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Happy Birthday, Elvis (From Some Other People Named Elvis)

January 8, 2014

other people named elvisElvis Presley is probably the most iconic rock star of all time and certainly the most famous person ever named Elvis. On what would have been his 79th birthday, here are some other notable “Elvi.”

The Funny Elvis

Ylvis are a Norwegian comedy duo. Pronounced “ill-vis,” it’s an abbreviation of the duo’s last name, brothers Bard Yylvisaker and Vegard Ylvisaker. Ylvis hosts I kveld meld Ylvis, or Tonight with Ylvis, a popular sketch comedy show in Norway. Their best-known work is a silly music video called “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say)” which spread around the world via YouTube and has racked up more than 320 million views. The song, about how nobody seemingly knows what kind of animal sound a fox makes, hit #1 in Norway and #6 in the U.S.—the highest-charting novelty song in more than 20 years.

The British Elvis

Elvis Costello rose to fame in the late 1970s as part of the New Wave, movement with songs like “Alison” and “Radio, Radio.” He developed into one of the most respected and acclaimed singer-songwriters of the 1980s and 1990s, able to find success in multiple genres, from pop to country to rock to classical. Unlike the others on this list, “Elvis Costello” isn’t his real name. Declan MacManus took on the stage name as a partial tribute to Presley and also to his father, bandleader Ross MacManus, who sometimes performed under the name “D.P. Costello.”

The Skating Elvis

Elvis Stojko is one of the most successful figure skaters in Canadian history. He was a seven-time national champion, three-time world champion, and two-time Olympic silver medalist (1994 and 1998). He’s a particularly athletic skater, having been the first skater, in 1991 to land a quadruple jump. This Elvis was, in fact, named after Elvis Presley. While he preferred to set his skating programs to orchestral scores from movies like Gladiator and Dragonheart, in 1994 Stojko did the obvious and skated to an Elvis medley.

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