Elvis is my king

Never in my life have I been so affected by a singer as when I discovered Elvis, at the age of 18. It was like being hit by a bolt of lightning, as corny and cliché as that might sound. There's just no other way to describe it.
I was working in a photo frame store in a mall at the time. I was bored with the job, as I always am with repetitive things, and it was hard to get the days to pass without letting out a scream of frustration. It was a slow day, and as always I let my mind wander. Suddenly Elvis crossed my mind, and I swear it was like this jolt inside my stomach, the kind of feeling you get when you see someone and realize you're in love with that person. All of a sudden I was hooked, and on my lunch break that day I ran up to the library and started digging out any information I could find on him.
An obsession was born. As always, whenever I really like something I go overboard. My whole world became Elvis for years. I bought his music, his movies, his biographies, framed huge posters of him and hung them on the walls of my girlhood room. I dyed my hair jet black to look like him and even tried to dress like him. Bright pink and purple shirts and black suits. On the anniversary of his death I lit candles and placed a red rose in the memorial garden in the local cemetery.
The obsession eventually wore off when I went out there and got myself a life of my own, but the love for Elvis and his music is still there. There has never been anyone like him in my opinion. I find it amazing that he can have such an impact on someone like me, who was barely out of diapers when Elvis died and who was never exposed to him or his music growing up. Yet for some reason he grabbed me, the same way that he continues to spellbind people, young and old. Isn't that pretty amazing, considering he died in 1977 and his music style is so far from what's popular today. It may not be cool to like Elvis, but the fact is millions of people still do. And I don't really care if it's cool or not. I still love his music from the 50's, when he just had his breakthrough. I don't count his movie music from the 60's when I say I like Elvis's music, however when he made his come-back in 68 his voice had deepened and although I by far liked his 50's stuff so much better than what he did in the late 60's and 70's, I really like his voice here. You can hear the depth of it in the remix of A Little Less Conversation, which by the way rocks.
The only other person who comes close to having that special quality that his voice contained is K.d Lang. As far as charisma goes, I don't think there is one singer out there who even comes to close to Elvis.
He's magical. He's my hero. And yes, I am aware that he died fat and strung out on prescription drugs in his bathroom. So what? That doesn't change who he was in the 50's.