The unbelievable life of Leo Sayer: the songs, the swindles and a spooky call from Elvis
leo sayer, the 1970s pop star, is living in Australia and at 77 is telling a cascade of stories: chart-topping hits and vanished footage, managerial betrayal that nearly broke him, and a ‘spooky’ 25-minute phone call from Elvis Presley that came just before the singer’s death. He speaks with blunt, vivid detail about the encounters and why he kept some of them quiet. The revelations sketch a life of bright public success shadowed by private turmoil.
Leo Sayer and the Elvis phone call
The most startling episode: a late-night phone handover by a former American footballer named Michael who worked with Elvis Presley, followed by Elvis saying, “This is Elvis Aaron Presley, and you make me feel like dancing. ” The two spoke for about 25 minutes, Elvis inviting Sayer to Graceland and saying, “Michael tells me you’re a great guy and I’m going through a bit of a hole myself in my life, and things ain’t so good, and I’ve just got me and my girlfriend here, and I would like you to come to Graceland and hang out. ” Sayer recalled Elvis as “very humble and very sweet, ” a man who asked for “some of your energy. “
The next day, leo sayer heard on the radio that “the singer Elvis Presley has been brought into Memphis Baptist hospital dead on arrival. ” On the advice of his then-wife Janice, Sayer generally kept the phone-call story to himself for years; later, at a lunch with producer David Foster, Ginger Alden—Elvis’s girlfriend at the time of his passing—told Sayer that Elvis had been singing his song and saying he couldn’t wait to meet him: “He was singing your song and saying he was going to meet Leo, and couldn’t wait!”
Hits, vanished footage and being swindled
Sayer lit up the 1970s with a run of hits including You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, When I Need You, Moonlighting, Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance), Thunder In My Heart, One Man Band and Orchard Road. He first burst into view performing The Show Must Go On on Top of the Pops dressed as a pierrot—an appearance that can no longer be shown because the broadcast featured the presenter Jimmy Savile. Sayer’s assessment was blunt: “He was creepy. He wouldn’t get off the fucking stage, so they can never show my first performance. I’m sure he fancied me. “
Signed early in his career by Adam Faith, Sayer praised Faith as an “incredible mentor” who opened doors, but said Faith later took advantage: Sayer admitted he was naive and signed power of attorney over to Faith at the beginning, a decision that left him effectively swindled and nearly broke. The arc is clear in Sayer’s telling: meteoric public success punctured by private financial and personal blows.
Reactions, corroboration and what comes next
Quotes and memories here come from Leo Sayer himself; from Michael, described as a former American footballer who worked with Elvis; from David Foster, named as a producer present at the revealing lunch; and from Ginger Alden, identified as Elvis’s girlfriend at the time of his passing. Each figure appears as a living witness or participant in the chain of events Sayer recounts.
Quick context: Sayer moved from Sussex to London in the 1960s, worked as a graphic artist designing album covers and performed with folk names in pubs before being signed and propelled to pop stardom. He describes Bob Dylan as a hero and built a career on energetic performance and narrative songwriting.
What’s next is straightforward: the story rests with those who hold direct testimony. Sayer kept the phone-call account largely private for years on Janice’s advice; the later confirmation from Ginger Alden is the clearest external corroboration in the record presented here. Further public clarification would come only if those named choose to speak again, and the full weight of these memories will hinge on their responses and any additional first-hand accounts the principal witnesses provide.
