Just after midnight on January 14, 1973, Elvis Presley walked onto a stage in Honolulu and did something no performer had ever done. His concert was beamed live by satellite around the planet — the first time in history a single performer had been broadcast live to the world.
Estimates of the audience run from one billion to 1.5 billion people. And in his own country, nobody saw it. Not one American household watched it live, and the reason is almost funny.
The reason for the whole thing was sad, though. Elvis had never performed a concert outside the United States, and never would. So instead of taking Elvis to the world, his manager decided to send the world Elvis. Announcing it, Colonel Tom Parker explained that a satellite broadcast was necessary since they couldn’t play in every major city.
Elvis threw himself into it completely. He lost 25 pounds for the show and arrived in Hawaii on January 9, days after turning 38. He asked his designer Bill Belew for a costume that would symbolize America, since the whole world would be watching.
Elvis Presley – How 1.5 Billion Fans Watched Elvis’ Aloha From Hawaii Live
Belew answered that nothing is more American than an eagle. The result was the white American Eagle jumpsuit — studded with over 6,500 stones and gems — plus a matching cape. In fact, two capes, because the full-length one was so heavy it was only meant for his entrance.
There’s a wonderful mishap attached to that. Belew was still in California the night before, when 6,000 fans packed the arena for the final dress rehearsal. He got a frantic phone call. Elvis had gotten so carried away by the crowd that he had thrown the short cape into the audience — the one he was supposed to wear on live television the following night.
Then there’s the part that says the most about the man. There was no ticket price. Instead, people gave whatever they could afford, and the bigger your donation, the better your seat. Every penny — plus the merchandise money — went to the Kui Lee Cancer Fund, set up in memory of a Hawaiian songwriter who had died of cancer in 1966 and whose song “I’ll Remember You” Elvis performed for years.
Elvis Presley – Aloha from Hawaii
Elvis took no fee at all. The target was $25,000. They raised around $75,000. And Elvis bought a ticket for himself and his entourage, at $100 each.
Now, the reason America missed it. The concert went out live to Japan, the Philippines, Australia, South Korea, Thailand and elsewhere, and on a slight delay across some thirty European countries. In the Philippines, it took 91.8 percent of the viewing audience. In Hong Kong, 70 percent. But the American broadcast was pushed back — because that same day was Super Bowl VII.
Nobody at NBC fancied their chances against American football.
So the United States finally saw its own biggest star on April 4, 1973, nearly three months later. When it aired, it captured 51 percent of the American viewing audience — and, by one commonly cited comparison, it was seen in more American homes than the first moon landing. They were also taking no chances: the entire dress rehearsal two nights earlier had been filmed as backup, in case the satellite failed. It didn’t. For 85 minutes, one man in a white jumpsuit held the attention of the whole world at once.