Elvis Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977, but his legacy is as important as ever. The King of Rock and Roll remains a vital influence on rock, country, gospel and soul artists the world over, and in the years since his untimely death, the mythology surrounding him has grown to epic proportions. It begs the question: What would Elvis be like today if he were still alive?
There’s no telling what kind of music the King would be making, or how many more movies and concert tours he might have given us had he lived. But thanks to a company in Florida, we know what he would have looked like in his 80s.
In 2013, Sachs Media employed photo restoration and manipulation company Phojoe to come up with images depicting what various deceased famous people would look like today. Phojoe usually creates artificially aged photos for missing persons reports, but in this instance, they used the same technology to render rockers including Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Presley decades after their deaths.
Elvis Presley Then and Now
“Through this series of images, we hope to honor them and evoke some of the magic they brought to millions of their fans,” Sachs CEO Ron Sachs explained at the time in a statement (quote via Ultimate Classic Rock). “Even as we ponder what wonderful new contributions they still could have made.”
The potential path of Presley’s career over the last 40-plus years is the source of much speculation at the Rock & Roll Heaven gallery at the Sachs Media website, but one thing’s for sure — though older, with gray hair and a face full of wrinkles, Presley’s familiar sneer still could have had him rocking into his 80s and beyond.
This story was originally written by Sterling Whitaker, and revised by Angela Stefano.