I never had the chance to see this person live. I never experienced the excitement before a release of a new studio album. I wasn’t alive during his peak nor his decline, his lifetime, or when he died. The only way I’ve really gotten into contact with this artist, is through his music, and through the performances that was recorded. YET, he is the artist who’s had the biggest impact on my life.
This August, it will be 35 years since this artist passed away. A LONG time ago! Almost my lifetime multiplied by 2, well not quite, I’m 21, but you get the point. I’m actually just about the same age as his granddaughter, Riley Keough, who’s quite stunning, by the way!
...So, who is this artist? It is the guy who inspired the likes of John Lennon, Paul MCartney, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Celine Dion etc… to begin with music.
I will not speak of his greatness or how he was better than everybody else… because music is subjective, and there is no right or wrong, no best or worst. Instead, I’ll let some people - whom might recognize - comment on this artist:
- John Lennon, famously once said: “Without X, there would not have been The Beatles”
- Bob Dylan once said: “When I first heard X' voice, I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss...Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.”
- James Brown “I wasn’t just a fan, I was his 'brother'."
- Bruce Springsteen: “There have been a lotta tough guys. There have been pretenders. And there have been contenders. But there is only one king.”
- Celine Dion said of him, “The greatest entertainer of all time”.
- Beyonce, in one word, “Iconic”.
- 50 Cent phrased it; “X had the moment for real. While I’m here, it’s not all about 50 Cent, but it was all about X.”
- Eddie Murphy: “That’s my idol, X. If you went to my house, you’d see pictures all over of X. He’s just the greatest entertainer that ever lived”
… The list of artists whose spoke well of X, is immense, and could probably fill up a book…
I will end my little post with a final comment, and a few YouTube-clips, that I would recommend, any openminded music-fan, to listen to:
"Elvis Presley called to life what would soon be known as rock and roll with a voice that bore strains of the Grand Ole Opry and Beale Street, of country and the blues. At that moment, he ensured - instinctively, unknowingly - that pop music would never again be as simple as black and white.” (Music Review ; Rolling Stones, 1986)
Muhammad Ali (aslo a big fan) & Elvis Presley
