![\"Elvis](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Elvis-Presley-Singer-Actor-1968-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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Credit: Far Out \/ MGM<\/p>\n
Sat 23 May 2026 19:05, UK <\/p>\n
Everybody needs someone to look up to, even the king of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. For Elvis Presley<\/a>, there were a whole host of artists worthy of admiration, but only one with enough God-given talent to be worthy of the title \u201cthe greatest singer in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n It is difficult to land on one single performer as the greatest singing artist. The very nature of music is a subjective art form. Yet, Bruce Springsteen once argued that Elvis himself is the last icon<\/a> who overcame that notion. Paraphrasing Lester Bangs, the Boss proclaimed, \u201cElvis is the last thing we\u2019re all going to agree on.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cAfter this, you are going to have your heroes, and I\u2019m going to have mine. You\u2019re gonna like Joni Mitchell, I\u2019m gonna like Iggy Pop<\/a>.\u201d It\u2019s a prescient take, but it belies the fact that Elvis also hailed heroes that he viewed as objective greats that everyone should adore, as opposed to subjective talents determined by taste.<\/p>\n Figuring out who is worthy of such a lofty pedestal is no easy task. However, when you are trying to land on one, then a good indicator is perhaps one of the greatest performers the world has ever known. For Presley, there was only one performer who truly inspired him. That artist was the one and only, silken-voiced Roy Orbison.<\/a><\/p>\n Elvis wasn\u2019t the only artist to fall for the vocal charms of Roy Orbison. His musical offerings have gone on to inspire everyone from U2 to Led Zeppelin, Tom Petty and the Bee Gees. Even The Beatles landed one of their earliest hits, \u2018Please Please Me\u2019, after hearing (and subsequently imitating) an Orbison tune on the radio. <\/p>\n For Elvis, Orbison was a once-in-a-generation talent. In fact, during one of his Las Vegas concerts, he went so far as to describe the singer as having a \u201cperfect voice\u201d in what is high praise, indeed.<\/p>\n The feeling, it has to be said, was a mutual one. Orbison attended an Elvis concert in Odessa and immediately fell in love with the king\u2019s effortless cool. As he once recalled: \u201c\u2018His energy was incredible, his instinct was just amazing. I just didn\u2019t know what to make of it. There was just no reference point in the culture to compare it.\u201d Elvis\u2019 intense stage presence<\/a> stood in stark contrast to Orbison\u2019s more conservative approach.<\/p>\n In Orbison\u2019s shaded and often solemn eyes, this contrast was a product of the different musical styles they\u2019d been surrounded by growing up. Growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, \u201cElvis was surrounded by black music almost exclusively,\u201d Orbison explained. \u201cBlack music and country music were just beamed every day in his area. But in my area (white West Texas), that wasn\u2019t the case\u201d.<\/p>\n But, clearly, Orbison relished the challenge Elvis threw his way. Of a concert he attended in 1955, Orbison said: \u201cI couldn\u2019t overemphasise how shocking he looked and seemed to me that night,\u201d he recalled. \u201cHe told jokes that weren\u2019t funny, and his diction was real coarse like a truck driver\u2019s.\u201d <\/p>\n He continued, \u201c[There was] pandemonium in the audience because the girls took a shine to him and the guys were getting a little jealous.\u201d But Orbison loved every minute of it and, during the drive home, felt a change come over him: \u201cI really loved hearing it and couldn\u2019t wait for the next records to come out,\u201d he recalled<\/a>.<\/p>\n The mutual affection shared by Presley and Orbison points to why they became two of the most important artists of their day. Indeed, their shared status saw them pitched against one another in the charts numerous times. But, with the arrival of \u2018British Invasion\u2019 bands like The Beatles, The Kinks, and The Who, both Elvis and Orbison saw a slump in their record sales. <\/p>\n It was a changing of the guard that would see the two men somewhat relegated to the background, though both would enjoy long careers and various resurgences; it was clear Elvis, in particular, found it difficult to adjust.<\/p>\n Both struggled with the changing tastes of the 1960s, but they remained firm friends through it all. When they reunited years later, their friendship hadn\u2019t waned a bit. \u201cWe hadn\u2019t seen each other in years,\u201d Roy noted. \u201cHe hugged me. We talked about everything\u201d. And in each other, they saw the greatest voices in American history. You can\u2019t argue with that\u2026 just ask the Boss.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"Listen](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Listen-to-the-isolated-vocals-of-Roy-Orbison-on-In-Dreams-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>Credit: Jack de Nijs for Anefo<\/p>\n
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