Eilert Pilarm

Eilert Pilarm, born Dahlberg, cast himself as Sweden’s counterpart to Elvis Presley. Three cassettes titled Elvis I, Elvis II, and Elvis III presented his renditions of the King’s songs and reached listeners through mail-order sales or sales at live shows. From that material he assembled the track list for his first compact disc, Greatest Hits, issued by MCA in spring 1996.

Far removed from typical performers and even from standard Elvis tribute artists—his voice and appearance bore no resemblance to Presley—Pilarm earned inclusion in Irwin Chusid’s Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music. Which? Records later released a companion album spotlighting Pilarm alongside B.J. Snowden, Peter Grudzien, Daniel Johnston, and twenty-two additional artists.

Pilarm appeared on the BBC’s Big Breakfast Millennium Special and performed a live segment on KRZ in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, during Elvis Week. He also staged concerts in Oslo, Norway, and performed on Danish television in 1997. Two Swedish softball clubs adopted his name, one of them calling itself Eilert’s Angels.