CNN.com reports that today marks the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death...and still he pulled in some $40 million in 2006. That's second only to that other dead rocker, Nirvana's late, great Kurt Cobain.

There's only one little wrinkle to today's anniversary -- CKX Inc. (NASDAQ: CKXE) -- which owns the rights to Elvis and American Idol -- announced a $1.3 billion leveraged buyout in June. But DealBook reported yesterday that thanks to the seized-up credit markets, the CKX LBO may be just as dead as Elvis.

That's because CKX is trading 25% below the takeout price of $13.75 a share. Evidently, the market believes that come September, CKX will not be able to finance its deal. Regardless of the outcome, CKX will still enjoy the revenue stream from Elvis -- even though he left the building 30 years ago.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in CKX.