According to the UK Telegraph, Elvis Presley's only grandson, Benjamin Keough, has reportedly been offered a $5 million contract by Universal, the world's biggest record company. To earn this nice chunk of change, Benjamin will make up to five albums.
The news was reported by Mr. Tim Walker in his regular Telegraph on-line column. He says he spoke with Benjamin at the Inspiration Awards for Women in London to get the scoop. Benjamin told him he is already recording his first album, and it will be very different in style from the music Elvis made. “The music will be nothing like Elvis, nothing like him at all.” He hopes to release the first album next year.
For some reason, Mr. Walker referred to him as Benjamin Presley. I hope ElvisBlog will be the first of many voices calling on him to use his given name, Benjamin Keough. If he wants to create his own identity, his own musical style free from any connection to Elvis, he should not capitalize of his famous grandfather's name. He will get plenty of press without it.
Benjamin Keough Elvis Presley
According to Mr. Walker, Benjamin bears a strong resemblance to Elvis. Here's a couple of pictures for comparison. What do you think? It appears that the resemblance gets stronger as Benjamin ages, as we can see in this earlier ElvisBlog column.
Apparently Benjamin already has a “spokesman,” who issued this quote, “He's a typical 17-year old. He doesn't get up before midday and then he grunts at you.” If you think about it, while Benjamin doesn't want his music to sound like Elvis', he already has one of Elvis' traits down pat. Elvis was famous for getting out of bed in the middle of the day.
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