After winning a state fair competition, his first professional performance was in a Demon's Den nightclub in Albany, Georgia.

[1] At the start of his music career, Ellis sang in nightclubs and, in 1964, released a single, "Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch," for a small Georgia label, Dradco.

[3] After Presley died in 1977, Singleton revived the hoax by releasing singles that overdubbed Ellis' voice onto known Sun recordings by Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and others, including a version of "Save the Last Dance For Me," [6] on which there was simply a credit to "Friend".

[3] In 1978, writer Gail Brewer-Giorgio published a novel, Orion, about a leading popular singer – based on Presley – who faked his death.

Singleton then persuaded Ellis to start appearing as "Orion", wearing a small mask with dyed hair and in similar clothing to that worn by Presley.

Orion had several hits on the country music chart, including "Am I That Easy to Forget" (1980), "Rockabilly Rebel" (1981), and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (1981).

[8] In 2015, film-maker Jeanie Finlay released a documentary film, after pitching it at Sheffield Doc/Fest's 2013 MeetMarket, about Ellis' life and career, Orion: The Man Who Would Be King.