Quotes About Elvis

Elvis Presley had millions rocking and swinging to his music. Yet there were skeptics who saw a different picture. As Elvis grew famous, critics and admirers had their share of opinion and insight. Here are some quotes about Elvis.

Senator Al Gore
It's always been my dream to come to Madison Square Garden and be the warm--up act for Elvis.

Elton John
Ask anyone. If it hadn't been for Elvis, I don't know where popular music would be. He was the one that started it all off, and he was definitely the start of it for me.

Chet Atkins
He was white, but he sang black. It wasn't socially acceptable for white kids to buy black records at the time. Elvis filled a void.

Elton John
It was Elvis that got me interested in music. I've been an Elvis fan since I was a kid.

Cher
The first concert I attended was an Elvis concert when I was eleven. Even at that age he made me realize the tremendous effect a performer could have on an audience.

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

Mick Fleetwood
I learned music listening to Elvis' records. His measurable effect on culture and music was even greater in England than in the States.

Connie Stevens
He's naturally kind and thoughtful and good. Best of all, in spite of his huge success -- he's unassuming.

Natalie Wood
Every morning when I woke up and looked out the window, there were at least two hundred kids lined up on the sidewalk outside, staring at the house. Some of them would stay there all day long, just trying to get a glimpse of him. And when he would go out, he was very sweet to them. A lot of people I know would get angry, or impatient -- but Elvis is very sweet to the kids, very nice to them. He always spent as much time with them as he can, even though it tires him out.

Jimmy Saville
God must have been impatient for some rock 'n' roll in heaven.

Joe Cocker
Elvis is the greatest blues singer in the world today.

Buddy Holly
None of us could have made it without Elvis.

Carl Perkins
Even back then, when people would laugh at his sideburns and his pink coat and call him 'sissy' -- he had a pretty hard road to go. In some areas motorcycle gangs would come to the shows. They would come to get Elvis, but he never worried about it. He went right out and did his thing and before the show was over, they were standing in line to get his autograph too.

Imelda Marcos
He was ahead of his time because he had such deep feelings. He had the privilege of deep feelings because he was deeply loved by his mother, Gladys. He was able to appreciate profound beauty in sounds. And he started a musical revolution. They say all revolutions start from love.

Dick Clark
It's rare when an artist's talent can touch an entire generation of people. It's even rarer when that same influence affects several generations. Elvis made an imprint on the world of pop music unequaled by any other single performer.

Chuck Berry
Blacks didn't have the air--waves Elvis had. He delivered what he obtained beautifully.

Paul McCartney
It was a real thrill sitting there with the King. I mean he was always one of my favorites. I always knew that no matter how I felt if I played an Elvis record it would make me happy. I've always dreamed of producing an album for Elvis.

Sammy Davis Jr.
There was something just bordering on rudeness about Elvis. He never actually did anything rude, but he always seemed as if he was just going to. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate him eleven.

New York Times
At 9.15 Elvis appeared, materialized, in a white suit of lights, shining with golden appliqués, the shirt front slashed to show his chest. Around his shoulders was a cape lined in a cloth of gold, its collar faced with scarlet. It was anything you wanted to call it, gaudy, vulgar, magnificent.

George Bush
You Memphis politicians had better watch out if Elvis Presley ever decides to enter politics.

Bruce Springsteen
He was as big as the whole country itself, as big as the whole dream. He just embodied the essence of it and he was in mortal combat with the thing. Nothing will ever take the place of that guy.

Little Richard
He was an integrator, Elvis was a blessing. They wouldn't let black music through. He opened the door for black music.

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