"Elvis has left the building!" is a phrase that was often used by public address announcers following Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 concerts to disperse audiences who lingered in hopes of an encore

Encore (concert)

An encore is an additional performance added to the end of a concert, from the French "encore", which means "again", "some more"; multiple encores are not uncommon. Encores originated spontaneously, when audiences would continue to applaud and demand additional performance from the artist after the...

. It has since become a popular culture catchphrase and punchline.

Origin and popularization

It was first used by promoter Horace Lee Logan on December 15, 1956, to plead with concert goers not to leave a concert hall to try to see Elvis as he left and instead remain to see the other acts on the bill. The full quotation was "Please, young people. Elvis has left the building. He has gotten in his car and driven away. Please take your seats." Throughout the 1970s, the phrase was captured on record several times, spoken by Al Dvorin. In later years the phrase would be spoken by some of Presley's backup singers to calm down the audience after concerts.

The phrase has since become a popular culture

Popular culture

Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...

 catchphrase and punchline

Punch line

A punch line is the final part of a joke, comedy sketch, or profound statement, usually the word, sentence or exchange of sentences which is intended to be funny or to provoke laughter or thought from listeners...

, used to refer to anyone who has exited in some sense. For instance, it might be used when someone makes a dramatic exit, such as at the end of an argument, partly to relieve tension among those who remain. Baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 announcers on radio or television sometimes use the phrase as a humorous way to describe a home run

Home run

In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

, which is typically hit over the outfield fence and into the stands, thus leaving the field of play.

Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

 used the phrase on the opening track of the album, Broadway the Hard Way

Broadway the Hard Way

Broadway the Hard Way is a Frank Zappa live album recorded at various performances along his 1988 world tour. It was first released as a 9-track vinyl through Zappa's mail order label Barking Pumpkin in October 1988, and subsequently as a 17-track CD through Rykodisc in 1989.This album was...

, which satirised numerous contemporary figures.