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Orion (Jimmy Ellis)

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Vocalist

The Resume

    (February 26, 1945-December 12, 1998)
    Born in Pascagoula, Mississippi
    Birth name was James Hughes Bell
    Recorded as Jimmy Ellis and as Orion
    Recorded over a dozen albums as Orion
    Known for sounding uncannily like Elvis Presley
    Subject of the documentary 'Orion: The Man Who Would Be King' (2015)

Why he might be annoying:

    Sun Records owner Shelby Singleton took advantage of his resemblance to Presley by having him re-record Elvis' debut single, 'That's Alright (Mama),' and releasing it with an artist credit of '?' (Implying that the song was an outtake from the original Sun sessions that couldn't be openly credited to Elvis because of RCA's contract with the King.)
    Singleton then had him overdub his vocals onto tracks by Jerry Lee Lewis and released the results as an album credited to 'Jerry Lee Lewis and Friend.'
    After the combination of Elvis' death and the publication of 'Orion,' a novel in which a Presley-esque singer fakes his death to escape the burdens of superstardom, he began performing as Orion.
    As part of his Orion persona, he dyed his hair jet black, wore rhinestone-studded stage outfits, and performed in a mask.
    His first Orion album was titled 'Reborn' and the original cover featured him emerging from a coffin. (What could they be hinting at?)
    He took off his mask at the end of a concert and announced he was through being Orion (1983).
    After his records as Jimmy Ellis failed to sell, he put the mask back on and became Orion again.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was born out of wedlock and the father on his birth certificate was listed as just 'Vernon,' which led him to privately wonder if his father was Vernon Presley (which might have explained the similarities to Elvis).
    He was adopted by the Ellis family at age four.
    He excelled in football, baseball, and basketball in high school, and earned an athletic scholarship to Middle Georgia College.
    A voice comparison test conducted by 'Good Morning America' on one of the 'Jerry Lee Lewis and Friend' tracks concluded that it really was Elvis singing. (So either he was incredibly good at imitating Elvis, or GMA hired a crappy voice expert.)
    He managed to appeal to enough gullible record buyers to place ten singles in the lower reaches of Billboard's country chart.
    He and his wife were murdered during the robbery of a pawnshop he owned.

Credit: C. Fishel


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Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 152 Votes: 69.74% Annoying