Are you ready to fly? Come on talking about it. Alrig
Those are some clips from Elvis, the biopic of the
music legend starring Austin Bu as the king of rock
and roll, the movie has a dazzling audience score on
rotten tomatoes of 94% and as of this week is now
available to stream from the comfort of your couch on
amazon prime 4.5 decades. That's how long it's been
since the world lost Elvis Presley, his life and legacy
still influencing pop culture today. Newsy's Stephen
Graddick shows us just how much impact the king has had
his time on the throne cut short A record scratching
the career of the king of rock and roll. Elvis Presley
guided his home Graceland on August 16, 1977. His
singing career began in 1950 for heavily influenced by
growing up in a predominantly black neighborhoo
tupelo Mississippi. Elvis's career has been both
celebrated and criticized. Some saying he profited off
of black music and others like the legendary B. B. King
saying he reinterpreted the mus he grew up with but
the legacy of the king doesn't just live and die with
his roster of songs, the music is great, but if it
wasn't his heart and that charisma and what he, his you
know what he gave to people in other ways besides
songs, he would just be a rock star from the fifties
that died, love for Elvis spanning decades and
generations. Elvis starred in more than 30 movies, won
several awards. But for some fans, the man behind the
music is who they fell for. He was quite the
humanitarian Presley's generosi also of note, like
the time he gave a Vegas hotel employee a car,
everything that you hear about Elvis, things that he
did, things that he gave. He really did that. Ah yes,
viva las Vegas. Elvis's unofficial home away from home
where he spent years of his life on stage at the
International Hotel. After that first show, I said,
Every time Elvis comes back to town, I'm gonna be here
and I managed to do that 15 times, 15 of more than 830
sold out shows spanning nearly 7.5 of the final eight
years of his life. Elvis now lives on through his image
and likeness his adoring fans and his family. There's a
heaven. And I see Elvis, I would literally say thank
you truly for like providing a life for my kids, God
bless the King of rock and roll in Atlanta. I'm Stephe
Graddick Newsy and joining us now is Chris McDonald.
No, it's not Elvis and he's not just any old Elvis
tribute artist either, but the only one approved by
Elvis Presley Enterprises to perform at Graceland's
heartbreak hotel Chris, thank you so much for being
here and thank you for wearing your Elvis best with us
this weekend. Really appreciate it. Thank you very much
for having me, love it. Love to see it. I'm a big Elvis
fan and I love the movie, I bought it when it came out
on amazon prime. So I'm excited to watch it over and
over again, in your opinion. Why has Elvis had such a
tremendous cultural impact and an impact that is
renewed once again so strongly? What is is he? Uh, it's
the all American story. It's a shy, humble country boy
who became the king of rock and roll and uh, he learned
all the music from his surroundings in the Mississ
Delta area. He was a very, uh, poor child. The famil
did the best they could. So he, he was basically around
a lot of different influences, which they mentione
here about the rhythm and blues music, Black gospel
music and country music and that's how rock and roll
was formed. And what Elvis did is they were all a part
of his heart because when you learned things as a
child, you learned with your heart. So he learned music
that way. So of course you have influence is just like
the Beatles had influences and Rolling Stones. The
Beatles, a matter of fact, john Lennon said before
Elvis, there was nothing, um, you know, they, everybody
wanted to be Elvis once they saw what he did. And I
think that's why he's still, um, it basically is a
rocket, most superhero. That's he is and that is
what everybody aspires to be sure. And so what is it
about Elvis specifically that makes so many people want
to impersonate him Of course in Vegas. It's a big, it's
a big thing. And uh what is it about him that is so
important to you. So there's a couple different thin
there's a couple of different things. There's uh
actually I don't call my show an impersonation. Uh it's
a tribute because when I do a little bit differently,
sometimes impersonators go over the top. They say
they're Elvis, they don't do the show where they talk
about what Elvis did. That's wh I do with my show. I
want to resemble him naturally. I want to have the
vocals sound natural. I wanna have the moves natural
and then present memories. That what I call my show.
Memories of Elvis. I want to remind you of Elvis. This
movie came out at a perfect time. I mean it's basic
introducing this incredible sto of the king of rock
and roll, great music. Uh Coolness, I guess it's a
simple word, coolness. Uh to a whole new generation.
That's how I got into music. My mom used to sit me down
in front of a tv set as a little kid. Ellis was gone
before I could see him but I used to sit in front of tv
said we watch a bunch of the old movies, He beat up the
bad guy win the race and the girls bikinis chasing
them, nothing cooler than that. And that's why I look
at that, that's really what I got into it. I became uh
like a super, like a sports hero. If you look at
football stars and baseball stars, Elvis was the rock
and roll star. And anybody that ever put a guitar on
after him wanted to be like Elvis. Alright, Chris
McDonald, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank
you very much.