Elvis Presley is retiring from music

Friday, 29 October 2021 14:17

By Dylan MacNeil

Tagish Elvis poses for a photo at CHONfm holding his final album.

Tagish Elvis says "Pandemic Foe" is his final album.

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.

After a career spanning three albums, four trips to Vegas, a performance with Chubby Checker, and a chance to sing for Connie Stevens in her dressing room, Tagish Elvis tells CHONfm that he is retiring from music.

Elvis says the decision to throw in the towel comes after he recently released his final album “Pandemic Foe,” a collection of every song he’s ever recorded and a few new ones. The four-disc set also features a bonus movie, “Divinity of Christ.” Die hard fans can find the record down at Mac's Fireweed Books in Whitehorse.

“I remastered every single song, added orchestra instruments. I got the vibrations so that – when I do shows and I sing, I shake like crazy and it’s because the vibrations of the sound seem to flow through my soul or body or spirit and it vibrates. So, when I can get that vibration in my song, when I listen to it and it makes me match up to those vibrations, then I know my song is three dimensional. It’s not flat, and then I know they are perfect,” Elvis told CHONfm’s Charles Eshleman on “Indigenous Connections.”

The legendary Yukoner used to be Gilbert Nelles, but he realized he was the king of rock n roll when a space craft zapped him with a beam of light in 1986 and he’s now legally named Elvis Aaron Presley.

The rockstar’s career has had it ups, like laying down tracks in Hollywood, starring in the documentary “The Elvis Project” and even appearing on the hit show “Dragon’s Den” twice. As well, he’s had forays into the world of visuals arts as a painter. It has also had its downs. One of his trips to Las Vegas saw him getting beaten up and in 2003, he was permanently barred from entering the Yukon’s justice building without special permission because he was filling too many frivolous law suits claiming damages over a million dollars. He is also involved in ongoing court cases alleging defamation against him and he wants to restore his honnour.

Elvis says he’s not completely done with music. He has two reggae songs written; he just hasn’t found the right musicians to record them yet.

As for what’s next, Elvis tells CHONfm that he’s building the Museum of Fine Art and Music in Tagish, and he has plans to start a foundation to buy, store, and distribute food. He also says he wouldn’t mind getting into comedy because he’s made so many people laugh over the years.

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