A presidential yacht, a failed Vegas residency, and a tragic loss that changed the course
of his life.
From his humble beginnings to his movie career, here's what the world never knew about Elvis
Presley.
Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935.
His mother, Gladys Presley, had unknowingly been pregnant with twins.
When she went into labor, Gladys experienced terrible pains, eventually delivering a stillborn
baby boy, which they named Jessie.
But to everyone's surprise, Gladys was not done giving birth.
During an interview with Good Housekeeping in 1978, Elvis's father, Vernon Presley, revealed
that he was only 18 years old when he found out Gladys was expecting.
Of the traumatic delivery, he revealed,
"I was desolate at the loss of our child.
But then my father put his hand on my wife's stomach and announced, 'Vernon, there's another
baby here.'"
Thirty-five minutes after having Jessie, Elvis was born, and he received his iconic moniker
from his father's middle name.
Jessie was buried at Priceville Memorial Gardens in Tupelo, but a small memorial stone lies
in the Meditation Garden at Graceland.
By 1956, Elvis Presley was a household name.
But before his music career took off, Presley was just a regular working man employed at
Crown Electric Company where he did various jobs, including driving a delivery truck.
Presley apparently made $1 an hour delivering supplies to various job sites in the Memphis
area.
He stayed with the company even after he started recording music with Sun Records and while
his band gained modest success as they performed in clubs in Memphis and around the Southern
region.
It was during the fall of 1954 that Presley decided to quit his job to commit to his music
career full time.
In an interview with the radio station KSTB in 1955, Presley revealed,
"I was driving a truck, and I was studying to be an electrician too [...] Tore the electrician
deal and the trucks all up.
[...] I went into Sun Records, and there was a guy in there that took down my name, told
me he might call me sometime.
So he called me about a year and a half later."
On March 19, 1957, Elvis Presley purchased Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, which became
his home base for twenty years until his death.
Presley put down a $1,000 cash deposit and purchased the home and grounds for just over
$100,000.
The property was initially intended for his mom and dad.
When Presley bought Graceland, he expanded on the 10,266-square-foot property.
Once the house was renovated, it had a total of 23 rooms, including eight bedrooms and
bathrooms.
This was the second home he had purchased for his parents, but the first one had reportedly
become overrun with fans, and he wanted privacy for himself and his family.
After Presley's death, Priscilla Presley and the executors of Elvis' estate decided to
open Graceland to the public for tours so they wouldn't have to sell the home.
On March 28, 2006, Graceland Mansion was designated as a National Historic Landmark and is now
one of the most visited houses in the United States.
"Still, when I go in that house today, it's home."
On August 14, 1958, Elvis Presley's mother, Gladys Presley, passed away at the age of
46.
Elvis and his mother had always had a very close relationship, and he referred to Gladys
as "my baby."
Gladys was very protective of her son and wasn't comfortable with his rise to stardom.
During the height of Elvis' career, she would reportedly take pills to help her sleep at
night and would drink alcohol throughout the day.
Eventually, Gladys' doctor told her she had liver problems, likely from her excessive
drinking.
Elvis received an army draft notice on December 20, 1957.
Not long after Elvis had left, doctors detected that Gladys had hepatitis.
Elvis was granted leave from the army when he got word about his mother's declining health
and made it to his mother's side two days before her death.
According to The Washington Post, the singer began taking drugs following his mother's
death.
Elvis Presley has sold over 1 billion records worldwide and has been recognized by Guinness
World Records as the best-selling solo artist of all time.
However, despite all his fame and notoriety overseas, Presley hardly did any touring outside
of the United States, only venturing to Canada.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer had concerts in Toronto, Ottawa , and Vancouver in 1957.
As for why the musician never performed in other countries, it was reportedly because
his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had a somewhat sketchy past.
Parker had allegedly immigrated to the U.S. illegally and never legally became a citizen.
As a result, if Parker ever left the United States, he likely wouldn't have been able
to come back.
Reportedly, Parker's lack of a passport caused him to turn down several million-dollar touring
opportunities for Presley.
When Elvis Presley was sent to Germany with the army, he took up karate and was taught
by a man named Juergen Seydel.
While learning the martial art, the entertainer apparently developed a passion and great love
for it.
When he returned to the United States, he met and trained with Ed Parker, who was a
master at Kenpo karate.
When Presley moved back to Memphis, Tennessee, the musician trained under Master Kang Rhee,
obtaining his first-degree black belt in 1960.
The singer would go on to become a seventh-degree and eighth-degree black belt in the 1970s.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Ed Parker said that karate boosted Presley's
confidence, image, and character.
The instructor also shared,
"His karate motions helped him to radiate a vibrance to the audience, and they stimulated
a vibrancy in himself."
In 1959, Elvis met Priscilla Presley, born Priscilla Beaulieu, in Germany where Priscilla's
stepfather was serving in the Air Force.
At the time, Elvis was 24, while Priscilla was only 14-years-old.
"I was only 14.
Actually only three months into 14."
Reportedly, the teenager made quite the impression on the superstar when the pair locked eyes
at Presley's home.
Not long after meeting, the pair began to date.
According to Biography, when Elvis met Priscilla's parents, her father inquired as to why the
celebrity would be interested in his daughter.
The singer allegedly replied,
"Sir, I happen to be very fond of her.
She's a lot more mature than her age, and I enjoy her company."
During Elvis's stint in Germany, he apparently spent most of his time with Priscilla, and
when he returned to the U.S., they wrote to each other.
In 1962, Priscilla visited Elvis in Los Angeles and spent the holidays at Graceland.
The following year, Priscilla moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to be with Presley and finish high
school.
Of their early courtship, Priscilla told People magazine,
"I wanted to go places with him.
I would cry if I couldn't be around him."
They married in 1967 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Aladdin Hotel, and in 1968, they welcomed
their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.
Unfortunately, the couple divorced in 1973.
It goes without saying that Elvis and Priscilla Presley had a complicated relationship.
In a candid interview with Loose Women in 2016, Priscilla revealed,
"I did not divorce him because I didn't love him.
He was the love of my life, truly."
Instead, Priscilla said she needed to experience the real world and live her own life away
from the superstar.
When the couple amicably divorced, they ended up becoming closer than they ever were.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Priscilla recalled,
"He would still come over to my house.
I would still sit in his lap.
He would still call me my pet names that he gave me.
He would still come by my house at two o'clock in the morning and talk for hours, and when
I went to Graceland, it's the same thing."
The USS Potomac was once dubbed the "Floating White House" because President Franklin D.
Roosevelt reportedly preferred cruising on the yacht to staying in the actual White House.
After learning the boat was doomed for the scrap heap, Elvis Presley bought it for $55,000.
Originally, Presley was going to donate the historic ship to the March of Dimes Foundation,
one of his favorite charities.
However, the organization declined the offer over concerns regarding the upkeep and maintenance
costs of the yacht.
Instead, in February 1964, the entertainer presented the USS Potomac to Danny Thomas
and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The yacht was subsequently sold for between $60,000 and $75,000 to raise funds for the
charity.
Elvis Presley and his band first played Las Vegas on April 23, 1956, where the superstar
was booked at the New Frontier Hotel for two weeks.
Per Nevada Magazine, Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker booked the gig because he wanted
to shed the singer's Southern honky tonk image and get him noticed nationwide.
Unfortunately, Presley's first show was somewhat of a flop.
Newsweek reviewed the performance, calling it,
"...somewhat like a jug of corn liquor at a champagne party."
"it's not easy to adjust to it."
Other reviewers suggested that Presley's days in Las Vegas were numbered.
After his two-week stint, the musician went off to film the movie "Love Me Tender" and
he wouldn't return to Vegas until 13 years later.
Presley's next performance in Las Vegas wasn't until 1969, and it was also his first time
back on stage in nine years.
This time, at the International Hotel, Presley was ready for his audience.
In fact, the show was such a hit, that he was offered a five-year contract to perform
at the hotel for two week-long residencies each year.
From 1969 to 1977, the King reportedly performed a whopping 636 times in the city.
After his time in the military, Elvis Presley told Time Life Magazine,
"I want to become a good actor because you can't build a whole career on just singing."
Presley made 31 films from 1959 to 1969.
Many of them were box-office hits that made him, his manager Colonel Tom Parker, and movie
studios a lot of money.
When the Rock 'n' Roll icon was discharged from the army, Parker wanted him to focus
on acting instead of music, because films reportedly provided much larger paydays.
Around 1961, Presley stopped performing live and put all of his energy into making films
instead.
Throughout his acting career, Presley wanted to land serious roles, but his manager had
other ideas.
Instead, Colonel Parker only seemed interested in booking Presley to act in movies that called
for him to sing in different tropical locations, like "Blue Hawaii."
By 1966, Presley commanded at least $500,000 per movie, plus 20% of the film's profits.
However, in 1968, he decided to re-focus on music and made his comeback in a 1968 televised
special.
Throughout Elvis Presley's illustrious career, he recorded over 600 songs, but he never wrote
one lyric.
In a 1957 interview with Dig Magazine, Presley stated,
"It's a big hoax [...] I never wrote a song in my life.
I get one-third of the credit for recording it."
And although he was often shown playing guitar, Presley apparently wasn't all that talented
at playing it.
In 1956, Presley decided to clear up any rumors regarding his musical ability, telling Elvis
Answers Back Magazine,
"My daddy bought me a department store guitar when I was pretty young.
I learned to pick out a couple of chords on it, but I didn't try to get fancy or anything
like that.
[...] I can plunk on it pretty good, and follow a tune if I'm really pressed to do it.
But I've never won any prizes and I never will."
Presley revealed that, despite a bandmate actually playing guitar during their performances,
he continued to carry the instrument with him.
"I just naturally took my guitar along with me, to sort of keep me company.
I used it as a prop or whatever you want to call it.
[...] it was the best friend I ever had because it kept me company and I knew I wasn't alone
out there making a fool of myself."
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