Like no other can two superstars be
compared to than Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley?
The searing white heat of unimaginable
fame, adulation and the mania that came with it.
Both legacies are undeniable in terms of their impact on music, performance,
celebrity and the trajectory of modern popular culture.
As icons of generations in their own right, their momentous lives surprisingly
followed eerily similar paths of glory and self destruction.
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Presley and Jackson were born poor
and went on to become massive musical powerhouses, each selling hundreds
of millions of records and reaching unimaginable levels of fame and wealth.
Both careers involved moves that were part
of their attraction. Presley earning the nickname 'Elvis the Pelvis',
while Jackson's legendary moonwalk was just one part of a dance heavy act.
Costumes came to symbolize both, Elvis
popularizing capes and beaded jumpsuits in Las Vegas and Jackson becoming known as
the 'Gloved One' as well as popularizing other distinctive clothing items,
including fedoras and military style jackets.
Obsessive personality traits were part of their lives.
Both were music perfectionists,
spending long hours in the studio doing take after take until they were satisfied.
Elvis emerged at a point in history where
our culture was ready to turn itself upside down, said Dr.
John Bakke, a professor at the University of Memphis Department of Communication.
From the Great Depression onto
World War II and then into the Cold War, the change in values came a change
in music, and you had the impact of what became rock and roll.
Elvis stood at the cusp of that generational revolution.
In the words of John Lennon.
Before there was Elvis, there was nothing.
Bakke also mentioned Michael Jackson when it came to Presley's trailblazing path,
where Elvis co-created a musical art form, Michael largely built on one. Where Elvis
changed sexual morality in the conservative wake of World War II,
Michael only made shocking crouch grabbing movements.
Elvis was the originator and blueprint
for the musical superstar, teen idol, sex symbol and phenomenon that all other
juggernauts have been compared to since. Unsurprisingly then that Michael Jackson
was heralded as the Elvis Presley of the 80s on countless occasions.
Although when asked, Jackson dismissed the idea that Elvis had
any kind of influence on him, quote, as important as he was to music,
black as well as white, he just wasn't an influence on me, Jackson revealed.
I guess he was too early for me.
Maybe it was timing more than anything else.
Michael Jackson, who was never shy about citing his many influences that included
Jackie Wilson, Little Richard, James Brown and Sammy Davis Jr.
to name just a few, may have been hesitant
to give further props to Elvis, who himself overshadows those who he drew
so heavily from, the originators in rock and roll black music and performance.
Sam Phillips,
The Sun Records head who recorded Elvis breakout hit 'That's All Right',
had famously remarked, quote, if I could find a white man who had
the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.
Presley's music crossed racial barriers
by appealing to both black and white audiences.
Due to his sound, a mix of rhythm and blues, soul & rock,
Elvis is regarded as the first, quote, white man to play black man's music.
This blurring of racial lines disturbed 1950s parents in a widely segregated America
who, experts say, worried about the Elvis influence on teenagers.
A white guy who hung out in black clubs and incorporated rhythm and blues into his
own sound. Jackson also broke through many racial divides
in music. As in the infancy of music
videos, Jackson was the first black artist to gain constant airplay on MTV.
With a sound combining synthesized pop, R'n'B, rock and hip hop that appealed
to both black and white listeners, Jackson himself further blurred lines,
as his physical transformation sparked debate as to his own racial alliances,
which appear to fall on neither black nor white.
Like Elvis Presley,
Michael Jackson's appeal cut across all sorts of boundaries,
not only to people of every racial and economic group but also of every age.
Most rock stars alienated adults
with rebellious stances, eccentric dress and loud volume.
For all his androgynous flash, Jackson remained as a warm,
comforting figure to many parents and older pop fans.
Like Elvis, he had charm,
impeccable manners, discreetly soft spoken and placed as much value
on soothing ballads as he did on his most outlandish of rock tunes.
The transgressive nature of both superstar's appeal may be more deep rooted
in general psychological attractiveness that is prevalent in Greek mythology.
In the views of James Hillman,
an eminent Jungian analyst, the appeal of Jackson was in large part as
someone who represents the, quote, puer, a psychological archetype representing
an ageless innocence, quote, an inspired effeminate inventive passive
and capricious persona who has in, quote, angelic or hermaphroditic quality where
masculine and feminine are perfectly joined.
The Puer archetype, Hillman said,
may have had a special appeal to the collective mind of modern America.
As much as we are pressed by the harsh
and tough economic realities, the world of the bottom line and success
and failure, we yearn for the time when life was free of all those pressures.
Michael Jackson embodies that innocent boy
whose life is unfettered, full of style and beauty without the grit of reality.
In contrast, Hillman saw Elvis universal appeal as juxtaposing that of Jackson's,
stars often embody some crucial psychological characteristic.
Elvis Presley, for example,
was a Dionysus figure, the seductive man who came to town and stole all the girls.
They carry the repressed side of life,
the part people are aching for in their own lives.
Although they had many similarities, in the mid 1980s,
many journalists saw Jackson as a refreshing contrast to the hedonistic
lives that for so many years characterized the world of rock and roll.
As Stephen Holton from the New York Times wrote, quote, Elvis,
the King of Rock and Roll, the man who brought aggressive sexuality
to the center of popular music, was remembered as an unofficial American
monarch, our one and only show business King who died of his own earthly excesses.
Michael Jackson, the delicate androgynous man-child is today's icon of pop music.
But if Presley was modern pop symbolic
King, Jackson is surely its symbolic savior.
Although Michael Jackson's humble demeanor caused the title Peter Pan of Pop to be
attached to him, his drive for success and glory simultaneously led him
to compete with the greats that came before him.
Quote, the most important thing to him was
his legacy, declared his longtime manager, Bob Jones.
He feared the fates of Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr.
Michael desired to be remembered and worshiped like Elvis.
In a 1987 handwritten note by Michael Jackson, the artist proclaimed
his desire to be considered much like Elvis as a King and at the same time
combat racism that plagued so many of the greats in music's past.
Throughout history, white men have always branded the pages of history with great
white hopes, putting whites over blacks as nobles like Elvis being the King of Rock
and Roll, Springsteen being the boss, and the Beatles being the best.
Yes, these guys were good,
but they weren't better singers or dancers than the blacks.
The difference is that whites control
the press, the media, and they can make the public believe whatever they desire.
I will change this now.
I will rule as the King.
This explicit statement revealing
Jackson's desire to not only succeed in his own personal ambitions,
but to end prejudice and forge a path for future black heroes to claim status
within their chosen fields as he would himself by becoming the first quote,
black king. Rebranding himself as the 'King of Pop', akin to Elvis's 'King of Rock
and Roll', Jackson was challenged at almost every step in this pursuit.
As Eric Snyder from the St.
Petersburg Times noted, quote,
Showbiz nicknames have been around for a long time.
The one most etched in the American psyche
is Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.
Which is why the King of Pop may hang
around for a while as a second reference, but will not catch on with the public.
He'll never be the King as there already is one.
But in striving to become not just a winner but a superstar bigger than Elvis
himself, Michael felt unfairly handicapped.
According to Vanity Fair's Maureen Horth, he complained to his managers that record
stores carried Elvis but few other black artists.
He added that the industry had conspired against him.
Quote, After I broke Elvis sales
and the Beatles sales. Years rolled on and Michael Jackson's king
like tendencies intensified as his wealth and status grew
in the world of entertainment.
No king would be without his own kingdom to reside over.
Elvis had Graceland that allowed him to find solace and calm
he often sought away from the spotlight.
Michael created Neverland, a place to reclaim Jackson's lost childhood,
where he could escape into his own fantasies.
Two Kings that became mirror images and their extravagances, excesses, ailments
and their struggles with the pressures of super fame.
They gave away Cadillacs, houses and donated millions to charities.
They spent King's ransoms on prescription
steroids, sedatives and painkillers to treat their increasing ailments.
Both were tortured with severe migraines and insomnia.
In drug induced half sleep, they had nightmares of being murdered,
triggered by the death threats they received regularly.
Their physical transformations were
extreme, leaving them as shadows of their former selves.
Elvis, a gorgeous, highly sexual performer who burst onto the scene seemingly out
of nowhere in the 1950s, ended up a bloated leading man whose good
looks had faded as he battled with health and weight problems.
Similarly, the public witnessed Michael Jackson start his career as
the adorable, charismatic lead singer of the Jackson Five,
eventually evolving into a strange, almost alien-like caricature of his former self.
The Jackson Presley connection would
become cemented in law with the marriage of Michael and Elvis's only child,
Lisa Marie Presley, in 1994. The daughter of the King of Rock and Roll
seeing eerie similarities in both icons when it came to their fixation on their
own imminent death and selfdestructive tendencies.
With stories circulating that Michael planned to buy the remains
of the Elephant Man and in the 1970s, former bodyguards reported that Elvis
liked to tour funeral homes and inspect embalmed bodies.
Michael asked Lisa Marie to recount every
intimate detail of her father's traumatic death, revealing to his then wife that he
believed he would die young and in much the same manner.
I became very ill and emotionally spiritually exhausted in my quest to save
Michael from certain self destructive behavior, Lisa Marie Presley said,
claiming that her husband told her, quote with an almost calm certainty,
I am afraid that I am going to end up like him the way he did.
The King's daughter concluded, the exact scenario I saw happen on August
16th, 1977, happened again with Michael, just as he predicted.
On the verge of bankruptcy and widely
considered as has-beens, their longstanding addictions to prescription drugs resulted
in a final overdose, them both suffering from cardiac arrests.
Sudden deaths that shook the world at its core.
The hours after Jackson's passing,
Canadian singer Celine Dion claimed it felt, quote, like when Kennedy died.
When Elvis Presley died,
we are not only talking about a talented person dying, it's an amazing loss.
Back in 1977, it was a big deal when
networks led their newscast with Elvis's death.
But compare that to the 24 hours rolling
news coverage and media circus that ensued in the aftermath of Jackson's own demise,
it was night and day and exhibits a vastly
increased interest in pop cultural figures. In the coming days,
articles analyzing the similarities
between Jackson and Presley were ubiquitous and inevitable
considering the similarities in their careers, triumphant paths and tragic
downfalls. Beyond the impact they made during their life, in death, the two music
icons have experienced a cult of mystique that surrounds their legacies.
Mystique Michael Jackson cultivated in life now cemented in death.
King stories will persist concerning Michael's private life.
That Elvis hair was naturally blonde, that he shot at TVs.
What's true?
What isn't?
We still don't really know.
That uncertainty is part of the King's legend.
So many refuse to believe the simple fact
that Elvis and Michael Jackson are in fact dead.
When a syndicated special called the Elvis Files aired in 1991,
79% of the people who phoned the program said they believed Elvis was still alive.
People have reported seeing the King
of Rock and Roll everywhere, from Las Vegas where he's in hiding,
possibly in the federal witness protection program, to a Kalamazoo Burger King.
And we have all seen the viral
speculations online over Michael Jackson's many supposed disguises.
I think it's his death that's propelled him to this super
mystique said Kay Sloan,
an English Professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Quote I think you almost have to be dead
to be as big as Elvis or as the figures show now, Michael Jackson in that case.
Thank you for watching.
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