As Elvis is to rock 'n' roll, the Elvis Is Alive theory is to pop culture conspiracies: the place where it all started, and the gold standard for the form. One theory for why people believe in conspiracies is that it's somehow comforting for them to believe that something, somebody is controlling all the bad stuff that happens in the world, and that it isn't just random and chaotic, and you can see why people would prefer to think that The King was hoodwinking them all rather than accept he died on the toilet in a big nappy. The Elvis Is Alive claims vary from the sublime (the Men In Black-approved he's "not dead, he just went home") to the ridiculous (please watch Bubba Ho-Tep), covering all points inbetween. The "facts" as we know them are that the King was pronounced dead at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, following a heart attack caused by a lethal cocktail of drugs. But was he really dead? Did he actually fake his death, so that he could testify against the Mafia, who were apparently giving him a hard time? Was he going undercover for the DEA to help the war on drugs, or with the FBI to help beat the Commies? They're actually all part of the same theory, believe it or not. Perhaps the weirdest claim is that Presley is alive and well and hiding out in the German town of Bielefeld, which doesn't officially exist, where he waits with the also-alive Kurt Cobain waiting for...something. Tupac Shakur, meanwhile, is to the Elvis conspiracy what hip-hop was to rock 'n' roll, ie bigger, brasher, better, and still ongoing. New footage purporting to show the rapper alive and well cropped up just last year and no, it's not of the hologram from Coachella. Just last month people were claiming he attended a basketball game, and didn't have the demeanour of someone who was shot a dozen times nearly twenty years ago. Shakur's reasons for faking his death are actually weirder than Presley's, if you believe what the internet tells you. Which you shouldn't. Before he died Tupac had adopted the stage name of Makaveli, because he was a fan of Machiavelli in prison. One time Machiavelli faked his death to trick his enemies only to come back 18 years and slaughter them so, uh, I guess the Tupac resurrection tour is this year? Some tell Emily Eavis. Maybe they could get The King in there to sing the bridge to "Changes".
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
