Elvis is Dead Hoax
“A lot of people think I'm alive, but actually, I'm dead.”
Elvis is Dead is a well-known urban legend which alleges that cultural icon Elvis Presley died August 16th 1977. Perpetrated by 'The King' himself, the legend goes that he was found dead on his bathroom floor. This was later proven as an elaborate hoax in a 1987 biography written by Gail Brewer Giorgio forcing Presley to emerge from obscurity and admit to the stunt.
Background and the theory itself[edit]
History documents that following the so-called British Invasion of the 1960s, Presley's popularity had waned somewhat. Craving renewed fame and needing to finance his forty a day coke cheeseburger addiction, Elvis orchestrated a large-scale death hoax allowing him to retreat to a remote country spot in Panama.
It is now public knowledge that Elvis was replaced by an impersonator in the early seventies to fulfil his rigorous touring schedule, resulting in the impersonator's drug and cheeseburger-induced heart attack. However, despite the man himself admitting on numerous occasions he in fact 'did not die' (most famously in an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1993), there is a select group that maintains that there are many inconsistencies in this theory and Elvis is, in actual fact, dead. The 'believers' are insistent that evidence such as clues in his song lyrics, album artwork and even sightings of The Ghost of Elvis prove that the King has 'left the building'.
'Elvis Is Dead' is often linked to the backmasked message in the song "That's Alright (Mama)". If you start playing it backwards around 1:23, then you will hear the man himself taking an order from Wendy's '..yes ma'am.. cheese.. cheeseburger.. and cheesy fries.. 6.49?'. At the end there is an almost inaudible 'chocolate sauce, chocolate sauce'. Cheeseburgers, cheesy fries and chocolate sauce all begin with 'ch' which are, infamously, the two letters of death.
According to the theory, Presley's family have been going to great pains to cover up his death since the late 1970s in order to profit financially from his enormous fame; Elvis is currently represented by a large number of impersonators who cater for the numerous television and other media appearances which he is supposedly asked to fulfil.
The 'Clues'[edit]
Most agreed that the new fat, junkie 'Elvis' was so different to his 'former self' that it could not possibly be the real Elvis. The conspiracy theorists allege, however, that Elvis had deteriorated in his relative obscurity, becoming addicted to sausage butties and paracetamol.
Elvis's new 'commercialised and soft-soaped' haircut was also confirmative proof for most that something fishy was afoot. Was Elvis actually going soft in the effects of early senile dementure, or was this the influence of recording executives on Presley's performances? The conspiracy theorists believe the former.
Elvis did not seem to frequent the burger bars and pharmacies of his Graceland home and was not doing any more live performances. Though in actual fact he was taking a break at this time, the theory alleges that the body in the casket at Elvis's funeral was actually him.
The Death[edit]
The theory holds that everything surrounding Elvis's death and burial was genuine. The mis-spelling of Presley's middle name was just a slip of the pen, typical of illiterate middle America.
Evidence disproving the theory[edit]
One theory holds that the theories of Elvis's death are circulated by the CIA to discredit in advance stories of secret government weapons and activities. "Yeah, you saw a black plane that left regular puffballs of smoke behind it, and, by the way, Elvis died in Graceland in 1977." Another thing that could disprove this is that there were too many clues about his "death". So they were probably made up.