John Lennon on how The Beatles avoided being compared to Elvis Presley – ‘It was STUPID’

The most successful music artists of all time are Elvis Presley and The Beatles. But did you know that the band went out of their way to be distinct from The King? Speaking with Rolling Stone in the early 1970s, John Lennon spoke of how The Fab Four used to move around on stage a lot like The King in their early days.

Elvis was known for his swivelling hips, a dance move deemed to be too sexualised in the 1950s.

And just like everyone else, The Beatles were copying The King.

Lennon said: “When we were younger, we used to move.

“We used to jump around and do all the things they’re doing now, like going on stage with toilet seats and sh*tting and p*ssing.”

READ MORE: Elvis Presley at 85: John Lennon ‘There’s no Beatles without him’

When Elvis suddenly hit the UK charts in the mid-1950s it was Heartbreak Hotel in particular that really captured the imagination of The Beatles.

According to The Beatles Story, McCartney said: “There was an advert for Heartbreak Hotel.

“Elvis looked so great: ‘That’s him, that’s him – the Messiah has arrived!’ Then when we heard the song, there was the proof.”

He added: “That was followed by his first album, which I still love the best of all his records. It was so fantastic we played it endlessly and tried to learn it all. Everything we did was based on that album.”

While it was Lennon who was particularly captured by Elvis’ talents.

He said: “When I heard [Heartbreak Hotel], it was the end for me. Once I heard it and got into it, that was life, there was no other thing.

“I thought of nothing else but rock ‘n’ roll.”

This year John Lennon would have been 80-years-old while Elvis would have been 85.