Rock ‘n’ Roll

Everybody has heard it. It’s in books, documentaries, and newspaper headlines to this day: “Elvis the Pelvis.” It’s the phrase that made the young Elvis Presley sound both dangerous and slightly ridiculous, and it followed him from his first hit right through to his death. There’s just one problem with using it. Elvis loathed it … Read more

In 1958, the most famous man in America sat down in a barber’s chair on an army base — and 55 members of the press crowded into the room to watch it happen. Not a concert. Not a film premiere. A haircut. Cameras rolled as Elvis Presley’s famous black pompadour and sideburns dropped to the … Read more

By June 1977, Elvis Presley was in a terrible state. He was 42 years old, and his body was failing him. He had an enlarged heart, high blood pressure, serious internal problems, and after years of prescription drugs and a punishing diet, he was bloated, exhausted, and barely sleeping. By any sensible measure, he should … Read more

“My Way” is a song about a man at the end of his life, looking back and deciding he has no regrets. Frank Sinatra made it his signature. But there’s a version that is far harder to listen to. Elvis Presley recorded it on June 21, 1977 — reading the words off a piece of … Read more

Everybody knows the song. Almost everybody assumes Elvis Presley wrote it. He didn’t. “Blue Suede Shoes” was written by a poor farm boy from Tennessee named Carl Perkins, and in early 1956 it was about to make him one of the biggest stars in America. Then, in the dark on a highway in Delaware, everything … Read more

Most famous people who give to charity make sure somebody’s watching. Elvis Presley did the opposite. Starting in 1961 and continuing for the rest of his life, he sat down every Christmas and wrote cheques to more than 50 charities in Memphis — often totaling over $100,000 a year. He didn’t do it for a … Read more

Watch any Elvis Presley concert from the 1970s, and you’ll notice a small man on stage who never leaves his side. He plays a bit of guitar and sings some harmonies, but mostly he hands Elvis things. A glass of water. A microphone. And, over and over again, scarves. His name was Charlie Hodge, and … Read more

The white jumpsuit is the single most recognizable outfit in the history of popular music—high collar, plunging neckline, enormous belt, flared trousers, rhinestones everywhere. Every Elvis impersonator on earth wears a version of it.  But almost nobody knows where any of it actually came from — and the honest answers are Napoleon Bonaparte, a factory … Read more

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people walk into the Meditation Garden behind Graceland and stand at Elvis Presley’s grave. Almost none of them know that he wasn’t originally buried there — or that the reason he ended up in that garden is one of the strangest crime stories in American history.  Twelve days after … Read more

Every year at Graceland, on holidays and especially around Christmas and New Year, the King of Rock and Roll organized something that would give a modern safety inspector a heart attack.  He bought thousands of dollars’ worth of fireworks, split his friends into two teams, sent them out into the field behind the house, and … Read more