In an interview with Uncensored‘s Piers Morgan, Elvis Presley’s ex-wife Priscilla (the two were married for eight years and divorced in 1973) told the world that The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was not a racist.
Morgan’s interview with Priscilla shifted from her thoughts on the latest biopic on her ex-husband, Elvis, to her thoughts on how he would respond to the way the U.S. has turned out. The Uncensored host then speculated that if Elvis was still alive, he’d be thrown into the face of today’s “cancel” culture due to many people claiming Elvis was a racist who profited off of Black musicians without crediting him.
“He was not a racist. He’s never been a racist,” she said. “Elvis had friends, black friends, friends from all over. He loved their music. He loved their style. He loved being around, you know, Black musicians.”
Priscilla proceeded to tell Morgan, “I mean, Fats Domino. When he was in Vegas, he was in the lounge playing, and we would always go and hang out with him. Sammy Davis Jr., the same thing, would always come into the dressing room, and he loved being around Blacks and being around anyone, actually. He was just not prejudiced in any way and not racist in any way.”
Priscilla then told Morgan how it’s “frightening” that people in the world find any reason to dispose of people.
One of the songs that critics accused Elvis of stealing was “Hound Dog,” which was initially performed by Willie Mae Thornton, also known as “Big Mama Thornton,” depicted in the 2022 film Elvis by the late and great Shonka Dukureh.
During a June 30 interview on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, Mike Stoller, one of the original writers of the 1956 hit “Hound Dog,” recalled how Elvis’ name ended up on the song.
According to Stoller, he and his writing partner, the late Jerry Leiber, wrote “Hound Dog” when they were teenagers, 15 minutes after witnessing Thornton sing (he doesn’t remember the song she was singing. Thornton originally recorded the track in 1952. Thornton’s version of the song became a hit and stayed at the top of the Billboard R&B chart for seven weeks. But the writing credits for the song weren’t listed correctly. Thornton, Leiber and Stoller never received any compensation, which upset Stoller.
Stoller and Leiber eventually got their well-deserved royalties from the song after Elvis’ version was released and topped R&B and pop charts. Thornton didn’t, but it was most likely due to the racism in the music business. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll knew about Thornton’s version, but he covered a version recorded by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. Except his version was about an actual dog, while Thornton’s version was about a man acting like a dog.
Well-known Black artists like B.B. King and Jackie Wilson defended and spoke highly of Elvis, while many white supremacists bashed him for performing “n***er Rock ‘N’ Roll.”
“I don’t think he ripped ’em off,” B.B. King said. “I think once something has been exposed, anyone can add or take from it if they like. He was just so great, so popular, and so hot – and so anything that he played became a hit. To me, they didn’t make a mistake when they called him The King.”
Singer Jackie Wilson said, “A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the Black man’s music when, in fact, almost every Black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis.”
Elvis actually did an interview with Jet Magazine on Aug. 1, 1957, after receiving the nickname “The King of Rock ‘N’ Roll” and gave credit to the Black community.
“A lot of people seem to think I started this business, but rock ‘n’ roll was here a long time before I came along,” Elvis told journalist Louie Robinson. “Nobody can sing that kind of music like colored people. Let’s face it. I can’t sing it like Fats Domino can. I know that. But I always liked that kind of music. I used to go to the colored churches when I was a kid– like Rev. Brewster’s church (Rev. W. Herbert Brewster of East Trigg Ave. Baptist Church in Memphis).”
