Younger Generation Discovers 'The King'

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/08/2002 at 01:00 PM EDT

He's not your mother's Elvis Presley -- he's the next generation's. The King of Rock 'n' Roll, whose death occurred 25 years ago this Aug. 16 (he was 42), is enjoying a true renaissance, on top of his already having worldwide album sales estimated to exceed 1 billion copies. Witness the recent Elvis explosion, as noted by the Associated Press: RCA has already issued a four-CD box set of unreleased material, and will follow with a hits package this fall; a remix by Dutch artist DJ Junkie XL of Presley's 1968 "A Little Less Conversation" (a minor blip in the Elvis canon when he released it) is rising on the U.S. singles charts after previously hitting No. 1 in Britain; and Disney's successful new animated feature, "Lilo & Stitch," contains Elvis music. "Why are media people surprised every time they see this?" music critic Dave Marsh, a Presley biographer, told the AP. "Forty-seven years after 'Heartbreak Hotel,' and they still don't get it, or still think it's going to go away." Even Eminem, 29, can't avoid Elvis. In his new song "Without Me," the rapper says that his fans are embarrassed that their parents like Presley before he turns around and gives the King some backhanded respect, likening Elvis to himself. Sings Eminem: "Though I'm not the first king of controversy/I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley/To do Black Music so selfishly/And to use it to get myself wealthy."