Elvis Presley death conspiracy theories

The grave of Elvis Presley at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. He died on August 16, 1977.

Since Elvis Presley's death on August 16th, 1977, various false and discredited conspiracy theories have circulated stating that he may still be alive. "Elvis sightings" from people incorrectly claiming to have seen him after this date are a phenomenon both as an ironic meme and also as part of a genuine belief for some.

In the early 1980s, the possibility of Presley still being alive was a niche topic discussed by a fringe demographic of fans in underground zines. It crossed over into widespread media attention in 1987 after a woman named Louise Welling falsely claimed to have seen Elvis at a Burger King in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The absurdity, "Middle America-ness" and the sound of the name "Kalamazoo" made for an ironic, light story in newspaper and television outlets. Theories and misinformation on the topic were then widely popularised by authors Gail Brewer-Giorgio and Major Bill Smith, who were given a platform by American and international media. Two TV specials on the subject of Elvis sightings, The Elvis Files and The Elvis Conspiracy, aired internationally in 1991 and 1992.

Since then, popular interest in the topic has waned but Elvis sightings have stayed resonant as a part of pop culture. The conspiracy theory itself has become iconic as an example of the "genre" and a forerunner of the post-truth era, going on to influence many other theories including QAnon.

Origins and history of the conspiracy theory

Presley died on August 16, 1977. His death is easily verifiable as it was witnessed by numerous close friends and family members then extensively documented by Memphis medical personnel, who worked on his body at the Baptist Hospital then produced both a death certificate and an autopsy report.

The earliest known Elvis sighting was the very next day at the Memphis International Airport where a man resembling him supposedly gave the name "Jon Burrows" when boarding an international flight. This was the name Presley travelled under during his lifetime, and searching for uses of this name post-1977 became a recurring theme of the conspiracy theory.

In 1978, a TV special investigating Presley's death entitled The Elvis Cover-Up aired on 20/20, hosted by Geraldo Rivera. The "cover-up" referred to was an attempt to hide Presley's dependence on prescription medication and the role this played in his death, which the special documents thoroughly. Rivera does not imply at any time in this special that Presley may still be alive. However, a common misinterpretation of the special's title unintentionally lay the groundwork for a belief that this may be the case.

That same year, author Gail Brewer-Giorgio published a novel entitled Orion based on Presley's life but with an ending in which the main character fakes his own death. At the same time, an album was released on Presley's former label Sun Records featuring a masked singer named "Orion" with a voice similar to Presley's. The singer was in fact Jimmy Ellis, with the Sun Records brand identity having been sold to Shelby Singleton since its iconic 1950s heyday. Brewer-Giorgio claimed at the time to have no connection to Ellis or this other "Orion". However, in the 2015 documentary Orion: The Man Who Would Be King, both Ellis and Brewer-Giorgio claim they had worked together on the "Orion" phenomenon in advance of both the book and album coming out. Ellis claims that Brewer-Giorgio told him, "You are Orion."

Ellis went onto some success performing as "Orion." However, the novel Orion fell out of print and did not succeed. Brewer-Giorgio blamed this on deliberate publisher neglect and claimed that the reason behind this was that she had "gotten too close to the truth". This theory became the basis for her next "non-fiction" book, The Most Incredible Elvis Presley Story Ever Told!

In the early 1980s, a recording began to circulate among fans that purported to be a 1980s-era interview with a living Presley discussing his life in hiding. This was in fact the voice of entertainer David Darlock, who later claimed that he was commissioned to make the recording by a fan club who told him it was for a fictional production.

In 1987, a woman named Louise Welling claimed to have seen Elvis at a Burger King in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This led to increased publicity for Elvis sightings and the conspiracy theory in general. Brewer-Giorgio appeared widely on television throughout 1988 discussing her theory. She was given a platform by Oprah Winfrey, Larry King and Rivera, all of whom helped elevate the conspiracy theory to international prominence. Amidst the hype, The Most Incredible Elvis Presley Story Ever Told! was picked up by Tudor Books and reprinted in an expanded edition as Is Elvis Alive? This edition came bundled with a cassette of the Darlock recording, interspersed with commentary by Brewer-Giorgio speculating as to whether it may be Presley's voice, which it was not.

Record producer Major Bill Smith was also a prominent figure in perpetuating the conspiracy theory. Smith authored a book entitled Memphis Mystery on the subject and claimed to be in current communication with Presley, releasing recordings that were purportedly of his voice recorded after 1977. On one occasion, Smith even went as far as to bring "Presley" on air to do a live radio interview and take questions from callers. The interview can be heard on a cassette released by Smith, Elvis Lives.

In late 1988, record label LS Records released the song "Spelling on the Stone", sung by an unknown vocalist purporting to be Presley. The song's narrative suggested that Presley had not actually died, and that he was trying to communicate this to the world by deliberately misspelling his middle name "Aron" as "Aaron" on the tombstone at Graceland. In reality, the "spelling on the stone" is of no consequence as Presley used both spellings of his middle name interchangeably throughout his lifetime, including on his divorce certificate which clearly features "Aaron" in his own handwriting. Even if the tombstone was "misspelled", which it was not, the conspiracy theory adds an unlikely supposition that the reason for this is that Presley chose not just to fake his own death - also deliberately making it appear as if he had died on the toilet no less - but also to leave clues for others to interpret. Nevertheless, airplay received by "Spelling on the Stone" on country music formats caused a number of listeners to call in to radio stations and report sightings of the singer after hearing the song, while program directors of said stations debated whether or not the song's vocal track was actually Presley. The middle name spelling also became a common feature of the conspiracy theory.

In 1991, a TV special entitled The Elvis Files, hosted by former Presley co-star Bill Bixby, aired internationally. It featured Brewer-Giorgio as well as Monte Nicholson and others discussing the false claims of Presley's possible faked death, and investigated numerous Elvis sightings. Amongst other misinformation, this special featured the "spelling on the stone" argument plus several 1980s-era photos claiming to be of Presley - including one of a man resembling him in the poolhouse at Graceland, and another man spotted alongside Reverend Jesse Jackson and Muhammad Ali. The men in these photos turned out to be Presley associate Al Strada and Larry J. Kolb respectively.

A sequel special, The Elvis Conspiracy, aired in 1992. This special was disowned by Brewer-Giorgio as it walked back numerous claims from the first and ultimately claimed Presley was dead. This special contained references to an FBI operation from 1977 called Operation Fountain Pen that involved Presley and a criminal organisation called The Fraternity, details of which had recently been uncovered from declassified documents. Combining this with the fact Presley had been gifted a badge granting him the status of a honorary FBI agent after visiting Richard Nixon in 1970, the special hypothesised that Presley may have gone into hiding after 1977 to work as a secret agent. While both Operation Fountain Pen and The Fraternity are based in fact, the operation only concerned fraud against Presley's father Vernon, who had been scammed by the group into paying inflated amounts for maintenance on one of Presley's jets. This combined with the fact that Presley's status as "an FBI agent" was strictly an honorary title means that there is no compelling argument that he may have faked his death for the purposes of being undercover.

Since the early 1990s, mainstream interest in the conspiracy theory has waned but Elvis sightings have continued both as a source of humour and from an increasingly fringe demographic of believers.

Recent "sightings"

In 1999, a number of people claimed Elvis sightings at Legoland California. It was later revealed that Elvis impersonators were hired as an attraction to commemorate Presley.

In January 2015, a fake news website claimed that an 80-year-old homeless man in San Diego named Jessie had been posthumously identified by DNA evidence as being Elvis Presley. An extremely similar-looking man was seen working as a groundskeeper for Bakersfield in 2016, and was also believed to be Elvis. Some believe that Elvis attended his own 82nd birthday. An old man with security guards around him, all grey hair, grey beard, sunglasses and a panama hat on, was believed by conspiracy theorists to be Elvis.

One "sighting" that has survived to the 2020s as a conspiracy theory is a false belief that Presley may be living as preacher Bob Joyce.

Weekly World News

A cover from the July 23, 1991, issue of Weekly World News. This picture is actually an Ollie Atkins photograph, edited to make Presley appear older

The Weekly World News tabloid ran stories about Presley being alive for many years.

We’d say Elvis was still alive and run a picture of what Elvis would have looked like at that time. We’d get dozens of phone calls. If someone calls and says, “I saw Elvis,” you didn’t try to disprove the headline. — Iain Calder

The tabloid newspaper produced a whole series of articles, each claiming to track some further appearance or adventure of the secretly-living Elvis. The "story" of this Elvis progressed, including an incident where he broke his leg in a motorcycle accident (replete with photo), recovered, traveled through the Northwest and Canada, et cetera.

Altogether, the Elvis Saga at WWN went on for at least 57 different articles. In 1992, the Weekly World News wrapped up the storyline with the headline "Elvis Dead at 58", only to announce just weeks later that also turned out to be a hoax.

The American televisions show Unsolved Mysteries featured segments on the rumors of Elvis's survival during the 1990s.

Home Alone

Elvis was rumored to have appeared as an extra in the background of an airport scene in the 1990 film Home Alone. It was alleged that the bearded man wearing a turtleneck and a sports jacket, who could be seen over the left shoulder of Catherine O'Hara's character while she is arguing with an airline employee, was Elvis. Paranormal researcher Ben Radford responded to Elvis sighting believers with, "Why fake your death and then turn up as an extra in a popular movie? How could the cast and crew have failed to notice the presence of one of the most famous figures in the world? Even if he looked very different, could he have disguised his voice and mannerisms?" Radford was challenged to find the actor who played that part to prove it was not Elvis. He explained that the burden of proof was on the person making the claim. In an interview with USA Today, director Chris Columbus responded, "If Elvis was on the set, I would have known."

After being challenged by Radford to locate the true identity of this extra, Kenny Biddle investigated and found the man to be Gary Richard Grott, who died of a heart attack in February 2016. Biddle located Grott's son, Roman, who explained that his father was indeed the extra in the airport scene of Home Alone. Roman Grott also stated his father knew Columbus personally and appeared as an extra in several of the director's films.

In popular media

The frequency of Elvis sighting claims became famous in the 1980s, growing into a pop culture phenomenon in and of itself.

• The 1990 song "Elvis Is Dead" by the musical group Living Colour addressed rumors of Presley's survival.
• The 2002 film Bubba Ho-Tep stars Bruce Campbell as Presley, who faked his death and lived under the name "Sebastian Haff".
• Two other films, Elvis Has Left the Building (2004) and 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), include references to Elvis being alive or sighted.
• The Simpsons routinely references Elvis being alive.
• In the episode "Suspicious Minds" of ALF, ALF believes a neighbor is Elvis Presley.
• In Men in Black, Agent K says that Elvis did not die, but simply "went home", presumably to his alien planet of origin.
• Shock jocks in the 1980s regularly referenced Elvis sightings, as has Saturday Night Live. In Living Color also did segments purporting to hunt Elvis like a cryptid.
• In Death Becomes Her, Elvis is shown at a secret party with other undead celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Andy Warhol.
• In Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind, At the start of the level "Night of the Bobcat", the Titular Character says; "Hey, I thought I saw Elvis back there!".
• In Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City a newspaper article headline saying "Zombie Elvis Found" can be seen blowing around on the ground.
• In the second episode of the first season of The Red Green Show, Red tells a story of how a friend allegedly saw Elvis at a grocery store.