Guest Author - Beth Green

Do you remember where you were on August 16, 1977 - the day that Elvis died? Although I’m not a huge Elvis fan, I consider that day an important one in the events that have occurred during my lifetime. I was 16, and on a family vacation at a remote guest ranch in Colorado, with no TV, radio or phone. We didn’t hear about his death until the next day, when the Denver Post arrived. I remember walking out of the dining hall and grabbing the newspaper. I sat down to read it, and the headline stated that Elvis was dead. I rushed back into the dining room to tell my parents and others who were there, and because I’d left the paper outside, no one believed me. I had to go back and get the paper to show them the headline before they finally understood that I was telling the truth.

Now, as I stated earlier, I’m not the biggest Elvis fan in the world, but I can probably answer some of the more common trivia questions about the King of Rock n Roll. With the 30th anniversary of his death just around the corner, I thought it might be fun to explore some of the lesser-known facts about this musical icon.

Elvis was hugely popular around the world, but did you know that of the hundreds of concerts he performed; only three were held outside of the United States? Those three concerts were held in Canada.

Elvis recorded over 600 songs, and while he collaborated on several of them, he never solely wrote any of them.

He won three Grammy Awards for his music, but none of them were for his rock music. All three awards were for his gospel music. Two of them were for renditions of “How Great Thou Art”.

We’ve probably all heard that peanut butter and banana sandwiches were among the King’s favorite. Did you know that he probably washed down the sandwiches with Pepsi?

Elvis had big feet. He wore a size 11 shoe.

Even though Elvis was worth millions, he had less expensive taste in cologne. His favorite? Brut.

Elvis knew all the lines to the George C. Scott movie, Patton.

Elvis once wrote to President Nixon asking if he could be appointed an undercover narcotics agent. Nixon then sent Elvis a special agent badge for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

Elvis is worth more dead than he was alive. When he died in 1977, Elvis had in the neighborhood of $5 million in the bank. In 2004, 27 years after his death, Forbes Magazine listed him as the richest deceased person, worth about $45 million.

Thirty years have passed since his death was reported, and yet Elvis is just as popular today, if not more so, as he was during his career.