Eddie Murphy Reveals the Elvis Side Few People Talk About

Eddie Murphy Reveals the Elvis Side Few People Talk About

But I think Elvis has uh more pres- Like when Elvis walked in the room, everybody just looked at Elvis, you know? When he’s on the screen, you looked at Elvis. He just had this thing  about him. And I was a kid to see Elvis Presley to me.  Many people have no idea that legendary comedian and movie star Eddie Murphy, who was born in 1961, was a huge fan of Elvis Presley when he was growing up.

Long before he became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Eddie was completely fascinated by Elvis and loved copying his style. At just 15 years old, he would dress up and perform his own private Elvis shows in the basement. As Eddie later recalled, at 15, I used to dress up,  Looks just like Graceland.    It does.

 Really?  It legit [cheering] looks like Graceland.  The the Elvis Presley home?  Yes, on purpose. So, I’m a big Elvis fan. I bought the house that looks just like Graceland.  Is it  It’s a big house.  And how many rooms?  I don’t know. I would go I think 1 2 3  My uncle gave me this old tuxedo jacket.

It had this gold lamé stuff on it, and I would put it on and get scarves and cut school and put my Elvis Presley records on and get in the basement and give a concert by myself. What started as a teenager’s admiration would eventually lead to one of the most successful entertainment careers in history. If you enjoy celebrity news, Hollywood drama, and entertainment stories, hit subscribe.

It costs you nothing, but that one click helps this channel more than  you know. Eddie continued the story with a laugh, remembering how seriously he took his Elvis performances. One day, his brother stood in the doorway and watched him for nearly an hour without saying a word.  I was a kid to see Elvis Presley to me.

I just It’s It’s his presence, I think it is. I don’t think anyone  in this business has had as much presence as Elvis. I don’t think anyone’s had as strong a presence. I think I think they were but I think Elvis has uh more presence like when Elvis walk in the room, everybody just look at Elvis, you know? When he’s on the screen, you look at Elvis.

 He just had this thing about him. And  When Eddie finally turned around, his brother looked at him and said, “You’re crazy, man.” But Eddie was not embarrassed at all. In fact, he later recalled, “It was Elvis. I wasn’t embarrassed. I was happy.” When his brother repeated, “You’re crazy.” Eddie jokingly answered in his best Elvis voice, “Thank you.

” Even as a teenager, his admiration for Elvis Presley was impossible to hide.  Love for Elvis began.  He teases me about Elvis all the time. But never on the air.  No, but he says like    If Elvis was alive, man, he said, “Man, you wouldn’t even hang out with Elvis.” I said, “Yes, so what?” He said, “Man, Elvis would be in the lobby of your house like say man, is Eddie there?”    And I’ll be in the room Yo, what’s going on, man? Tell me something more.

   I know what’s going on. All right.  Years later, after Eddie Murphy became one of the biggest stars in entertainment, he turned that admiration into something much bigger. In 1985,  he purchased a massive estate in New Jersey that he openly said was inspired by Elvis. Eddie named the property Bubble Hill and even recorded a song about it.

The enormous 25,000 square foot mansion sat on 5 acres in Englewood and cost an impressive 3.5 million dollars. The estate featured 32 rooms, including eight bedrooms and 14 bathrooms,  along with a music studio, bowling alley, screening room, gym, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a billiards room, and both racquetball and tennis courts.

 And he was going through all this stuff with drugs and all this craziness, but on screen and on stage, he always looked like he was in control, you know? And that’s amazing cuz there was this war going on inside this guy. And And I’m just fascinated with him, you know?  It was a home that reflected the kind of larger-than-life lifestyle that Eddie had admired for years.

In 2012, Eddie Murphy finally sold his famous Bubble Hill estate to Alicia Keys. But the mansion was only one sign of just how deeply Eddie admired Elvis Presley. He was also known for collecting a remarkable amount of Elvis memorabilia. A 1989 interview with Rolling Stone painted a vivid picture of Eddie’s fascination.

The magazine wrote, “His office is stocked with Elvis gold records, Elvis books, Elvis street signs, arcane Presleyana of all sorts.”  Oh, not anymore. I used to when I was younger.  Yeah, not anymore.  Yeah, I got a little older, you know?  It’s not like  Hey, man, why I got this?    That was much I still love Elvis.

 He was much cooler when I was younger.  Yeah.  kind of you start see the  whole picture. It was like uh  He’s a different  Take that off the wall.    Who that has that jumpsuit on my wall?    What am I doing now?  Yeah. What am I doing? Sell all the jumpsuits, man.  Everywhere you looked, there seemed to be another reminder of the star who had inspired him for years.

The article also pointed out another interesting habit. According to the magazine, Eddie was constantly checking his appearance in mirrors around the house, combing and recombing his hair, much like Elvis was known to do during his early rise to fame. As Eddie explained, “Elvis looked like every hair was where it was supposed to be.

It was clear that he admired not only Elvis’s music, but also the confidence and image that made him such a cultural phenomenon. However, as the years passed, Eddie’s opinions about Elvis appeared to become more complicated. What began as pure admiration would eventually take an unexpected turn. Make sure to stay until the end to find out what changed.

 Eddie’s own career took off in 1980 when he joined the cast of the legendary comedy show Saturday Night Live. Almost immediately, he became famous for his incredible impressions of stars like James Brown and Stevie Wonder. Ironically, despite being such a devoted Elvis fan, Eddie never performed a full Elvis impression on the show.

He did, however, joke about his admiration during a routine where he explained how his close friend Arsenio Hall would constantly tease him about being an Elvis fan. Those playful jokes revealed just how well known Eddie’s fascination with Elvis had become. Even though Eddie Murphy sometimes joked about Elvis and his acting skills, including during his 1983 comedy special Delirious, the reality was much different behind the scenes.

Eddie often  admitted that Elvis Presley had a huge impact on him, especially through his movies. As Eddie explained,  “I got turned on to Presley from his movies. That’s when I got into Elvis Presley. I was a Presley fiend. I still think Elvis Presley is the coolest entertainer that ever lived.

” That is a remarkable statement coming from someone who would later become one of the biggest stars in comedy and film himself. Eddie was fascinated by Elvis’s image and the way he carried himself. He continued, “He was just cool cuz the man is from the South. This is a guy that’s like he’s like from the South and you would never know it seeing his films.

He’s a really cool guy,  Elvis Presley. Then, in classic Eddie Murphy fashion, he turned the conversation into a joke saying, “I’m not saying that Southerners aren’t cool, but Elvis was from Tupelo. Back when Elvis was there, there were no shoes in Tupelo. This guy’s real hip, one shoe. The audience immediately burst into laughter.

But years later, Eddie found himself speaking seriously when a long-standing rumor about Elvis came up. One of the most controversial stories surrounding Presley claimed that he had made offensive remarks about black people. The allegation had circulated for decades and was widely discussed in some communities.

Recall in the rumor during a 2011 interview with Rolling Stone, Murphy explained, “The big myth in the African-American community was that he said that the only thing black folks  could do for him was shine his shoes and buy his records.” The claim had become so widespread that many people accepted it as fact.

What happened next, however, would reveal why Eddie chose to publicly defend Elvis and challenge that story. Murphy pushed back against the rumor because he believed it simply was not true. As he explained, “Many people grew up enjoying Elvis’s music only to later reject him because of a story they had heard.

” Eddie recalled, “People liked him when they were young, then said, ‘I don’t like him because he said that.’ And I said, ‘He never even said that.'” The rumor had been circulating since 1956, right as Elvis Presley was becoming one of the most famous entertainers on the planet. The story spread so widely that it followed him for years.

In 1957, Jet magazine directly confronted Elvis about the allegation during an interview and gave him the chance to respond for himself. Elvis answered, “I never said anything like that and people who know me know I wouldn’t have said it.” At the conclusion of the interview, Jet magazine noted that the rumor was unfounded.

Even so, the story continued to resurface for decades, becoming one of the most persistent controversies connected to his name. That does not mean Eddie viewed Elvis as a perfect person. Like many fans, he understood that Presley had strengths,  weaknesses, and personal struggles. But Murphy believed it was important to separate verified facts from rumors that had taken on a life of their own.

At the same time,  Eddie developed a deeper understanding of what happens when someone reaches an extraordinary level of fame. In a 2011 interview, he compared Elvis’s experience to that of Michael Jackson, another global superstar who faced relentless public attention. Murphy explained, “Michael sat in the same hot seat Elvis was in, the biggest star in the world.

How can I put it? It’s like you’re not a person. Your human beingness is compromised. The stuff that everybody has to deal with, take that and magnify it by 1,000.” For Eddie, the comparison was clear. Behind the fame, the headlines, and the endless public scrutiny were real people trying to handle pressures that most of us can barely imagine.

As Murphy put it, “That’s where Michael and Elvis are sitting. It’s madness swirling around them all the time. On the surface, you’re coming off like you have it all the way together, and behind the scenes, you’re completely unraveling.” It was a powerful observation from someone who had experienced enormous fame himself and understood just how overwhelming  that kind of spotlight can become.

Yet, despite the controversies, rumors, and complicated conversations surrounding Elvis over the years, Eddie Murphy never hid the fact that Presley remained one of his biggest influences. Long after becoming a superstar,  Eddie still openly credited Elvis as one of the people who helped shape the performer he would become.

During a 2019 interview with Jerry Seinfeld, Murphy reflected on the four icons who had the greatest impact on his life and career. He explained, “Now, Richard Pryor is kind of like that’s who I want to be. But, I also was equally fascinated with Elvis. I was a big Elvis fan. The suits and the way I was rolling with my bodyguards.

My house in Jersey, I bought it cuz it kind of reminded me of Graceland. Murphy then revealed the four legendary figures who inspired him the most. Elvis, Richard Pryor, Bruce Lee, and Muhammad Ali. Jerry Seinfeld laughed and responded, “I could see it. It’s like a recipe. I take those four guys, I put them in a blender, and you come out.

” It was a funny moment, but it also perfectly summed up how those larger-than-life personalities helped influence one of comedy’s biggest stars. If you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to hit the like button and  share it with other Elvis fans. Leave a comment below and tell us, were you surprised to learn that Eddie Murphy was such a devoted Elvis fan? Or did you already know about this connection?  Be sure to subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications so you never miss future videos.

And stay tuned for more fascinating stories, surprising connections, and little-known facts from the incredible life and legacy of Elvis Presley.