Fiona Veitch Smith

It was 16 August 1977 and my family and I were driving back from a holiday in Scotland. My dad stopped at a petrol station to fill up and my brother and I jumped out of the car to use the facilities. When I came out of the toilets, my mother was sitting in the front seat, sobbing uncontrollably and my dad was smiling apologetically at the attendant.

‘What’s wrong mum?’ I asked.

She was too overcome to speak and simply pointed a shaky finger at a newspaper billboard: THE KING IS DEAD.

‘But we have a queen, not a king,’ I said.

‘Not a real king,’ said my dad, bundling my brother and I back into the car. ‘Elvis Presley. The King of Rock ‘n Roll.’

The Day the Music Died

It has been thirty years since Elvis Aaron Presley, the man millions believe was the greatest rock ‘n roller of all time, died on that Memphis toilet.

As news spread, tens of thousands of people flocked to the gates of Graceland, Elvis’ home in Memphis. The public outpouring of grief had not been seen since the death of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and would not be again until the death of Princess Diana in 1997. And just like the devotees of those other icons of the 20th Century, the Elvis fans, at first, refused to believe he was dead. Eventually, Vernon Presley, Elvis’ father, opened those famous musical gates and allowed the now over 60,000 fans in to view their King’s body for themselves. When they returned, their message was clear: ‘the King is really dead.’

Conspiracy Theories

But just like JFK and Diana, many still refused to believe it, and soon conspiracy theories were concocted to explain the sudden absense of their hero.

Thirty years later and the passion has not waned; in fact it’s growing faster than many formal religions. Some call it a cult, with oft-reported ‘sightings’ of the ‘resurrected King’; but fans say it is simply a harmless devotion that enriches their lives. The ‘cult’ question has been raised because of the strangely religious language that fans use when speaking about their King, and, in many cases, the interchangeable use of the names, and roles, of Jesus and Elvis.

Saint Elvis

Many of the written tributes on the walls of Graceland allude to this:

Coming back from Lubbock
I thought I saw Jesus on the plane
But it might have been Elvis
They look kinda the same.

For some people he has become an intercessory saint or guide:

pray for us Elvis, and thank you for being our guiding light

and for a few, God himself:

Elvis, Eternal Spirit, Blessed God.

But most Elvis fans distance themselves from the fanatics, admitting however, that Elvis has a very special place in their lives: ‘When I am sad I just play one of his records and listen to his beautiful voice and he makes me feel much better.’ Some Christian fans find the cult tendencies worrying: ‘I’ve had a very strong interest in Elvis’ spirituality … but there are those who literally worship Elvis, and what they are really seeking is the true king, Jesus Christ.’

The Elvis Gospel

Some Christians see the obsession with Elvis and its association with Christianity as a ministry opportunity. Madeleine Wilson, a retired teacher from Wolverhampton, says she felt a calling to reach out to Elvis fans on the anniversary of his 60th birthday in 1995.

She founded Elvis Gospel Ministries that is endorsed by the Christian members of the Presley family and by a number of ministers in England.

Madeleine points out that Elvis never allowed people to call him the King, and when they did so, he would always say: ‘No honey, there is one King and that is Jesus Christ.’

Elvis the Christian

After eight years of research, interviewing people who were close to Elvis, including ministers and Sunday School teachers who knew him, she believes that Elvis was a backslidden Christian who, like the biblical Samson, failed to fully live out the call of God on his life.

She says: ‘We have grasped the God-given opportunity of the continuing popularity of Elvis Presley, to make available to many thousands of people, the good news of Jesus Christ.

Elvis was a Christian and knew that he was called by God to be an evangelist. In the last year of his life he sang more Gospel songs, and was even known to read from the Bible on stage. He was, however, unable to escape from the spiritual trap in which he was caught. God in His mercy removed Elvis from the scene of time, but the work he began is not yet finished.

The New Age Elvis

For people who remember the gun-loving, drug-addicted, obese Elvis of the mid-seventies, this picture of him is a little hard to accept. As are his Christian credentials. In his book Elvis People: The Cult of the King former BBC religious affairs correspondent Ted Harrison points out Elvis’ meanderings into New Age religion, and some evidence that, at times, Elvis thought that he might be a special messenger from God, similar, if not equal to Jesus.

But Madeleine Wilson is not blind to Elvis’ faults. In her book Prayers of Elvis she says: ‘His relentless search for ‘the Truth’, led him into studying other philosophies and religions which only served to confuse him more… he was really struggling, both physically and spiritually … because of his not altogether godly lifestyle.’

But in the last months of his life he expressed a desire to leave everything and become a full-time gospel singer. A few hours before he died, he prayed with his stepbrother Rick Stanley: ‘Dear Lord please show me a way, I am tired and confused and I need your help.’ Then he is reported as saying: ‘Rick, we should all begin to live for Christ.’

In her book, and on the Elvis Gospel website, Madeleine and her colleagues clearly outline the true gospel and encourage fans to commit to Christ. She believes that the ‘charisma’ surrounding Elvis that everyone speaks of is the Holy Spirit, and Elvis failed, in part, by not using this gifting to point people to Christ.

Memphis to Marakesh

This may be one explanation of the incredible impact Elvis Presley has had on people of all ages, cultures and faiths. Or it may not be. Yet there is one, unmistakeable truth: people love Elvis.

I have heard of Elvis look-alike contests being held from Memphis to Marakesh, and there’s even a Heartbreak Hotel outside Jerusalam. People from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and secular backgrounds all find a home in this ‘faith’. How could a man who never travelled outside of his own country except to do national service in Germany hold such universal appeal?

I would suggest it’s because his music speaks of the yearning common to us all: to be loved and to give love in return. His life speaks of our dreams of becoming somebody when we think we’re a nobody. His struggles with drug, alcohol and substance abuse reflect our frailties and fears. And yet he was god-like in a rhinestone and satin way, but this god, unlike the gods of traditional religions, demands nothing of us except our love.

For some, that’s worth worshipping. For me, I prefer a God who isn’t dead, and the only place Elvis has in my life is on my CD rack. Long live the King.

First Published in Plain Truth, August 2007 as ‘The King is Dead’.

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