Elvis had no choice but to turn down Queen Elizabeth II's invitation to go to London and perform for her people.
Queen Elizabeth II died earlier this month on September 8, 2022. The monarch reigned over the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth for 70 years. (Express)
During her time in the throne, The Queen met countless pop and rock stars from throughout the ages. She even awarded The Beatles MBE medals. However, she never met the King of Rock and Roll himself: Elvis Presley. But she once came very close.
On September 25, 1962, Elvis was invited by The Crown to attend the 1962 Royal Variety Performance.
It was a momentous year to be involved, as Elvis would have joined the likes of Bob Hope, Cliff Richard and the Shadows and Eartha Kitt & Cleo Laine on the London Palladium stage.
The Queen herself likely didn't request any of the line-up for the Royal Variety Performance, but the call from her people certainly went straight to his boss, Colonel Tom Parker.
Unfortunately, this was likely the worst thing that could have happened to Elvis.
Parker was infamous for not letting Elvis leave the country (except on occasion to Canada).
He made sure that he was involved in every part of the King's touring lifestyle. And this meant that he joined him on the road.
But, because Col. Parker was an illegal immigrant from the Netherlands, he was afraid of leaving the USA.
Without a passport, he feared being rejected for reentry into the United States.
So, with that in mind, when The Queen's invitation came through, he had no choice but to turn down the prestigious request.
Recently Fender has noted a considerable uptick in guitarists learning Elvis Presley songs on their app, Fender Play, since the release of the Baz Luhrmann biopic Elvis in June. (NME)
In a statement to the publication, Max Watts, the senior vice president of marketing for Fender, noted that “the lasting impact of an artist like Elvis is undeniable”. Presley himself was primarily a rhythm guitar player, playing mostly acoustic guitars and being joined by various lead guitar players throughout his career.
Although Elvis has rarely played a Fender (white Stratocaster), it is known that he always played Gibsons.
Recently Gibson has revealed new Elvis-iInspired acoustic guitars -video below.
Elvis was a Gibson guy and played multiple branded acoustic and electric guitars throughout his career.(Gibson Elvis DOVE HERE) The new Gibson Elvis Dove is based on a customized 1969 Gibson Dove that was gifted to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll by his father, which Elvis played in concert regularly from 1971 through 1975. Most notably he played this guitar during his legendary satellite-televised Aloha From Hawaii concert in 1973. He later gifted the guitar to an audience member at a concert in Asheville, North Carolina in 1975. (Americansongwriter Reports)
Watch Kacey Musgraves Transforms Elvis’ ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ Into a Tear-Jerker -Kacey Musgraves covers ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’, she's the second artist after Doja Cat debuted Elvis movie soundtrack, while Stevie Nicks Features' Cotton Candy Land' with Chris Isaak -watch below.
