| Jumpin said: One thing to take into account is that singer Mariah Carey actually has more #1 hits than Elvis. |
The cast of Glee has more top 100 hits than anyone, recently surpassing Elvis in fact. Does that mean that they are as "big" or iconic? This is not to take anything away from Mariah Carey; I don't care for her music but I do think she's talented. However the point is Tony Bennett's statement. Elvis wasn't a songwriter or much of a musician other than having a good ear. But he came out at just the right time with the right look and his charisma and ability as a performer will probably never be matched again; so much has already been done by now and there're so many artists out there now.
Other than the Beatles, the only artist I can think of that even stood a shot was Michael Jackson, and that certainly didn't happen, as the last part of his career (90's onward) was tainted terribly. Elvis really didn't go downhill until the last couple of years of his career, and that was attributed to drug abuse, which is nothing surprising in the industry compared to Jackson's weirdness.
People come from all over the world to visit Graceland. There are whole radio stations dedicated to Elvis. He's a world renowned figure in music history. Lady Gaga may be popular now, but she will never achieve that. She won't even leave as much of a lasting impression as Madonna, much less Elvis.
