Thirty years ago, on the eve of his sudden death at 42 at his Graceland mansion, a bloated and drug-addled Elvis Presley was also unintentionally on the threshold of the ultimate career make-over.
Forbes magazine ranks Elvis as second-highest-earning dead celebrity after Kurt Cobain.
Since the mid-1950s, Elvis had recorded dozens of seminal songs, starred in more than 30 Hollywood movies and reinvented himself in Las Vegas as a kind of all-American superhero in a gilded jumpsuit.
Towards the end, "The King" was a shadow of the performer who electrified audiences and revolutionized popular music.
But the post-mortem phase of his career has been even bigger and run even longer, with remixes of lesser-known songs "Rubberneckin'" and "A Little Less Conversation" becoming number one hits in the past five years.
As legions of fans prepare to gather next week in Memphis, Tennessee, to mark the 30th anniversary of Presley's death on August 16, 1977, it is clear that Elvis is still taking care of business The main event is a candlelight vigil at Graceland starting on Wednesday that will be covered live by the all-Elvis-all-the-time Elvis Radio channel on Sirius Satellite. Some 50,000 fans are expected to attend.
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