For fans of The King, his signature shiny black pompadour is one of the most iconic aspects of his look. While the hairstyle changed a bit over the years, it was always big and it was always dark. But, what many people don’t know is Elvis Presley was actually blonde when he was younger.
Elvis’s signature hair color was a blend of Miss Clairol Black Velvet and Mink Brown, though some say he once used black shoe polish. His stylist claimed it was actually L’Oréal. Obsessed with dark hair, Elvis even asked Priscilla to dye hers black before their wedding—keeping it all hush-hush.
However, the most obvious evidence for his blonde look comes from Graceland, where a color portrait of Elvis hangs on the wall, framed in gold and showing his light hair.
By the time that Jailhouse Rock had come out in 1957, Elvis was dyeing his hair all the time to maintain the illusion of silky, black hair. The darker hair showed up better on film and Elvis certainly did a lot of movies back in the day, so he needed to maintain what he saw as essential components of his look- even if the lights and cameras might affect that.
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It’s clear from looking at old photos of The King that his hair was once much lighter than how he wore it the last 20 years of his life.
Diehard fans might not believe it, but his hair dyeing does seem to be true. You might never look at his hair the same way again, but his music will always be classic.
