ELVIS PRESLEY: LOST BUT ' EVEN 40 YEARS LATER ' NEVER FORGOTTEN

Yesterday marked the 40-year anniversary death of a downward-spiralling icon Elvis Presley – but he still earning a fortune 40 years after his death. In fact, a cynical industry insider made a remark that his death was a "smart career move."

However cynical this may sound, death did give a lucrative boost to the selling power of Elvis – as it has done for many other music legends. 

In addition, it has enabled a number of Elvis fans to make a good living from selling memorabilia and other products connected to their idol. 

Elvis's legacy and monetary still remains immensely strong and, according to Forbes' list of top earning dead stars, Elvis earned $27m in 2016 alone – selling one million albums. 

It was the singer's notorious love of unhealthy food that ultimately lead to his death at the young age of 42 years old.  His favourite sandwich was said to consist of two slices of friend bread, crispy bason, fried bananas – all smothered in jam and peanut butter. Wow.

"Graceland" (said to be the home of Elvis) sold 11,000 of the same sandwich to visitors last year – not Elvis's home in Graceland Memphis, but the "Graceland Randers" in Denmark. This famous tourist attraction in Denmark is owned by Danish-born super-fan Henrik Knudsen who built a copy of the original Graceland mansion to keep the legend alive in Scandinavia. 

"I was 13 when he died, and I couldn't say it was a shock, as I wasn't that deep into him at the time, but what I recognised was something big," said Henrik, who has visited Graceland in the US about 106 times. 

"This could have been royalty. This could have been a president" – he says as he describes his idol. 

After Henrik established a successful Elvis Fan Club, his Danish replica of Graceland opened in 2011.

It cost around 2.8 million pounds to build the house (with a museum in the basement, a function room, merchandise store and a diner) but within six years, Henrik had enough money to pay back investors. 

However, with this success came a lawsuit from Elvis Presley Enterprises – the corporate body created by the Elvis Presley Trust to manage worldwide licensing of Elvis-related products and ventures – for infringement of the Graceland trademark. 

In December 2015, the Graceland Randers had to be renamed Memphis Mansions, although Henrik declined to discuss the legal aspects involved in this name change. 

Another die-hard Elvis fanatic, Sid Shaw, the owner of website Evlisly Yours, makes a living from his hero by selling Elvis-related memorabilia and products to fans in more than 50 countries.

"I first heard Elvis on Radio Luxembourg. And that was the only place you could hear pop music [at the time]," says Sid, who is now 71 years old. 

"Elvis came on and was totally different to anything else, so I became a fan then."

A year after Elvis's death in 1977, Sid started making busts if Elvis and set up a fan club.

"In those days, the Elvis Presley estate didn't have a trademark, so I applied for the trademark 'Elvis', and I was told you can't get it because it's generic," he says. "So I applied for the next best thing which is 'Elvisly Yours'... and I got it."

The Phrase "Elvisly Yours" is the way Elvis fans all around the world sign their letters. 

In order to protect himself legally, Sid acquired a further 38 trademarks in the UK and Europe. 

So, today, we mourn the loss of a rock legend – and celebrate his continued success. 

Watch the video below to celebrate the music legend with his top 10 songs!