Elvis impersonators come in all shapes, sizes, genders and ethnicities, and many are represented by trade groups like the U.K.-based Association of Professional Elvis Presley Tribute Artists. But among these dime-a-dozen lookalikes, sound-alikes and wannabes one stands out.
He is El Vez, the Mexican Elvis.
Robert Lopez, the man behind El Vez’s trademark pencil mustache and slick pompadour, has toured North America, Europe and Australia, opening for the likes of David Bowie and Kiss. And with the help of fetishistic merchandise like hotel-room keys and tiny vials of sweat, he’s gradually worked his way into the annals of American pop culture—he was even once the subject of a question on Jeopardy!, he says.
This year, a section on El Vez is included in American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music, a traveling exhibition created by the EMP Museum in Seattle that covers the music of Latino greats like Ritchie Valens and Carlos Santana. Lopez’s rip-away gold lamé mariachi suit, a Mexicanized version of the suit Presley wears on the cover of 1959’s 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong, is currently on display at an expanded version of the exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution’s International Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Lopez, 51, isn’t any old Elvis impersonator—he’s a master entertainer in the Las Vegas mold, known for putting on spectacular performances loaded with pop-culture references, costume changes and political messages full of Chicano pride.
“He’s a genius,” says Adam Gimbel, the local musician behind the mashup cover-band project Cover Me Badd. “Everything I’ve ever done as Cover Me Badd has come from the basics of what makes El Vez so great: Throw in everything but the kitchen sink. Keep things moving, but don’t be afraid to grind the show to a halt to talk. Have a really good band, and make it so anyone can enjoy it....”
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