Famous Elvis Quotes: What famous people had to say about Elvis

A few more things to add to the remembrance of Elvis' death. Here's a fairly all-encompassing collection of quotes about Elvis, mostly from his peers. Some of them will surprise you:

"Before Elvis, everything was in black and white. Then came Elvis. Zoom, glorious Technicolor." – Keith Richards

"If it hadn't been for Elvis, I don't know where popular music would be. He was the one that started it all." – Elton John

"I remember Elvis as a young man hanging around the Sun studios. Even then, I knew this kid had a tremendous talent. He was a dynamic young boy. His phraseology, his way of looking at a song, was as unique as Sinatra's. I was a tremendous fan, and had Elvis lived, there would have been no end to his inventiveness." – B.B. King

"Elvis is the best ever, the most original. He started the ball rolling for us all." – Jim Morrison

"The cutting edge of it was Elvis singing 'Hound Dog.' There was something about that music that got me excited. Elvis was dangerous in a way that even Buddy Holly wasn't." – Eric Clapton

"No-one, but no-one, is his equal, or ever will be. He was, and is supreme. He was a unique artist ... an original in an area of imitators." – Mick Jagger

"Last time I saw him, we sang 'Old Blind Barnabus' together, a gospel song. I love him and hope to see him in heaven. There'll never be another like that soul brother." – James Brown

"Elvis was such a nice guy, and so talented and charismatic ... He loved cheeseburgers, girls and his mother, not necessarily in that order." – Johnny Cash

"Describe Elvis Presley? He was the greatest who ever was, is or ever will be." - Chuck Berry

"When we were kids growing up in Liverpool, all we ever wanted to be was Elvis Presley." – Paul McCartney

"Elvis was God-given. There's no explanation. A messiah comes around every few thousand years, and Elvis was it this time." – Little Richard

"Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been a Beatles." – John Lennon

"When I first heard Elvis'voice I just knew that I wasn't going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss...Hearing him was like busting out of jail." – Bob Dylan

"I'm just a singer. Elvis was the embodiment of the whole American culture." – Frank Sinatra

"Elvis is my religion. But for him, I'd be selling encyclopedias. It was like he came along and whispered some dream in everybody's ear, and somehow we all dreamed it" – Bruce Springsteen

“A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man’s music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis.” - Jackie Wilson

“Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it’s a whole new social revolution - the 60’s comes from it.” - Leonard Bernstein

“Elvis had an influence on everybody with his musical approach. He broke the ice for all of us.” - Al Green

“He was an instinctive actor...He was quite bright...he was very intelligent...He was not a punk. He was very elegant, sedate, and refined, and sophisticated.” - Walter Matthau

“He was the firstest with the mostest.” - Roy Orbison

“That’s my idol, Elvis Presley. If you went to my house, you’d see pictures all over of Elvis. He’s just the greatest entertainer that ever lived. And I think it’s because he had such presence. When Elvis walked into a room, Elvis Presley was in the f***ing room. I don’t give a f*** who was in the room with him, Bogart, Marilyn Monroe.”
-Eddie Murphy

"I'm sitting in the drive-through and I've got my three girls in the back and this station comes on and it's playing "Jailhouse Rock," the original version, and my girls are jumping up and down, going nuts. I'm looking around at them and they've heard Dad's music all the time and I don't see that out of them." - Garth Brooks

“I know Elvis was a racist." – Mary J. Blige

"Elvis was a giant and influenced everyone in the business."- Isaac Hayes

"Elvis Presley is like the 'Big Bang' of Rock 'n' Roll. It all came from there and what you had in Elvis Presley is a very interesting moment because, really, to be pretentious about it for a minute, you had two cultures colliding there. You had a kind of white, European culture and an African culture coming together - the rhythm, okay, of black music and the melody chord progressions of white music - just all came together in that kind of spastic dance of his. That was the moment. That's really it. Out of all that came the Beatles and the Stones, but you can't underestimate what happened. It does get back to Elvis." - Bono of U2

"Elvis was a major hero of mine. I was probably stupid enough to believe that having the same birthday as him actually meant something." - David Bowie

“Elvis' version of Peace in the Valley, was one of the best gospel recordings I've ever heard." –Rev. W. Herbert Brewster, whose gospel songs were recorded by Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward

"If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead." - Johnny Carson

Comments

[Ed Bonja]

Elvis would be real happy to see what so many great stars think of him.

Ed Bonja