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Obituary: on 16 August 1977, the singer was found dead in his home, in Memphis
Forth more profitable celebrity: In 2016, "Forbes" magazine classified Elvisi Presley as the forth more profitable dead celebrity, after Michael Jackson, the Peanuts creator, Charlie Schultz and the golf player, Arnold Palmer.
Exatly 40 years ago, Elvis Presley was found dead inside his mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. The singer, of 42 years of age, was victim of a heart attack and the World was in shock for loosing one of its more successful artists of the twentieth century.
Today, the date is marked a bit all over the planet, but mainly in Graceland, his mansion in Memphis. 50,000 fans are expected to participate in a vigil in the artit's former residence.
In Portugal, no initiative is taking place today, but the Elvis 100% fan club has already organized, in March, "Elvis & Friends 2017 - 40 Years Missing You", a party that gathered admirers from all over the country and where the recreation of one of the most emblematic and famous concerts fo the King took place, by the Elvis tribute artist, António Carlos Coimbra, more known as the "Portuguese Elvis".
"We don't do anything in August since it's a bad month to organize things," Célia Carvalho, president of the fan club, explains to us. "We don't like to do anything on this date, since it looks like we're celebrating his death and we celebrate his legacy," the admirer confesses, and so she prefers to celebrate the singer's birthday, in January.
The Portuguese fan club has almost 300 members and more than 30 thousand followers on Facebook. They publish a bimontly magazine, they meet at least once per year and are constantly in touch, exchanging information and articles related to Elvis.
The founder and creator of "Elvis 100%" is 47 years old and is a fan of the singer since her childhood. "My mum says I already knew Elvis' voice when she was pregnant of me, since she used to hear him sing." But it was at nine years old that Célia Carvalho, watching the singer on TV, let herself be carried away. "He captivated me in a very strong way because of his voice and the way he danced and I immediatly wanted to know more," she tells us. Throughout the years, she kept on collecting things and, around 30 years, she founded the fan club "to share with other people the gathered knowledge throughout time."
Célia Carvalho underlines that Elvis Presley is a rare artist. "He had the whole package: charisma, sexual appeal, he was handsome, he knew how to dance and sing and he was different."
"He wasn't doing that to be equal or different, he was just being himself, in a natural and spontaneous way," the fan says. |
