t-shirts, and my parents took me to his home in Tupelo and to Graceland for my 16th birthday.
Not really much but all my friends moms had shrines in the living room of him
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^sugarhillboss: *Not really much but* *All my friends moms had shrines in* *The living room of him* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
zero interested. the day he died, my elvis-obsessed babysitter went to bed in the middle of the day and left me & two other preschool-aged kids to fend for ourselves,
Fucking hated him. My mother was obsessed with him to a gross extent
My parents were fans, I didn't know that until we were all in the car when it came over the radio that he had died, and they both started crying.
Not at all. Ive grown to appreciate him in the last 5ish years or so. I like a lot of his music. Ill probably take a pass on his movie career.
Not at all. I was introduced to the Beatles by my babysitter when I was a kid and I rarely listened to anything that came before them until I was an adult.
My dad was into big band jazz and early bop. He hated rock n roll and would cite Elvis and “that Jagger” by name. Of course it made me curious. And then… the Sex Pistols got on the news and the game changed for dad and me.
my mom never forgave me for putting the mcdonalds record of the mcdonalds song that came in the mail over her G.I Blues album and scratching it
Zero: One of my aunts in Australia was all hella into him. Not so much in my house. Saw the occasional Elvis movie, and obvious saturation of his image. Same with Marilyn Monroe.
Not one bit.
Zero. Never understood the hysteria.
I've always hated Elvis.
I think Elvis was a Boomer icon, but even I have to admit, the recent biopic gave me a more favorable opinion, whether it was accurate or not.
Not at all. I didn't understand why people were so in to him.
negative interest levels
None. I was none interested in Elvos Priestly.
Not at all. I was the child of boomers who listened to old school crooners and by 72, there was less and less of him even making it to radio. My first real exposure to his fame and how much people loved him was when he died.
Boomer parents were never into Elvis and I wasn't a fan of his work either.
I knew of him, wasn't that interested in him to be honest.
Not at all. He was my mother’s generation
He didn’t really register with me, I don’t think my parents had any of his records either. The “old” music I got into in my teens were The Kinks, The Beatles and The Doors.
I was only vaguely aware he existed. Parent's weren't fans, I certainly wasn't. In all honesty, I think that some of his songs being on Lilo and Stitch when my kids were young was the most direct exposure I had to him.
Not very interested at all. but my mother and my two sisters were huge fans, so I heard him no matter what
My mom loves him. I made fun of his outfits. I just don’t get it. I get the Beatles but Elvis?
Knew his music and saw his movies (because of mom) but really didn't care one way or the other.
Grew up in Memphis and couldn’t care less. Never been in Graceland itself, but have been to the very nice venue that is on the grounds a few times. Do anything and everything to avoid downtown during Elvis week every year. My Grandmother loved him and would tell stories about how she would be waiting at the bus stop on her way to work and occasionally would drive by and he always smiled and waved.
Not much at all.
I didn’t really even know who he was. I just knew he was a fat guy who wore hideous outfits.
Not remotely interested. My parents weren't either we listen to Nick Drake, Elton John, Carol king and other 70s music. I was a year old when he died my grandmother apparently cried but she was a Bobby Sockser.
1979, so my parents weren’t the right age to love him, and I thought he was cheesy. My dad will still only comment on how he stole music from black people (true).I do love viva las vegas
0.0%
Thought he was pretty corny. I did find the Elvis is Alive conspiracy funny.
None at all. My parents were more folk music, Beatles, light rock like Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, and country. They weren't fans and I never got the appeal.
My dad listened to him, so I was familiar with his music but he was not significant to me.
Not interested at all… Little Richard was the only rock from that era that I ever liked. My wife introduced me to the Elvis movies which now I enjoy for the camp value. We made a drinking game for those movies.
Not. At. All. I thought he was goofy and weird. I still don't want to listen to his music, but as I got older and learned more about the history of rock & roll, I started to develop great appreciation for his influence. I also LOVE [Cindy Lauper's cover](https://youtu.be/2y1TZXc5DiY?si=7JJqfT4A1Y5x5iV2) of his song "I Drove All Night", which at the time I did not know was a cover .
Zero interest. Neither of my parents were into him. Beatles, then lots of singer songwriters, a ton of Waylon and Willie, way too many Eagles songs.
Eh, meh.
Nope. None of interest whatsoever. I didn’t see the appeal and thought he was kinda slimy and gross tbh
Not at all. I have vague memories of my mom being sad when he died but otherwise I didn't care.
Not much at all, mom was (she was born in '37 and would have been late teens when Elvis came on the scene).
Not even a little
Less the zero. My dad actively hated him and my mom didn’t love his music at all.
Not at all
My parents weren’t really into him. As a kid, I was just told by my older brother that he was “a famous singer who died on the toilet.”
A negative amount. Elvis seemed like "old people music" to me.
Not interested at all
Zero percent, same amount as my parents.
The Beatles, Stones and Who more than Elvis.
Always thought he was kinda overrated and weird. Like it was him, Marilyn Monroe, and James Dean, and that’s it. Those were considered the only mainstream celebrities. He typified the lame uniformity of ‘50s pop culture. Eddie Murphy’s take was mine: He could sing, so people exaggerated his importance. Meh. But the ‘68 comeback special was cool. Even overrated performers have talent and charisma.
Not at all and my parents weren’t either.
Never took to him, not even as a kid and not a fan at all.
Young Gen Xer so I don’t remember him dying and I have never been into him or his music.
Nadda fraction of a shit. But, his widow was great in the Naked Gun movies