ABSTRACT
Perhaps no other figure is more identified with modem popular music in English than singer Elvis Presley. Since his death in 1977, Elvis has transcended the boundaries of rockn' roll celebrity to become a ubiquitous image and icon in contemporary culture. According to Rodman (1996:1), Elvis' image appears in "songs, movies, television shows, advertisements, newspapers, magazines, comic strips, comic books, greeting cards, trading cards, T-shirts, poems, plays, short stories, novels, children's books, academic journals, university courses, art exhibits, home computer software, cookbooks, political campaigns, postage stamps, and innumerable other corners of the cultural terrain". Presley is an omnipresent icon for many reasons, some of which will never be understood. Elvis' fans are an important but often under-analyzed factor behind his continued popularity. They play an active role in "preserving and controlling Elvis' history" and "revising and redeeming his historical memory" (Doss 1999: 64). Devotion to the King runs so deep that public remembrance of Elvis Presley has taken on religious-like meaning to certain social groups inside and outside the United States.
