When Elvis father Vernon Presley received the news that a cocktail of drugs prescribed by Dr George Nichopoulos had been the root cause of death, he panicked and bribed officials to keep the document a secret. Photo by David Tulis. Visitors can walk through for a close-up view of the plane's features, though most of the furnishings are covered in plastic and touching them is, of course, a no-no. Convair 880 "Lisa Marie" at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. NamedElvis Presley's Memphis, the new exhibition is split into three linked museums covering his cars, outfits and influences. The recording artist also changed the color of the cabin seats to yellow, green, and blue. There are variety of packages available for visitors to Graceland, starting with the mansion-only tour, while others include the exhibitions and planes. Graceland estimates that over one billion" Elvis records have been sold worldwide across every musical format from vinyl to digital. ctxt_ad_uc = "CCCCCC"; General Dewitt Spain Airport is a nontowered airfield with a scenic Mississippi River approach to Runway 17/35 near a hard-to-miss bend in the waterway. Love looking at incredible set designs? EXs=screen;EXw=EXs.width;navigator.appName!="Netscape"? Only Priscilla, Lisa-Marie and Graceland's Curator are allowed within its hallowed halls. It's touristy, sure, but popping into at least one of the venues for a cold beer and some bluesy rock'n'roll should be on your list. var time=new Date(); The JetStar was powered by 3,300-shaft-horsepower Pratt and Whitney JT12A-8 turbojet engines; attained a cruising speed of 547 mph; and had a maximum takeoff weight of 44,500 pounds, a range of 3,189 miles, and a wingspan of 54.5 feet, according to Janes Encyclopedia of Aviation. This truly feels like I've stepped back in time to another era a time when rock stars ruled the world. The 1962 . months[3]="March"; Elvis persuaded Priscilla`s parents to allow her to live at the entertainer`s Graceland Mansion in Memphis during her senior year in high school. Hitchens was backstage with Tom Jones, Elvis and Priscilla one night at Las Vegas, when The King proudly showed off baby pictures of Lisa Marie. Photo by David Tulis. ", O'Neill added: "If shed gone back to Elvis, she would have been destroyed. http://javascript.internet.com -->, Updated So, the King didn't die a violent death. I'm standing on board a Convair 880 jet, built in 1958 and flown by Delta Air Lines on routes across the US before being retired in the '70s. Even if you're not doing a tour, the building's windows let you take a peek at the guitars being crafted. Seegraceland.com, The Guest House at Graceland opened in late 2016 and is next door to the mansion. He was rushed to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where attempts . See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. The city of Memphis, the state and Elvis Presley Enterprises are squabbling over how this happened and how to fix a slide that brought some $20 million of Graceland Project bonds down to "junk". When Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977, Presley's pilot flew the Lisa Marie to. Elvis had it delivered to the Colonel in Vegas on July 26, but the Colonel didn't really take it the way that Elvis had hoped. months[8]="August"; Tour the Jets According to Rolling Stone, the two planes eventually ended up in the care of OKC Partnership, which agreed in the middle of the 1980s to display the aircraft at Elvis' former home-turned-museum, Graceland, in exchange for a percentage of ticket sales. It failed. Despite its unusable condition the starting bid for the aircraft was $10,000. It appears during a scene when Elvis (played by Austin Butler) mourns his mothers death. While waiting for renovations to be completed on the Lisa Marie, Presley took on a Lockheed JetStar, which cost him approximately $900,000 ($4.3 million today) and was nicknamed Hound Dog II. Elvis and Priscilla were married for five years before they separated in 1962 and divorced the following year. Music aficionados can visit Memphiss Beale Street for live music. Bridgerton Season Two Features an All-Pink House, You Can Visit These Mansions From "The Gilded Age", Inside the "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" Farmhouse, Visit the Castles and Houses From "Spencer". ctxt_ad_width = 728; Stop: 5 hours - Admission included. The Guest House at Graceland is across the street from the Graceland museum and exhibit area in Memphis, Tennessee, and offers free shuttle rides to guests. An integral part of discovering more about Elvis is a visit to his birthplace in Tupelo. TheRock and Roll Hall of Fameinducted Presley in 1986. At the end of April 2015, Graceland shared that it was pleased to announce that an agreement had been reached for the Lisa Marie and Hound Dog II to remain at Elvis Presleys famous home in Memphis permanently. More info. The plane was painted white and featured a blue and red strap from its nose through the whole fuselage to the tail. He passed away just two years after having acquired them, in 1977, at the age of just 42. Seesunstudio.com/, Still the living, breathing heart of music in Memphis, Beale St is filled with neon-lit bars, each promising live music and cheap drinks. The 2nd floor is private. 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Author and friend of Elvis and Priscilla, Chris Hitchens, spoke to photographer Terry O'Neill who dated Priscilla in 1975. The singers smaller 1960 Lockheed JetStar, Hound Dog II, is ramped adjacent to the luxury airliner. Presley took his first flight on it in November 1975. One of her famous boyfriends even described how the star intefered with their relationship, including during sex. As far as unfinished business goes, Elvis had plenty of it. It's touristy, sure, but popping into at least one of the venues for a cold beer and some bluesy rock'n'roll should be on your list. There was a public hearing where the Guesthouse was introduced to the Memphis movers and shakers. At least six cans of biscuits. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. The aircraft, formerly in use by Delta Air Lines, cost the singer $250,000, and he spent an additional $800,000 to customize it. Everyone sees the guard posted at the bottom of the stairs, another guard is posted at the top of the stairs as a sentinel, barricading the ominous locked door. // --><\/FONT>. Elvis reportedly also picked out fabrics, decided on color schemes, and chose the onboard audiovisual system. The star's entourage, The Memphis Mafia, dismissed the relationship as just another of Elvis' flings. Where Was Netflix's "The Watcher" Filmed? Having written for The Independent, Evening Standard, and others, his role here allows him to explore his enthusiasm for aviation and travel. Throughout the film, we see plenty of other defining locations. The organization noted that he kicked off a musical revolution by modernizing blues, country, bluegrass, and in later years gospel music, for younger audiences. The two planes are just a small part of the Elvis experience since the site was expanded. Stax Records launched the careers of Otis Redding, Booker T and MGs, and Mavis Staples among dozens of others. Though the plane has been on display since 1984, along with access to Presley's home the Graceland mansion the attraction now features a huge exhibition space featuring the star's many cars, costumes and other memorabilia. Elvis Presley spent about $800,000 to renovate his Convair 880 passenger jet and installed a bed, an audio-visual system, a conference room, televisions, and a bar. Other than the JetStar currently up for auction, languishing under the scorching New Mexico desert sun, the King of Rock and Rolls also had a Convair 880 and another Lockheed JetStar. Elvis superfans may want to opt for the Ultimate VIP Tour, which includes an expert Elvis tour guide, a meal voucher for Vernon's Smokehouse, a look inside Elvis' planes, a self-guided tour at . See bealestreet.com/, Sun Studio may be the home of rock'n'roll, but Memphis is also the home of soul. It was swiftly put up in 20 minutes to make the scene feel more claustrophobic and enveloping, so you can powerfully feel Elviss connection to his mother (played by Helen Thomson). The music artist finally took to the skies onboard the renewed plane, registration N880EP, on November 27, 1975. Graceland was his primary home for 20 years, and the estate became an essential part of the singer . Seestaxmuseum.com/, One of the two biggest names in guitar manufacturing, Gibson is still based in Memphis and offers tours of the facility to see how the iconic instruments are made. Seeguesthousegraceland.com. Meanwhile, it's gold sequins galore in the costume museum, with outfits from his films and famous live performances, but also items from his time in the army (a period he did not look back on with fondness). Visitors to Graceland . The excellent guides bring infectious enthusiasm to this historic rock'n'roll mecca. Devoid of much at first, the land eventually includes planted gardens, stone lions, and a curb as Elvis becomes richer. There was just something quintessentially Elvis about it, even though it was a fictionalized interior, Martin says. With one million billion sales worldwide, its safe to say that Elvis Presley is one of the most recognizable faces and voices in music history. Olive Branch Airport across the state line in Mississippi a few miles south of Memphis is a Class D airfield with a north-south runway and two FBOs. Exhumed Elvis Body Exhumed. The Graceland mansion is where rock and roll musician Elvis Presley spent most of his adult life. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser. An EIN spotlight by Peter Conrad - The Observer, England Sunday May 22, 2005. We did what was necessary with the procedures that were available at the time. Although Elvis major organs such as his brain and heart are still in storage at the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Dr Francisco believes that any further investigation and post-mortem analyses would not reveal any revelations surround the cause of death. The jet was eventually sold in 2017 to an undisclosed buyer for a whopping $430,000.
Meanwhile, it's gold sequins galore in the costume museum, with outfits from his films and famous live performances, but also items from his time in the army (a period he did not look back on with fondness). It's also there in the plane, with its opulent, gaudy fit-out that even Donald Trump might consider over the top. Express. Elvis Birthday Elvis Born January 8, 1935. The recreation was built on what was once a horse paddock, near a flower farm, an area that had the right topography to match the real location, which is set on an incline. Its hard to argue his popularity with nearly 80 million YouTube views of Suspicious Minds.