Michael Jackson vs. Elvis Presley: The parallels of two of pop music's royal players
The media attention has been hard to escape. The death of Michael Jackson has commandeered the airwaves, internet and even those 140 character shots of off-the-cuff chatter known as Twitter. While the methods have changed and the players aren’t quite the same, there was another death in pop culture history that commanded the same amount of attention over 30 years ago.
When Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, there was no dot com to break the news. No Perez Hilton speculating about a hoax and the closest thing to Twitter was overhearing a stranger’s comment in the supermarket. Despite all that, the similarities are there and they are strong. Presley’s death was immediately the stuff of tabloid fodder. Mourners crowded Elvis Presley Blvd. in Memphis as the world mourned the King of Rock and Roll.
The similarities don’t end there. The King of Rock and Roll and the King of Pop had many similarities and one would think, if the two could get together for a chat sometime soon, they’d have lots to talk about and compare.
Both had “eccentric” tastes – Elvis had the Jungle Room. Michael had Neverland. While Elvis decorated Graceland in lavish fabrics (even completely ensconcing the billiard room in wildly patterned fabrics) and created a TV room complete with multiple televisions, mirrored ceilings and wild yellow accents, Michael recreated Disneyland as his home. His estate, Neverland, became the stuff of pop culture legend. Much like Elvis’ eccentric Memphis home.
Both suffered from the loneliness caused by mega fame – In Peter Guralnick’s book, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, Billy Smith, Elvis’ first cousin, recounts how Elvis retreated to his room and became more like Howard Hughes than the electrifying Elvis of his youth. He surrounded himself with the people he knew and used them as a buffer between himself and the ever-scrutinizing eyes of the world at large. Like Elvis, Michael Jackson enveloped himself in a self-made world away from the prying eyes of the media. Because of his troubled childhood, or complete lack of one, he frequently regressed to a state of perpetual childlike behavior that caused him even more trouble as accusations of pedophilia and inappropriate behavior surfaced in the media. This scrutiny further encapsulated him in the world he made to escape the larger, more sinister world around him. Robert Hilburn, journalist for the Los Angeles Times who covered many of Jackson’s most defining moments, says of Jackson, “Michael struck me as one of the most fragile and lonely people I've ever met.”
Both had Lisa Maries in their life – Perhaps one of the most obvious parallels in both Jackson and Presley’s lives was a woman by the name of Lisa Marie Presley. She was known as daughter to Elvis. She was once known as wife to Michael. Though the roles were extremely different, the role she filled in both lives was a monumental one.
Both had plastic surgery – While Michael’s adventures in plastic surgery have become a pop culture punchline in the past two decades, Michael wasn’t alone in his quest for perfection. In Alanna Nash’s book, Elvis and the Memphis Mafia, Marty Lacker recounts how Elvis showed him his new face after having a face lift. “He couldn’t take seventy-five pounds off overnight, but he could do something about looking tired. So he scheduled a facelift for June, to take the bags from his eyes and to tighten his facial tone.”
Both held addictions to prescription drugs – Few people can handle the extreme fame that comes with the talent exercised by both Presley and Jackson. In fact, like Icarus’ ill-fated flight and its close proximity to the sun, it seems that no one can truly withstand such a bright spotlight fixated on one’s life – both public and private. Finding a way to deal with such scrutiny is near impossible and, unfortunately, both Presley and Jackson eventually turned to prescription drugs in order to temporarily dull the pain that came with the loneliness and acute self-awareness of mega fame. While authorities are still unsure how much of a role Jackson’s addiction played in his death, his addiction had become well known and had been the subject of much tabloid fodder for years. Elvis’ notorious prescription drug addiction has been documented in numerous biographies and firsthand accounts of those who surrounded him in his final years.
Both died before giving a concert to which fans held tickets – When Elvis died in August of 1977, many fans held tickets to concerts that were just days away. Some fans opted to get refunds while others chose to keep the tickets as a souvenir or, in some cases, in hopes that the unused ticket would one day be worth substantially more than the original ticket cost. Likewise, many fans left holding tickets to the shows that Michael was preparing for just before his death are faced with the same dilemma. While promoter AEG has promised a refund to all ticket holders, many are choosing to keep the tickets as a final keepsake of Michael’s musical legacy.
Both were laid to rest in a “Forest” – Well, not exactly, but both were laid to rest in similarly named cemeteries. Before later being moved to Graceland by father Vernon, Elvis was laid to rest in Forest Hill Cemetary in Memphis, TN. Michael was recently laid to rest at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, CA.
Both were the subject of rampant speculation regarding the actual contents of their coffins – When Elvis Presley passed away in 1977, rumors of a wax figure replacing Elvis’ body in his coffin led to theories of Elvis’ death being a hoax. These wild rumors supplied fans with decades of debates on whether or not Elvis was truly dead. And in a case of pop history repeating itself, fans have already begun to speculate whether or not Jackson’s body was in the coffin that was present at his memorial service and eventually taken to Forest Lawn Cemetery. Will fans be speculating about the possibility of Jackson’s livelihood three decades from now as they do with Elvis?
It’s obvious that both Elvis and Michael Jackson shared many similarities even beyond what is mentioned here. What is probably the most notable similarity is the way both performers became such a large part of pop culture history and how their music and performances changed the face of music. Elvis changed the face of music forever by bringing rock and rhythm out of the rhythm and blues clubs and into the homes of families who had never heard nor seen such performances. Michael’s electrifying performances and unforgettable dance moves created a legion of fans and imitators. His cinematic music videos would create a format for telling stories with music that would completely change the way music videos were created and perceived.
And above all else, one thing is certain: whether it’s Jailhouse Rock or Beat It, both will long live through their music when all the hoopla and speculation settles from a frantic frenzy to a hushed whisper in the years to come.
(source:-examiner.com)
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