Since Elvis’ passing there have been a number of songs in tribute to him. Many of us will have fond memories of songs such as ‘ I Remember Elvis’ by Danny Mirror (a UK No.4 in 1977), ‘Calling Elvis’ by Dire Straits, Marc Cohn’s ‘Walking in Memphis’, the soulful ‘Black Velvet’ by Alannah Myles and at the wackier end of the spectrum ‘There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Sears He’s Elvis’ by Kirsty MacColl.

Despite having left us almost 50 years ago, Elvis’ popularity continues to soar. The Baz Luhrmann movie in 2022 opened up the incredible life of Elvis to a new generation of fan who have immersed themselves in Elvis’ legacy. Lifelong Elvis fan Mauro Dirago wanted to do something that celebrated and promoted Elvis in his 90^th Birthday year. As he explained:

“I felt that now was the perfect time to bring a song out to not only pay tribute to Elvis, but also to unite the fans with a song that celebrates being a fan. Elvis’ influence is everywhere, he’s still woven through all of popular culture, but sometimes it gets overlooked, and he doesn’t get enough credit. I wanted something that people would be in no doubt about, something that shouted Elvis’ name out to the world.   

I had previously had a top 5 track on the Heritage Chart with a cover of ‘Suspicion’ that I’d released for Elvis’ 90^th Birthday. Lots of people were asking me to put something else out for Elvis’ big celebration year, but I wanted to do something more than another cover version. I thought a tribute song was the way to go, a chance to do something a bit different that hadn’t been done in a while. It was also an opportunity to give a big shout-out to Elvis from not only myself, but all the fans.   

Although there have been some great Elvis tribute songs, some like ‘Black Velvet’ have been more subtle in the influence of their lyrics. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I love the song, but I wanted something that captured who Elvis was – brash, loud and fun.  I wanted Elvis’ name up front loud and proud.

I sat down with my acoustic guitar, and I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging but the words hit me like a bolt of lightning, and within an hour I had the tune and the lyrics. 

I’ve always read that Elvis had an anxiety about his career, that he worried us fans would forget about him. This went all the way back to his days entering the Army in 1958. Of course we would never do that, but it was something that played on his mind throughout his life. When I was putting the song together I was trying to find a hook, an angle to hang the lyrics on. And that’s when I came up with the idea of Elvis looking down on the world in 2025 and realising that far from being forgotten, he’s being celebrated more than ever especially with the whole new interest in Elvis, and all the new fans.

And it was from that that I fell onto the idea for the video. I wanted to show just how much Elvis is still relevant and how much we all still love him, and so I thought a montage of photos and film of fans getting together and having a good time all through the shared love of Elvis, and the amazing music he gave us, would be perfect. Here’s Elvis looking down at all of his fans having a ball because of him . It’s a love letter, a big thank you, to Elvis and what he’s given us all.

I didn’t just want to have a song that celebrated Elvis, but one that fans could use to celebrate him. When you see the video of everyone on the dance floor enjoying Elvis’ songs, I wanted this to be a song that fans could also use as a soundtrack to party to.

Tying it all together was the company Strictly Elvis, these guys have been around for over 50 years giving fans events across the world. I’ve been lucky enough to work with them on some of these, their London party cruises, a big Elvis Birthday event at the Elvis exhibit. The experiences and good times that they have given fans was the perfect footage for the video. And then I thought why not call the song Strictly Elvis? After all that’s what song is really about, 100% Elvis – just ‘Strictly Elvis’.  

I hope all the fans like what I’ve produced, but more than that I want non-fans to enjoy it – to see that Elvis is still rocking the world, still bringing the good times and still bringing people together. And to Elvis, we know you’re looking down on us and so I just wanted to say, this one is for you. Thanks for everything!”