I’m too young to remember Elvis Presley in his prime. His first appearance on Ed Sullivan’s show, in 1956, was seven years before I was born. And I was only about 6 when his career last drew any serious attention in the late 1960s. But as a lifelong music fan, and a journalist who has written professionally about the recording industry, I am keenly aware of Elvis’ influence and of how virtually all popular music made during the past 50 years can be traced back to him.

And, of course, I remember where I was when I learned about his death 30 years ago today. I was just shy of my 14th birthday and was spending the summer at a camp a couple of hours of north of Toronto. We were on a field trip that day in the bustling metropolis of Gravenurst, Ontario (population: one horse), and as we got back on the bus after seeing a movie, the driver was listening to a report about Elvis’ demise on a portable radio that was standing on the dashboard.

I remember that I wasn’t particularly saddened by the news, but I also remember understanding, immediately, the gravity of what had happened -- and what The King’s passing would mean to his fans, to the music world and to society as a whole.

In the years afterward, there would be other deaths at too young an age among some of music’s giants – John Lennon and Jerry Garcia chief among them – but none would have quite the impact of Elvis’ passing at age 42 on Aug. 16, 1977. And I doubt that any future celebrity death will cut to the bone quite the way Elvis’ did.

That is, most certainly, a testament to who Elvis Presley was and to what his talents meant to his fans, to the music world and to society as a whole.