Elvis was like Huck Finn exploring. At night he would slip in to the black churches and listen to gospel music and to sermons. ibid.
Elvis, he longed to be a great gospel singer. ibid. Tom Petty
What happened in Memphis at that time was a convergence of forces: the convergence of radio, DJs and artists. ibid. Ferris
But the basic set up when it was just Elvis, Scotty, Bill and a beautiful echo tape delay, it was all you needed. With that voice you could do anything. ibid. Robbie Robertson, musician
And I knew I could help him exploit his talents all over the world. ibid. Colonel Tom Parker
Elvis was able to bring a value to the presentation of black music. ibid. David Porter, Stax Records
Elvis’s first television appearances were earth-shattering. He sang at a moment in the history of the south in the early ’50s when his music was truly a revolutionary sound. ibid.
He was basically a good-natured southern kid but he was on a mission to deliver this music. ibid. Ferris
He goes into the army which is where he gets the pep pills for the first time, the methedrine, to stay up on watch. ibid. Petty
So he was gonna follow what Tom Parker said. He’d been right so far. ibid. Prescilla
The 68 Special really showed Elvis’s career in its entirety. They took Elvis’s original songs and made them more modern. Elvis: The Searcher II, dude
The Sinatra Show – it was a very conservative move at the time. He was just trying to find his place after coming out of the army. He basically had to believe in himself and that’s what Elvis did. ibid. Springsteen
He had to make three movies a year. So these soundtrack albums became a big part of the contractual obligation to release music for RCA. ibid. Jackson
The movies were very harmful to his image. ibid. Petty
The Colonel was not taking him to the place he needed to be. ibid. Prescilla
Las Vegas: It worked great in the beginning – just got to be same old stuff. ibid. Ronnie Tutt, drummer
1971: 157 concerts; 1972: 165 concerts. ibid. captions
By this time he had started to turn to prescription drugs to keep himself going. He was on a relentless wheel of performance to travel, and you started to see the stress of that. (Pop Music & Rock n Roll & Celebrity & Star & Fame) ibid. Alan Light, writer
For decades they were icons. Their work was loved by millions. But behind the fame and glamour they were monsters hiding in plain sight. Celebrities who were so powerful they felt untouchable. National Treasure, National Disgrace, captions, Channel 5 2022
Stuart Hall, Rolf Harris, Gary Glitter and Jimmy Savile: four superstars symbolising British entertainment in the ’60s and ’70s, protected by a shield of fame and celebrity when no-one questioned them. ibid.
19 cases of sexual abuse carried out during recordings of Top of the Pops. ibid.
Operation Yewtree uncovered 214 offences committed by Savile across the country between 1955 and 2009. However, the police were inundated with accusations relating to other celebrities who were still alive. ibid.
Despite initially protesting his innocence, faced with all the evidence, Hall changed his plea. Stuart Hall was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to multiple offences against ten young girls dating back to the 1960s. A sentenced later doubled by the Court of Appeal. ibid.
The Eclipse results were announced in November. Literally overnight Einstein became world famous. The first scientist-celebrity of the twentieth century. This was the birth of Einstein the Icon. The embodiment of scientific wisdom. A friendly incomprehensible sage. Horizon: Einstein Fame, BBC 1996