chrisurban.com » elvis http://chrisurban.com Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:09:10 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Michael has left the building… http://chrisurban.com/2009/06/25/ranting-raving/michael-has-left-the-building/ http://chrisurban.com/2009/06/25/ranting-raving/michael-has-left-the-building/#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:46:54 +0000 Chris Urban http://chrisurban.com/?p=168 On the sudden news of ’s death, I can not help but wonder if this is all part of a grander plan. It can be said that Michael adored , to the extent that he married into the family. Like , he became incredibly successful at an early age, and spent the later part of his career struggling with fame, drug addiction and familial disagreements. Unlike , who managed to eke out a late-career comeback with concerts and tours, Jackson was days away from starting an almost-inhuman run of concerts in London, running all the way into spring of 2010.
Samuel Roy, in his book “Elvis: Prophet of Power” said “Elvis’ death did occur at a time when it could only help his reputation. Just before his death, Elvis had been forgotten by society.”
In 2005, nearly thirty years after Elvis’ death, Forbes magazine named Presley, for the fifth straight year, the top-earning deceased celebrity, grossing US$45 million for the Presley estate. He also reclaimed the top spot in 2007 after Kurt Cobain topped the list in 2006.

Let’s look at the stakes Jackson is facing. He was about to kick off a ‘comeback’ tour that would have made him between $50 and $100 million, as well as [attempt to] re-establish him as a . Beyond that, there is the vast spectrum of a decade’s worth of allegations swirling around Jackson, from yet-unknown perversities to child molestations; avoiding persecution by ‘vacationing’ in foreign countries with questionable extraditional policies; repeated counts of unfathomable behavior no sane parent would stand for; well-documented financial turmoil of Neverland, his music catalogs, his eccentric spending habits. I can really sympathize with a plan to rescue his image, rescue his financial position, and do all of this from the comfort and safety of an estate in a distant country.
Does it seem so apparent to anyone else?
What better way, and what better timing, than to engineer a ? When else would have been a better? He has slipped from the tabloids’ interest, his popularity in the U.S. has never been lower, and the mystery surrounding his death and the inevitable-Elvis-like-phenomenon would slowly take over?

And the estate, the licensing, all of the hits, all would generate a nice solid steady income…

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