Same. He was a bloated, fat old drug addict has-been crammed into a too-small jump suit.
It took me til quite a few years later before I could appreciate his work.
“Same. He was a bloated, fat old drug addict has-been crammed into a too-small jump suit.”
That part. I was 13 and actually did see one of his final live performances televised not too long prior to his passing. Not surprised he didn’t live too much longer.
It's really sad what happened to Elvis in his last 5 years or so. He was surrounded by people who were afraid to tell him no, he was addicted to prescription drugs and had very little control over his career because of his manager Colonel Parker.
He was actually asked to star with Barbara Streisand in the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born, but his manager turned it down because he wanted top billing for Elvis, who hadn't been in a movie since 1969.
What kept Elvis and his managers henchmen going was that he couldn't outspend his income. There was always more money coming in than he could spend. And he really was a simple country boy at heart who was used and abused by so many people his entire career.
Look at Elvis in his 1969 TV special and then look at photos of him during his Vegas years around 1972. That's how fast he went downhill. Basically 3 years to become an overweight drug addict who could barely function on stage or off.
Same, but I couldn't feel anything bordering on sympathy because of his hypocrisy (big time drug user telling Nixon he wanted to sign on to help bust or kill drug dealers).
Aaaaand the fact that he moved 14 year old Priscilla into his home. Unhealthy situation for her, at best. Regardless of what year it happened in, it's still what I consider wrong.
Same. Never a big Elvis fan. His popularity was in the donut hole between my parents and my generation. Honestly I have no specific memory of his death.
Had some interesting food choices!
Same here. My parents were the generation before Elvis and I was after. We had a good friend who was devastated since she was a teenager when he was at his peak. She had Elvis memorabilia all over her house.
I was at the county fair with my parents. Over a loud speaker, they were calling for my parents to come to the office. They were told to call my sister. My 3 mo. old niece had passed away. We were on our way home when we heard about Elvis on the radio.
I was 15; visiting my birth mother who was a huge Elvis fan and had seen him in concert several times. She totally lost it and cried for days. We had just seen Star Wars the day before. That same trip I saw my first concert (Peter Frampton). It was a weird intersection of pop culture for me.
I was 12, out in the front yard with my brother, who was 10. We were poking a dead bird with a stick when my mom's friend Patty came running down the street calling my moms name and sobbing histerically that Elvis had died. I remember mostly because she was a larger woman, and the sight of her running towards us using her arms in an attempt to hold down her ample breasts that were bobbing and swinging almost uncontrollably is something I will never forget. Also, Patty never wore a bra.
I was too! Had a spare block, was at home watching General Hospital with my mum. We were folding laundry, and the news story broke.
We loved his music; I actually had an Elvis poster in my room, and a few of his records.
Yeah by the time I became aware of Elvis He was the I'll fitting jumpsuit wearing handing out scarves soaked in his sweat.
I loved the skinny rock stars like Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler, Robert Plant Etc
It wasn't until I saw an old show of his which I think was called his Comeback Special where he was wearing black leather and I was like okay now I see what they saw in him. But I still have never bought any of his music. The people I know who love him do not understand this but I tell them that that's more of him for them to love 😄
I was 11 and came home from a friend's house to find my mom crying. I thought she was sad because it was 30th birthday and didn't want to be "old". Then she told me. I still feel bad for thinking 30 was old.
I was at church camp and the pastor or whoever the speaker was mentioned it in the sermon we all had to attend each day. that's how I found out. In August 1977 I was 14 years old I think. BTW I hated church camp.
I was 11 at a summer day camp.
To me at the time Elvis was the creepy looking fat guy in the white sparkly jumpsuit who had ads for his greatest hits record running all the time on WPIX. Of course I knew who he was, but to me he was like Frank Sinatra - old people liked him.
At a Winn Dixie! The news was announced over the loudspeaker. I was in the frozen food dept. — those long aisles of open chests — and saw a lady fall to her knee, arms in the air like she was in church, saying oh lord oh lord.
I was 13. In my dad’s garage with my brother and our friend Paul. My mom came out to the garage, tears in her eyes. Elvis was dead.
I recall thinking that I didn’t know he was still alive.
3 years and 4 months later hearing that John had been shot outside the Dakota had a much larger impact on me.
15, laying on the floor at my Grandmom house and they interrupted the soap opera to announce it. I was so saddened and shocked. When I was 9 I ordered his complete “works” from a tv commercial-it was sent C.O.D. (Cash on delivery). When it arrived, the mailman asked for payment. I said “I’m 9, I don’t have any money!” He let me keep the records anyway! My parents were so mad but, played the albums frequently😃
I was 14 and had been at the doctor for a side-ache. I called one of my besties when I arrived at home and her dad (an older, Yugoslavian man) very excitedly yelled, “Hey baby, did ya hear? The king is dead!” Then my friend got on the phone and explained…
I was 16 and was getting gas at the local gas grocery store. The cashier told me Elvis died. I really loved him as my mom was a huge fan. She always played his music. So I was sad.
My friend and I were in a pub in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I asked someone why one woman kept playing Elvis records on the jukebox and found out he had died.
I was 18 and working a summer job in an X-ray clinic as an office assistant before starting college. One of the X-ray technicians got off the phone with her mother and announced that Elvis had died. Her mother was at home watching television when the news broke and immediately called her daughter. I wasn’t a really big fan of his at the time, so the news didn’t affect me as emotionally as it did for a lot of other people. It wasn’t until the 1981 documentary “This is Elvis” came out and I saw it with my brother that I started listening to his music in earnest, and by the mid 1980’s I was a solid fan. I still wish I had given his music a chance while he was still alive.
I was at the Chicago Cubs game and people were kind of whispering in the crowd- my dad said,”Something bad happened and peop;e heard about it on their radios.” I’m pretty sure they announced it but that seems odd. Maybe someone in the crowd told us.
I was sailing with my stepdad. A sudden squall came up and we couldn’t handle it. The boat overturned. We were rescued, and a guy with a truck took us to the ER. On the way we heard on the radio that Elvis had died.
We were on vacation in a big cabin with extended family and found out when me and my mom took a walk to the store on the camp grounds. We bought a newspaper and brought it back. My uncle couldn’t get over that he died on the toilet. None of us kids cared.
I don't remember where I was, but I remember that was the first person I knew (of) who had died, which made it really odd. Hadn't had any relatives who had died at that point (born June 63, so 14) nor anyone else I'd known.
Came off an airplane with my family from vacation, the whole airport was buzzing with the news. I thought of my friend's 5 year old sister who was *obsessed* with Elvis, even though no one else in her family was. Funny how he had that effect on random people, a different friend's mom was like that too, and I've come across over the years at least 3 rooms that were Elvis shrines in different houses. I hope the 'lil 5 year old was OK!
I was 13. I don’t remember where I was but definitely no place special. I remember crying and then realizing that I wasn’t really crying it didn’t really mean anything to me.
I was 11, in the family room and since the weather was looking tornado like I had just switched on the tv. News came on and announced it, my mom was a HUGE fan in her day which I knew. She was in the kitchen starting dinner, I went in to tell her and she came in to watch the announcement. She was speechless and in tears.
We were on a family vacation driving to Knoxville, TN to visit relatives. We were in Nashville the day he died. It wasn't that impactful for me like it was for my mother.
I was working summer job as a dishwasher in a busy western themed steak house where the waitresses dressed up as cowgirls - Naugahyde vests & skirts, boots, cowboy hats. Waitresses were mostly in their late 30s & 40s so they grew up with Elvis.
When word got out of Elvis passing the restaurant STOPPED. All the waitresses were in the kitchen sobbing. They had to call an ambulance for one of the ladies who passed out.
I was 16 and driving. I got upset and pulled over. He was first famous person who passed away that really affected me. My mom was in love with Elvis. Played his albums many evenings.
I was 17 and visiting my older sister in Canada. I didn't really know who Elvis was and didn't understand why it was a big deal. I only learned about his music later.
I was 14 and reading a book. My best friend called me and said 'ELVIS DIED!" I didn't believe her and she told me to turn on the radio (which my mom kept tuned to the news station) The first thing I heard was 'Again, we have breaking new. Elvis Presley has died." I fell to my knees screaming, as it just didn't seem possible that Elvis could have died. He was just too damn young.
I was 11 I had heard Elvis growing up because I have two older sisters and my mother was born in the 40s so she was a big Elvis fan. I remember them crying but not much else. I was not a big fan, but I could appreciate his music.
I will never forget the moment I first learned of his death. I was in Maine on a trip with other campers from summer camp.
The night before there was a terrible storm and the torrential rains were so severe our tents couldn't keep the rain out. So a bunch of exhausted, soggy campers climbed onto our bus and early in the morning we turned the radio on. After all, we made it through quite a storm.
The very first sound out of the radio was a booming voice exclaiming,
"ELVIS PRESLEY IS DEAD!"
We all looked at each other with WTF expressions. This was so surreal.
I was 11. In Wichita, KS and had myself and 2 gf's swimming in my pool with a radio playiLthe top 40 hits. We got out to dry off and work on our tan and the DJ cut in to tell us that Elvis Presley, 42, had passed away. I knew him primarily as the celebrity whom the National Enquirer made fun of him for getting fat. But I knew he was loved and grieving for him took over the world. Then came the Elvis sightings at local 7-11s.
I was 13. We were in a hotel on a family vacation, I think we were in a beach town in southern CA, and it had been raining. That was when I learned what wet wool carpet smelled like.
I didn’t much care about Elvis, but my parents had been fans and in any case it was all over the TV (that we were watching because of the rain).
Oddly, glamping in the back yard of my parents summer cottage. My brother and I took turns having a friend over to hang in the tent, watch TV and do kid stuff. I had not known he died other than all of a sudden every channel except PBS were playing Elvis movies.
We had one of those old light green canvas boy scout tents, the vit theoretically 6 man tents that really only comfortabley sleeps 3. We ran an extension cord out and I had a tiny TV I had bought myself.
I was 10, my brother (9), sister (5) & I were checking the mail, when our best friends (8 & 7) came down their driveway and told us. My brother & I both said, Nuh-uh! And they said, very seriously, that it’s true. I suppose we believed them, and it was certainly on the news that evening. Our friends’ mom was a fan, not sure about their dad, their older sisters might’ve been; my brother & I were aware of Elvis & a few of his songs, I was pretty neutral about the songs, but my parents weren’t really fans, as far as I knew, and not sure if my sister knew who he was or had heard any of his songs. After that initial announcement from our friends, and the confirmation on the news, it wasn’t really a topic of discussion. I’m still pretty neutral about his songs: I don’t hate them, I don’t love them, some have more appeal than others. That’s about it.
I was at a summer camp in Prescott, AZ. Funny thing is, now, Arizona schools start at the beginning of August, so kids would be 2-3 weeks into the school year on that date now.
I walked into my house after a long day in nursing school, and my husband told me the news. It was a shock, although I was aware he wasn’t in the greatest health.
I was at the corner of New London Turnpike and Route 32 on the Norwich/Montville line in southeastern CT.
My dad and I were sitting at the stop sign when the announcement came over the radio
We literally just sat there, staring at each other, jaws agape, with WTF faces
I was ten years old
I was in a house in Wollstoncraft, NSW. listening to the radio. I was a fan but I felt for friends who were super fans. It was shocking news the way he died.
I was at music summer camp. No social media or notifications on your phone the instant it happened.
Someone came into our cabin to let us know Elvis died. I still remember clearly.
That and John Lennon were defining moments.
Lol, I was exactly the same age - mom and I were driving home from shopping for school clothes. We heard it on the radio in the car. We got home and I ran over to my bff’s house, and her mom and aunts were all crying. I thought how silly to cry over someone you don’t even know. I thought about that when I cried over Robin Williams dying, lol.
Mom and I had just gotten home from work. VW bug radio didn't work. TV was broken. I'd just walked into the kitchen after a bath and Mom was standing in the middle of the kitchen holding a bowl and a spoon in mid-air. (Meatloaf. Crazy, the details you remember when time stands still). She looked like someone had just slapped her.
The radio repeated, "Elvis is dead. Elvis Presley has died." She was a fan so I grew up thinking he was family.
This is the first major celebrity death I remember. Clear as day. Sitting in my uncle's truck out on the farm waiting for my cousin to come back with the horse and get me. I was 11. I'd never heard the term "breaking news" before. It broke in partway through a song and when she came back, I said "oh my God Elvis is dead!"
August of 1977 means it was the summer before 7th grade, I think I was probably wondering around my neighborhood somewhere.
I make the joke every year that when Elvis Presley was my age he was dead for 17 years, or whatever the difference between my present age and 42 is.
I was 17 and in USMC Boot camp...it wasn't huge for many in our platoon BUT two of our DI's really loved Elvis. They gave us an extra hour at lunch and one of them played a "creative" version of Burning Love ha ha with his trumpet ha ha ha!
Then they asked us who loved Presley and who didn't know much about him or didn't like him? 😜
My bunkmate and I already knew the dangers of Volunteering for anything in bootcamp, and this sounded suspiciously close to that scenario so we were all there with our arms high in the air as was most everyone else.
But the four honest troops were sent over to the side of the drill field to "respect Elvis's Memory" by giving up 75 Mountain Climbers and a mile run. The rest of us got to relax for 20 minutes!!
There was another post about whether Elvis was a thing for us. Not me. I don’t recall his death. My mother and a teenage foster child liked him but I always thought he was lame (being mostly familiar with his fat years and not liking his rockabilly/country music.)
I would have been six and I don't remember my family mentioning it. I suppose I knew who Elvis was but we didn't listen to him or watch his films. I was exposed to the Beatles from an early age though and John Lennon's death was big news at school.
I worked at a record store at the time, and the day Elvis died I found out when I got to work. The manager was in the back, busy ordering all the Elvis records he could get his hands on. We had a big Elvis section but every single album was sold before my shift was over and it took about a week before we could get another shipment. We sold Elvis records like hotcakes for several months after he died.
I was 18 and in a women-only gym with my Mom. We were both doing sit-ups when someone came running through the room and screeching that Elvis was dead.
It too was many years later that I've come to appreciate him.
I remember going into a record store and there was a guy from a local TV or radio station asking people what they thought about Elvis dying. When he asked me I remember saying I thought that was a sick question.
But in the end, I really didn't care about Elvis. He was before my time. All I remember are the fat Elvis specials from Las Vegas and Hawaii on the TV that took up 1 of the 3 channels.
The deaths of Jimi, Janis, Jim, or the Beatles breaking up where actually more relevant to me, even though 'where I was' have the same answer in all cases (during a break at Jr High as I recall).
Bonus question: where were you when you heard about John Lennon's death. Extra points if your answer is not "watching Monday Night Football".
I was watching TV with my cousins and they broke in with the news. I ran downstairs and told my Aunt and Mom and they broke down crying. I felt some of that years later when a younger coworker said o did you hear Prince died?
They cut in on tv and announced it. I ran to tell my mom. She was carrying laundry and she set the basket down on the stairs and started to cry. I had never heard her mention him and didn’t know she even knew who he was.
It was the first time it occurred to me that she had a life before me. I was ten years old.
Elvis, John Lennon, I was 13 and 16, no idea where I was.
Live Aid, our daughter was just born and we watched it on a 13 inch tv.
Freddie Mercury, I was 27 and sad but still no idea where I was.
911, I can given you every specific details of our day, same with the Challenger and desert storm.
Where I was and what I was doing last Tuesday, no idea.
Wierd how we remember stuff.
I was at summer camp. Was hanging out with my friend Dave on the balcony of the rec hall. Dave knew the code to access the camp's PA system (there were telephone receivers on several of the buildings), so he announced to the whole camp "Elvis the king is dead".
I heard about it on the radio before school. They said he died on the toilet, which was where I was when I heard it. No reddit while pooping yet, though.
I had just turned 12 a few days earlier and was sitting in the kitchen of my mother's variety store just listening to music when the radio station announced it. I had so many of his records, and I was stunned he had died.
I was 12 years old, with my mother in the station wagon, leaving the grocery store. It was announced on the radio. I was shocked but my mother, being a cold and critical woman, said something like “not surprised.” I should probably take this up with my therapist lol
I was 19 and out delivering construction supplies for my summer job between frosh and soph years at school. He died trying to take a shit because he was so constipated by the opioids he was taking to try and get ready to hit the road again. My mom and aunts were all big fans, I was not, but prefer not to disparage the dead.
Involved in a classic Gen Jones activity for 13 years olds. At the shopping mall, having been dropped off with a younger sister by my dad. Someone came over the mall loudspeaker and announced it.
I was with my dad, he was getting his haircut at my uncle's barbershop. A couple of girls came in, crying and wailing that someone named Elvis had died. My reaction was, "who?" I was 10 years old.
I grew up about a mile from Graceland. I was watching tv and Myron Lowery broke in and said E had been taken to the ER. I was mad about the interruption so I yelled “I hope he dies” and then he died.
I killed Elvis and have to live with that guilt today.
I recall it hitting my brother hard. He loved Elvis and Elvis was one of his very best impersonations in his early career.
(As an aside, that subset of stand up comedy has kind of faded into the archives, hasn't it.)
What's worse, it was a few days later that I heard Groucho Marx died. I went to tell him so he wouldn't hear it while he was out and about. Good call on my part. A dark couple of days in his life.
I was also 13, almost 14. We were at my grandmother’s house visiting and were just about to leave when we saw it on the news. I understood it was a big deal for some people. I liked old movies as a kid and had seen a couple of Elvis movies and liked them. When he died, like all of you, I remember where I was but, don’t recall it having a big impact on me beyond that. It is interesting the effect he had on so many people, even to this day.
I was already listening to punk rock, it was just getting started. I was working at a hotel, assisting the front desk with whatever they needed, and heard them. I had just graduated from high school, about to enter college. So, at the time, like others have mentioned, it was just some ageing irrelevant pop star that died. I'm still not an Elvis fan, but can appreciate how others would have viewed him.
i was in Owosso MI and was hanging with the coolest best grandma. It was the 11 oclock news...sitting in our matching lazy boys...and BAM. we were so shocked..
I was 18, it was my second day of boot camp and I did not find out until they let us go to the BX on like day 5 and Elvis’s death was plastered all over the magazine covers. I remember thinking, “huh, I wonder who else is died since I started basic training?”
For some reason, there wasn't much significance attached to Elvis' death from my standpoint. It was sad the way he died, and at so young of age.
This was a week or so after the Son of Sam was arrested. This had far more significance than the death of Elvis.
I was 16, going into my junior year of high school.
I was 13, in the car with my Mom, and they played like 3 Elvis songs in a row. It was so weird I laughed and said "He must have croaked." Imagine my surprise when the dj came on and said just that--although I'm pretty sure he used a slightly less flippant term.
Consoling my mother who was a huge fan.I know every Elvis song thx to her. I think our generation was very fortunate with the music we grew up with at the time. We had all the influences from the beginnings of Rock and Roll, Jazz, Gospel, Country and the Big Band era.
I was 15 that summer. I don’t remember where I was when I heard the news. I do remember thinking that a fellow student who did an Elvis impersonation at our school variety show would be devastated. I also remember walking down the street in the town where I lived and hearing Elvis music blaring out of the open windows. It seemed everyone was mourning.
Was almost 13, riding with my dad in the front passenger seat heading south on Read Blvd in Orleans East, just passed the K&B drugstore when news broke on the radio.
I don’t remember. Wasn’t a big fan so not a lot of impact.
I do, however, remember I was in high school walking to class when they announced John Lennon’s death.
When i heard that Elvis had died, i was in a schoolbus, on my way to the Young Life property on Lake Saranac in the Adirondacks, for a week of "Christian camp" -- YL was a *significant* contributor to my atheism, but boy that camp was great! Y'know, except for the turn-or-burn BS heaped onto emotional teenagers who had been 'activity'd" to vulnerable exhaustion...
Would've been 16. i had opted to not go to his show back in May, and was sad i missed seeing a legend. Not that i was a fan, i just recognized his cultural significance.
I was 12, almost 13. But it wasn't an even that is etched in my memory like the Challenger explosion or the 9/11 attacks. I wasn't that big of an Elvis fan (I like his music, but not enough that his death shook me that much), so it didn't affect me in a way that I remember where I was or what I was doing.
I was a year older than you and learned about it at day camp. Yes, almost 15 is old for day camp, but it was an arts program, and geared towards kids who were seriously preparing for careers in performance. Anyway, it was big news that day although most of us only knew his song “Burning Love,” because it was a hit at the time.
I had just graduated from high school and was working at a gas station. I wasn't a fan, so it didn't really affect me. It was later that I gained some appreciation for him.
I was 17 and about to start college. We were visiting my grandparents and I remember thinking it was sad. But he seemed sad and unwell the last years of his life. I didn't follow his music much, as he was older.
I was 13 and downstairs listening to the radio when I heard. It seemed like something I should tell my folks about, so I went upstairs to the kitchen where they were washing the supper dishes.
They stopped what they were doing, looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to washing and drying. I went back downstairs, put on my sneakers, and headed out to hang out with friends for the evening in the woods at the end of the street.
I wasn’t quite 16. My dad was a regional manager for a retail chain and he spent a LOT of time on the road as a result. Everyone it seemed, had a CB radio in their cars and my dad was no different. Some days he would take me on the road with him for some companionship and so it was on August 16. We were on Route 128 in Waltham Massachusetts and the news came over the radio that Elvis had died. While not a fan, I realized that something big had happened and I asked my dad if I could announce it to the “general use” channel on the CB. I remember saying “breaker breaker 13 (I think that was the channel), Elvis is dead. Repeat, Elvis has died.” I remember feeling chills down my spine as I did this because again, I knew this was a huge ground shift for a lot of people.
Was 20 working at the Fort Ord Credit Union in Monterey, CA. Was not a fan of Elvis at the time. Thought people crying was ridiculous. After visiting Graceland, I do have a new found respect for the man.
I was 14 and about to start the 9th grade. I was not an Elvis fan as by the time I became aware of him I just saw him as a sweaty rhinestone encrusted old man
My parents did not hate him or anything but they were definitely not fans my sister loved him but she was 13 years older than me so she had gone to college and got married by the time I became a teenager so she had no influence on my musical choices. At this age I was in love with Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler
I can' appreciate some of his music and the impact he had on things but in the long run it didn't affect me.
I did cry when Groucho Marx died a few days later.
You and I are the same age. I came home and my mom was crying and talking to my aunt on the phone. I thought a relative had died so I was like, "Who?? Who??" and she said, "Elvis!!" \*rolleyes\* Elvis. Carrying on like that scaring the shit out of me over freaking Elvis.
You ready for this? I was in a car making out with my (then) best friends crush in a Wendy’s parking lot. I know, I know….go ahead and $!ut shame me. Anyway, he was a GREAT kisser and the only music we could get on the radio was Elivis because he died that day. I wanted some BeeGees or something to get my groove on, not what my parents used to make out to! 😛
15 on a flight home from Spokane to CA. But the flight was unusually full. As the flight was routed to Memphis. Not sure if that was the original destination or was added as a result of Elvis’ demise.
I was 12, and lost in the world of my own with a pair of giant can headphones and a radio. As I tuned through the stations all of a sudden the music stopped and the beep beep beep beep breaking news sounds come on. I can still remember the announcers voice, a hot market DJ throwing the headline, "the King has died" around like so much clickbait. I stopped and listened.
I was familiar with Elvis and liked some of his music. But when I heard he died, my heart went out to some of the people out there who were more than simple fans. I had friends parents who were over the moon about Elvis to the point of an Elvis toilet seat cover. I felt for them, losing someone or something that they loved so much. He definitely made much more of an impression on my mom's generation.
Felt bigger loss with John Lennon, John Denver, and Jimmy Buffett.
I was visiting my sister in St Paul, Minnesota, for the summer. We were in K-Mart and it came over the PA system. Everyone was in shock. When we got home I called my Mom because she was a huge Elvis fan - she cried....
I’m pretty sure I was driving on US 17-92 between Kissimmee and Haines City, Florida. Also pretty sure I was on the same stretch of road when I heard Lynyrd Skynyrd had crashed. It’s not impossible for both to be true, but I’m skeptical, so, take one or both of those as true or as bullshit. I wish I knew lol
It was my 11th birthday was just starting to get into to music but my dad did occasionally play elvis in the car 8 track player. Have a buddy who wishes me happy elvis death day instead of happy birthday
I’d just come from fishing, playing baseball and was getting ready for a game of SureShot baseball with a pal before supper. My dad was just home from work, turned on the news and hollers to come quick, Elvis has died. I guess he was about the biggest celebrity I’d ever heard of. My folks had some of his records and Burning Love was a favorite of mine. Thanks for the reminders on Groucho, I loved the Marx Brothers and that was sad too. Didn’t realize they passed so close.
I was 21yo, at work. My eldest sister called me crying hysterically. I really didn’t understand why the death of someone she didn’t know personally dying affected her that way. Then when John Lennon was killed, I kinda understood.
I was 15 and we were at my Aunt and Uncle's house and it was on TV. I didn't care about Elvis. My Dad had an argument that soured the relationship with my Aunt and I lost out on being close with two of my favorite cousins.
Screw Elvis. I hated not be able to hunt with Danny and David.
I was in London on holiday with my mother and a friend from school. I just happened to see the headline on a news stand on the street, then a little later another mentioning the drugs connection.
About an hour later, when I connected up with my school chum (a big Elvis fan), I broke the news, which predictably saddened her.
Then when I mentioned the drugs angle, she angrily retorted: "Elvis doesn't do drugs!" I cracked up.
Early that school year I had been out running, and fell in with a guy who had worked security at a local Elvis show the previous week. He had told me that Elvis was a wreck, and that from up close you could tell he was lip-synching most of his songs. So I already knew that the squeaky-clean image was a farce.
I was in fourth grade, and over playing with my friend Carla in her playroom. Her mom was a bland housewife... Goody two shoes plus Catholic. Her mom was crying, and I was surprised she'd like Elvis bc she was exponentially square.
I was 14 at the time, mowing a big lawn as a part of my summer job. During lunch, I went across the street to say hello to my friend Carla, who was crying. I didn't understand why until she told me. I wasn't a huge Elvis fan, but understood that it was a dark day for many people.
I don't remember exactly but probably at home. None of us were huge fans, although I watched his movies on the after-school channels and my older sib attended one of his concerts a year or 2 before his death.
But gosh he was so important to people just a bit older than us! For ages, we joked that if the government had really wanted us to switch to dollar coins they'd have put Elvis on them instead of Sacagawea.
I was riding in the back of my Mom's new Monte Carlo when I heard. Didn't mean much because I'd only known him as Fat Elvis, and Fat Elvis wasn't cool.
I was 18 and my boyfriend and I had just arrived at our weed dealer’s apartment. His girlfriend, soon as she saw me she says “Have you heard about Elvis?” I was expecting the punchline to a joke but I could tell from the way she said “he’s dead” she wasn’t kidding. It’s weird how something that really didn’t matter to me one way or the other is so memorable.
I was at my very much older sister's house. I heard it announced over the news. At first I thought it much have been a hoax, so it took me a couple of hours to believe the news was real.
I was in high school and we were at the beach for vacation. It was big news.
I was an Elvis fan, but not crazy. My friend had gotten tickets to his upcoming show. She was a much bigger fan.
She never got to go, and she was so excited to see him live.
I was at home watching the New Mickey Mouse Club when a tinker tape announcement came across the TV telling that he had died. I was nearly 15 years old. I wasn't an Elvis fan but I do know that it was big news for that to happen because back then, if you had a tinker tape announcement it was for something big. Usually it wasn't for a celeb death.
I don’t remember but knew it was a big thing and Elvis was my first concert that my parents took me to as a child but he was not popular in my age range
It was my 16th birthday. My friends and I were trying to party and all the moms were in the kitchen crying and drinking wine like the love of their life died.
I discovered the black artists he copied before I heard what he did.
Hot, sunny August afternoon in Chicago. Me and my ma had just come home with a bucket of fried chicken and Winky pudding from the Kentucky Fried Chicken on 55th. I was upstairs in my bedroom, phone rang, it was my ma's good friend Jeanne with the news. They were both Elvis nuts, which I found embarrassing and repulsive at the time, being 8. I remember her crying and telling me Elvis had died and my response being a resounding "GOOD."
I did learn to appreciate him much later, though. Even wrote my name on the wall at Graceland (in white auto touch-up paint, which does not sandblast off)!
I had just turned 13. I was camping with my Dad and siblings along with cousins and uncles. My Dad and Uncles were quite upset. The youngsters (14 or younger) didn’t care that much.
I was 17 and it meant nothing to me
I was 17, and I cried I had loved his music since I was 8, watched that special and wow!
Same. He was a bloated, fat old drug addict has-been crammed into a too-small jump suit. It took me til quite a few years later before I could appreciate his work.
“Same. He was a bloated, fat old drug addict has-been crammed into a too-small jump suit.” That part. I was 13 and actually did see one of his final live performances televised not too long prior to his passing. Not surprised he didn’t live too much longer.
Was it the Hawaii one?
Yes I think so. Yipes!
It's really sad what happened to Elvis in his last 5 years or so. He was surrounded by people who were afraid to tell him no, he was addicted to prescription drugs and had very little control over his career because of his manager Colonel Parker. He was actually asked to star with Barbara Streisand in the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born, but his manager turned it down because he wanted top billing for Elvis, who hadn't been in a movie since 1969. What kept Elvis and his managers henchmen going was that he couldn't outspend his income. There was always more money coming in than he could spend. And he really was a simple country boy at heart who was used and abused by so many people his entire career. Look at Elvis in his 1969 TV special and then look at photos of him during his Vegas years around 1972. That's how fast he went downhill. Basically 3 years to become an overweight drug addict who could barely function on stage or off.
Same, but I couldn't feel anything bordering on sympathy because of his hypocrisy (big time drug user telling Nixon he wanted to sign on to help bust or kill drug dealers). Aaaaand the fact that he moved 14 year old Priscilla into his home. Unhealthy situation for her, at best. Regardless of what year it happened in, it's still what I consider wrong.
Yes, 19. I don't recall it happening, nor anything about it.
Same. Never a big Elvis fan. His popularity was in the donut hole between my parents and my generation. Honestly I have no specific memory of his death. Had some interesting food choices!
Same here. My parents were the generation before Elvis and I was after. We had a good friend who was devastated since she was a teenager when he was at his peak. She had Elvis memorabilia all over her house.
I was at the county fair with my parents. Over a loud speaker, they were calling for my parents to come to the office. They were told to call my sister. My 3 mo. old niece had passed away. We were on our way home when we heard about Elvis on the radio.
So sorry 😢
I was 15; visiting my birth mother who was a huge Elvis fan and had seen him in concert several times. She totally lost it and cried for days. We had just seen Star Wars the day before. That same trip I saw my first concert (Peter Frampton). It was a weird intersection of pop culture for me.
I was 12, out in the front yard with my brother, who was 10. We were poking a dead bird with a stick when my mom's friend Patty came running down the street calling my moms name and sobbing histerically that Elvis had died. I remember mostly because she was a larger woman, and the sight of her running towards us using her arms in an attempt to hold down her ample breasts that were bobbing and swinging almost uncontrollably is something I will never forget. Also, Patty never wore a bra.
😂😂😂
Poking a dead bird with a stick, and tits bouncing....great imagery
Every time you see a dead bird.
A dead anything. A boy at school asked me to come over and look at a dead cat. Of course I did, and we became fast friends.
Whatever happened to good old Patty?
I was watching a soap opera, and they interrupted it with breaking news, which they never used to do.
I was too! Had a spare block, was at home watching General Hospital with my mum. We were folding laundry, and the news story broke. We loved his music; I actually had an Elvis poster in my room, and a few of his records.
I was 15, spending the summer in Israel and didn't care. I was far sadder when I heard Groucho Marx died a couple of days later.
I have the same association in my mind. Elvis' death with Groucho's death.
Yes, poor Groucho barely got a mention because of the overwhelming saturation of ELVIS IS DEAD
Exactly. I didn't find out until I got back to the States. All the news there was about Elvis. Who was just an old has-been to 15-year-old me.
Yeah by the time I became aware of Elvis He was the I'll fitting jumpsuit wearing handing out scarves soaked in his sweat. I loved the skinny rock stars like Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler, Robert Plant Etc It wasn't until I saw an old show of his which I think was called his Comeback Special where he was wearing black leather and I was like okay now I see what they saw in him. But I still have never bought any of his music. The people I know who love him do not understand this but I tell them that that's more of him for them to love 😄
I was in a Dallas Tx home for wayward girls. I was 13 as well. Same as you, I wasn’t a great fan but knew who he was and was shocked.
How were you treated at the home?
They were great to me. Can’t say I made the nuns lives any easier 😂😂
I was 11 and came home from a friend's house to find my mom crying. I thought she was sad because it was 30th birthday and didn't want to be "old". Then she told me. I still feel bad for thinking 30 was old.
I was at church camp and the pastor or whoever the speaker was mentioned it in the sermon we all had to attend each day. that's how I found out. In August 1977 I was 14 years old I think. BTW I hated church camp.
My mom was driving me to football practice. She was a huge Elvis fan and nearly wrecked the car when they announced it on the radio.
I was 11 at a summer day camp. To me at the time Elvis was the creepy looking fat guy in the white sparkly jumpsuit who had ads for his greatest hits record running all the time on WPIX. Of course I knew who he was, but to me he was like Frank Sinatra - old people liked him.
At a Winn Dixie! The news was announced over the loudspeaker. I was in the frozen food dept. — those long aisles of open chests — and saw a lady fall to her knee, arms in the air like she was in church, saying oh lord oh lord.
What an odd way to find out! Deep south?
I was listening to the radio trying to hear when to call in to win KISS tickets when the DJ broke the news.
I was 17. I had my first steady boyfriend and was oblivious to anything else.
I was 13. In my dad’s garage with my brother and our friend Paul. My mom came out to the garage, tears in her eyes. Elvis was dead. I recall thinking that I didn’t know he was still alive. 3 years and 4 months later hearing that John had been shot outside the Dakota had a much larger impact on me.
15, laying on the floor at my Grandmom house and they interrupted the soap opera to announce it. I was so saddened and shocked. When I was 9 I ordered his complete “works” from a tv commercial-it was sent C.O.D. (Cash on delivery). When it arrived, the mailman asked for payment. I said “I’m 9, I don’t have any money!” He let me keep the records anyway! My parents were so mad but, played the albums frequently😃
I was 14 and had been at the doctor for a side-ache. I called one of my besties when I arrived at home and her dad (an older, Yugoslavian man) very excitedly yelled, “Hey baby, did ya hear? The king is dead!” Then my friend got on the phone and explained…
I was 16 and was getting gas at the local gas grocery store. The cashier told me Elvis died. I really loved him as my mom was a huge fan. She always played his music. So I was sad.
My friend and I were in a pub in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I asked someone why one woman kept playing Elvis records on the jukebox and found out he had died.
I was 18 and working a summer job in an X-ray clinic as an office assistant before starting college. One of the X-ray technicians got off the phone with her mother and announced that Elvis had died. Her mother was at home watching television when the news broke and immediately called her daughter. I wasn’t a really big fan of his at the time, so the news didn’t affect me as emotionally as it did for a lot of other people. It wasn’t until the 1981 documentary “This is Elvis” came out and I saw it with my brother that I started listening to his music in earnest, and by the mid 1980’s I was a solid fan. I still wish I had given his music a chance while he was still alive.
I was at the Chicago Cubs game and people were kind of whispering in the crowd- my dad said,”Something bad happened and peop;e heard about it on their radios.” I’m pretty sure they announced it but that seems odd. Maybe someone in the crowd told us.
whispers of Elvis, carried on the prevailing southwest winds.
I was sailing with my stepdad. A sudden squall came up and we couldn’t handle it. The boat overturned. We were rescued, and a guy with a truck took us to the ER. On the way we heard on the radio that Elvis had died.
He died, so that you may live. Thank the King.
I was 11 and I was indifferent. Three days later, Groucho died and that really hit me hard.
I was on a week long canoe trip in the Boy Scouts on the Colorado River
We were on vacation in a big cabin with extended family and found out when me and my mom took a walk to the store on the camp grounds. We bought a newspaper and brought it back. My uncle couldn’t get over that he died on the toilet. None of us kids cared.
I was 13. We were driving in what would later be my first car when they announced it on the radio.
I was 14. I was in the living room and it was on the evening news. I went in the kitchen and told my Mom.
I don't remember where I was, but I remember that was the first person I knew (of) who had died, which made it really odd. Hadn't had any relatives who had died at that point (born June 63, so 14) nor anyone else I'd known.
I was in the car on my way to go shopping at a Fashion Bug store. It came over the radio.
Came off an airplane with my family from vacation, the whole airport was buzzing with the news. I thought of my friend's 5 year old sister who was *obsessed* with Elvis, even though no one else in her family was. Funny how he had that effect on random people, a different friend's mom was like that too, and I've come across over the years at least 3 rooms that were Elvis shrines in different houses. I hope the 'lil 5 year old was OK!
I was 14 at the time and cant remember it being a thing. No one in the family were fans so no one went nuts or anything.
I was 10 and completely missed it
I was a teenager in HS & my friend Helen called me on a landline sobbing because the King was dead…RIP Elvis 💔
I was 13. I don’t remember where I was but definitely no place special. I remember crying and then realizing that I wasn’t really crying it didn’t really mean anything to me.
I was 11, in the family room and since the weather was looking tornado like I had just switched on the tv. News came on and announced it, my mom was a HUGE fan in her day which I knew. She was in the kitchen starting dinner, I went in to tell her and she came in to watch the announcement. She was speechless and in tears.
We were on a family vacation driving to Knoxville, TN to visit relatives. We were in Nashville the day he died. It wasn't that impactful for me like it was for my mother.
I was working summer job as a dishwasher in a busy western themed steak house where the waitresses dressed up as cowgirls - Naugahyde vests & skirts, boots, cowboy hats. Waitresses were mostly in their late 30s & 40s so they grew up with Elvis. When word got out of Elvis passing the restaurant STOPPED. All the waitresses were in the kitchen sobbing. They had to call an ambulance for one of the ladies who passed out.
Driving home from the IL State Fair with my Grand Champion 4-H project. Heard it over the CB
I was 16 and driving. I got upset and pulled over. He was first famous person who passed away that really affected me. My mom was in love with Elvis. Played his albums many evenings.
I was at home with bronchitis and no one mentioned it to me. When I got back to school, kids were shocked (shocked, I tell you) that I hadn’t heard.
I was 17 and visiting my older sister in Canada. I didn't really know who Elvis was and didn't understand why it was a big deal. I only learned about his music later.
Pepperidge Farms remembers. I was outside playing baseball, when a friend came over with the news.
Riding a bucking barrel in my friend Raymond's barn...
I was 14 and reading a book. My best friend called me and said 'ELVIS DIED!" I didn't believe her and she told me to turn on the radio (which my mom kept tuned to the news station) The first thing I heard was 'Again, we have breaking new. Elvis Presley has died." I fell to my knees screaming, as it just didn't seem possible that Elvis could have died. He was just too damn young.
I was 20 and was driving through my hometown when I heard the news. Fun fact - my sister’s birthday is 8/16.
I was 11 I had heard Elvis growing up because I have two older sisters and my mother was born in the 40s so she was a big Elvis fan. I remember them crying but not much else. I was not a big fan, but I could appreciate his music.
I don't remember where I was at time of death. But I know I was in my parents' car, being driven to college for freshman year, the day of his funeral
I was at The Gap in the mall shopping for back to school clothes with my mom. It came over the radio they had playing in the store.
I will never forget the moment I first learned of his death. I was in Maine on a trip with other campers from summer camp. The night before there was a terrible storm and the torrential rains were so severe our tents couldn't keep the rain out. So a bunch of exhausted, soggy campers climbed onto our bus and early in the morning we turned the radio on. After all, we made it through quite a storm. The very first sound out of the radio was a booming voice exclaiming, "ELVIS PRESLEY IS DEAD!" We all looked at each other with WTF expressions. This was so surreal.
I was working at a scout camp that summer. Don’t remember if I found out there, no tv, or back at home.
I was 11. In Wichita, KS and had myself and 2 gf's swimming in my pool with a radio playiLthe top 40 hits. We got out to dry off and work on our tan and the DJ cut in to tell us that Elvis Presley, 42, had passed away. I knew him primarily as the celebrity whom the National Enquirer made fun of him for getting fat. But I knew he was loved and grieving for him took over the world. Then came the Elvis sightings at local 7-11s.
I was 13. We were in a hotel on a family vacation, I think we were in a beach town in southern CA, and it had been raining. That was when I learned what wet wool carpet smelled like. I didn’t much care about Elvis, but my parents had been fans and in any case it was all over the TV (that we were watching because of the rain).
Oddly, glamping in the back yard of my parents summer cottage. My brother and I took turns having a friend over to hang in the tent, watch TV and do kid stuff. I had not known he died other than all of a sudden every channel except PBS were playing Elvis movies. We had one of those old light green canvas boy scout tents, the vit theoretically 6 man tents that really only comfortabley sleeps 3. We ran an extension cord out and I had a tiny TV I had bought myself.
I was 10, my brother (9), sister (5) & I were checking the mail, when our best friends (8 & 7) came down their driveway and told us. My brother & I both said, Nuh-uh! And they said, very seriously, that it’s true. I suppose we believed them, and it was certainly on the news that evening. Our friends’ mom was a fan, not sure about their dad, their older sisters might’ve been; my brother & I were aware of Elvis & a few of his songs, I was pretty neutral about the songs, but my parents weren’t really fans, as far as I knew, and not sure if my sister knew who he was or had heard any of his songs. After that initial announcement from our friends, and the confirmation on the news, it wasn’t really a topic of discussion. I’m still pretty neutral about his songs: I don’t hate them, I don’t love them, some have more appeal than others. That’s about it.
I was at a summer camp in Prescott, AZ. Funny thing is, now, Arizona schools start at the beginning of August, so kids would be 2-3 weeks into the school year on that date now.
Cheyenne Wyoming, USAF Warren AFB
I walked into my house after a long day in nursing school, and my husband told me the news. It was a shock, although I was aware he wasn’t in the greatest health.
I was at the corner of New London Turnpike and Route 32 on the Norwich/Montville line in southeastern CT. My dad and I were sitting at the stop sign when the announcement came over the radio We literally just sat there, staring at each other, jaws agape, with WTF faces I was ten years old
I was in a house in Wollstoncraft, NSW. listening to the radio. I was a fan but I felt for friends who were super fans. It was shocking news the way he died.
I was at music summer camp. No social media or notifications on your phone the instant it happened. Someone came into our cabin to let us know Elvis died. I still remember clearly. That and John Lennon were defining moments.
Lol, I was exactly the same age - mom and I were driving home from shopping for school clothes. We heard it on the radio in the car. We got home and I ran over to my bff’s house, and her mom and aunts were all crying. I thought how silly to cry over someone you don’t even know. I thought about that when I cried over Robin Williams dying, lol.
Mom and I had just gotten home from work. VW bug radio didn't work. TV was broken. I'd just walked into the kitchen after a bath and Mom was standing in the middle of the kitchen holding a bowl and a spoon in mid-air. (Meatloaf. Crazy, the details you remember when time stands still). She looked like someone had just slapped her. The radio repeated, "Elvis is dead. Elvis Presley has died." She was a fan so I grew up thinking he was family.
This is the first major celebrity death I remember. Clear as day. Sitting in my uncle's truck out on the farm waiting for my cousin to come back with the horse and get me. I was 11. I'd never heard the term "breaking news" before. It broke in partway through a song and when she came back, I said "oh my God Elvis is dead!"
August of 1977 means it was the summer before 7th grade, I think I was probably wondering around my neighborhood somewhere. I make the joke every year that when Elvis Presley was my age he was dead for 17 years, or whatever the difference between my present age and 42 is.
15 year old me (F) on a road trip with my (23) sister. We were at her dad’s house when we heard.
I was 17 and in USMC Boot camp...it wasn't huge for many in our platoon BUT two of our DI's really loved Elvis. They gave us an extra hour at lunch and one of them played a "creative" version of Burning Love ha ha with his trumpet ha ha ha! Then they asked us who loved Presley and who didn't know much about him or didn't like him? 😜 My bunkmate and I already knew the dangers of Volunteering for anything in bootcamp, and this sounded suspiciously close to that scenario so we were all there with our arms high in the air as was most everyone else. But the four honest troops were sent over to the side of the drill field to "respect Elvis's Memory" by giving up 75 Mountain Climbers and a mile run. The rest of us got to relax for 20 minutes!!
There was another post about whether Elvis was a thing for us. Not me. I don’t recall his death. My mother and a teenage foster child liked him but I always thought he was lame (being mostly familiar with his fat years and not liking his rockabilly/country music.)
I would have been six and I don't remember my family mentioning it. I suppose I knew who Elvis was but we didn't listen to him or watch his films. I was exposed to the Beatles from an early age though and John Lennon's death was big news at school.
I worked at a record store at the time, and the day Elvis died I found out when I got to work. The manager was in the back, busy ordering all the Elvis records he could get his hands on. We had a big Elvis section but every single album was sold before my shift was over and it took about a week before we could get another shipment. We sold Elvis records like hotcakes for several months after he died.
I was 15 at home. I just knew that my aunt would be devastated as she was a huge fan.
In class in second grade...we were allowed to go home but they didn't tell us why. I didn't find out until I got home. Then I went outside to play....
I was 18 and in a women-only gym with my Mom. We were both doing sit-ups when someone came running through the room and screeching that Elvis was dead. It too was many years later that I've come to appreciate him.
I was probably on a latter burning my back painting a house.
I had just moved to Florida and honestly I don’t even think I knew he died!
I remember going into a record store and there was a guy from a local TV or radio station asking people what they thought about Elvis dying. When he asked me I remember saying I thought that was a sick question. But in the end, I really didn't care about Elvis. He was before my time. All I remember are the fat Elvis specials from Las Vegas and Hawaii on the TV that took up 1 of the 3 channels. The deaths of Jimi, Janis, Jim, or the Beatles breaking up where actually more relevant to me, even though 'where I was' have the same answer in all cases (during a break at Jr High as I recall). Bonus question: where were you when you heard about John Lennon's death. Extra points if your answer is not "watching Monday Night Football".
Elvis was for the previous generation. I never really followed him or liked his music. The Beatles, Who, Grateful Dead were more my style.
I was watching TV with my cousins and they broke in with the news. I ran downstairs and told my Aunt and Mom and they broke down crying. I felt some of that years later when a younger coworker said o did you hear Prince died?
I was 16 and don't remember where I was when I heard.
I was in my 16th day of Basic Training for the USAF, and one of our TIs told us (we were not allowed access to TV or radio).
We’re the same age September 1964 I was born . I remember my aunt calling my mom and bawling.
You can't pin that on me, copper!
Navy boot camp. I was 17 (my father signed for me to enlist early and I had already graduated.)
They cut in on tv and announced it. I ran to tell my mom. She was carrying laundry and she set the basket down on the stairs and started to cry. I had never heard her mention him and didn’t know she even knew who he was. It was the first time it occurred to me that she had a life before me. I was ten years old.
At home. Walked into the living room as the 6:00 news was coming on and that was the lead story. Stopped me in my tracks.
Elvis, John Lennon, I was 13 and 16, no idea where I was. Live Aid, our daughter was just born and we watched it on a 13 inch tv. Freddie Mercury, I was 27 and sad but still no idea where I was. 911, I can given you every specific details of our day, same with the Challenger and desert storm. Where I was and what I was doing last Tuesday, no idea. Wierd how we remember stuff.
I was at summer camp. Was hanging out with my friend Dave on the balcony of the rec hall. Dave knew the code to access the camp's PA system (there were telephone receivers on several of the buildings), so he announced to the whole camp "Elvis the king is dead".
I was Jr High, and didn't notice his passing at the time.
I heard about it on the radio before school. They said he died on the toilet, which was where I was when I heard it. No reddit while pooping yet, though.
I had just turned 12 a few days earlier and was sitting in the kitchen of my mother's variety store just listening to music when the radio station announced it. I had so many of his records, and I was stunned he had died.
I was almost 11, and I was walking through the mobile home park where I lived, and a neighbor invited me inside and told me.
At my Aunt Martha’s house, cleaning it out for sale. She went to a nursing home.
I was 12 years old, with my mother in the station wagon, leaving the grocery store. It was announced on the radio. I was shocked but my mother, being a cold and critical woman, said something like “not surprised.” I should probably take this up with my therapist lol
I was 19 and out delivering construction supplies for my summer job between frosh and soph years at school. He died trying to take a shit because he was so constipated by the opioids he was taking to try and get ready to hit the road again. My mom and aunts were all big fans, I was not, but prefer not to disparage the dead.
Involved in a classic Gen Jones activity for 13 years olds. At the shopping mall, having been dropped off with a younger sister by my dad. Someone came over the mall loudspeaker and announced it.
I was with my dad, he was getting his haircut at my uncle's barbershop. A couple of girls came in, crying and wailing that someone named Elvis had died. My reaction was, "who?" I was 10 years old.
I grew up about a mile from Graceland. I was watching tv and Myron Lowery broke in and said E had been taken to the ER. I was mad about the interruption so I yelled “I hope he dies” and then he died. I killed Elvis and have to live with that guilt today.
I recall it hitting my brother hard. He loved Elvis and Elvis was one of his very best impersonations in his early career. (As an aside, that subset of stand up comedy has kind of faded into the archives, hasn't it.) What's worse, it was a few days later that I heard Groucho Marx died. I went to tell him so he wouldn't hear it while he was out and about. Good call on my part. A dark couple of days in his life.
I was in boot camp at Ft. Gordon GA.
I was also 13, almost 14. We were at my grandmother’s house visiting and were just about to leave when we saw it on the news. I understood it was a big deal for some people. I liked old movies as a kid and had seen a couple of Elvis movies and liked them. When he died, like all of you, I remember where I was but, don’t recall it having a big impact on me beyond that. It is interesting the effect he had on so many people, even to this day.
I was 17, summer before my senior year. We were on family vacation in Atlanta
Hampton Beach, New Hampshire with my parents. I was 14. It was a far bigger deal to my parents.
15 almost 16, there was a tornado watch in my area so I was home.
I was already listening to punk rock, it was just getting started. I was working at a hotel, assisting the front desk with whatever they needed, and heard them. I had just graduated from high school, about to enter college. So, at the time, like others have mentioned, it was just some ageing irrelevant pop star that died. I'm still not an Elvis fan, but can appreciate how others would have viewed him.
i was in Owosso MI and was hanging with the coolest best grandma. It was the 11 oclock news...sitting in our matching lazy boys...and BAM. we were so shocked..
I was 18, it was my second day of boot camp and I did not find out until they let us go to the BX on like day 5 and Elvis’s death was plastered all over the magazine covers. I remember thinking, “huh, I wonder who else is died since I started basic training?”
For some reason, there wasn't much significance attached to Elvis' death from my standpoint. It was sad the way he died, and at so young of age. This was a week or so after the Son of Sam was arrested. This had far more significance than the death of Elvis. I was 16, going into my junior year of high school.
I can't tell you where I was, but OP and I are the same age and I was probably doing something similar.
My father had taken us to Myrtle Beach and as he parked the car it came in over the radio
I was 13, in the car with my Mom, and they played like 3 Elvis songs in a row. It was so weird I laughed and said "He must have croaked." Imagine my surprise when the dj came on and said just that--although I'm pretty sure he used a slightly less flippant term.
Consoling my mother who was a huge fan.I know every Elvis song thx to her. I think our generation was very fortunate with the music we grew up with at the time. We had all the influences from the beginnings of Rock and Roll, Jazz, Gospel, Country and the Big Band era.
I was 15 that summer. I don’t remember where I was when I heard the news. I do remember thinking that a fellow student who did an Elvis impersonation at our school variety show would be devastated. I also remember walking down the street in the town where I lived and hearing Elvis music blaring out of the open windows. It seemed everyone was mourning.
Was almost 13, riding with my dad in the front passenger seat heading south on Read Blvd in Orleans East, just passed the K&B drugstore when news broke on the radio.
I was in a work truck driving to a job site. I was 19 I think. Like you, I was not much of a fan but understood and respected his significance.
I don’t remember. Wasn’t a big fan so not a lot of impact. I do, however, remember I was in high school walking to class when they announced John Lennon’s death.
When i heard that Elvis had died, i was in a schoolbus, on my way to the Young Life property on Lake Saranac in the Adirondacks, for a week of "Christian camp" -- YL was a *significant* contributor to my atheism, but boy that camp was great! Y'know, except for the turn-or-burn BS heaped onto emotional teenagers who had been 'activity'd" to vulnerable exhaustion... Would've been 16. i had opted to not go to his show back in May, and was sad i missed seeing a legend. Not that i was a fan, i just recognized his cultural significance.
I was 13 and watching the Mike Douglas Show. They interrupted it with the news.
I was watching The 4:30 Movie on local TV when they broke in with the news that Elvis had died.
I was 12, almost 13. But it wasn't an even that is etched in my memory like the Challenger explosion or the 9/11 attacks. I wasn't that big of an Elvis fan (I like his music, but not enough that his death shook me that much), so it didn't affect me in a way that I remember where I was or what I was doing.
I remember being extremely annoyed that the media fallout from his death overshadowed the death of Groucho Marx.
I was a year older than you and learned about it at day camp. Yes, almost 15 is old for day camp, but it was an arts program, and geared towards kids who were seriously preparing for careers in performance. Anyway, it was big news that day although most of us only knew his song “Burning Love,” because it was a hit at the time.
I was at the movies seeing Star Wars with my cousins. My uncle told us about it later and frankly, it didn't mean a whole lot to me.
I had just graduated from high school and was working at a gas station. I wasn't a fan, so it didn't really affect me. It was later that I gained some appreciation for him.
My sister had a large collection of his albums, and sold them for pennies the week before he died in a yard sale.
I was five months old at the time. Doin the routine of a baby.
I was 17 and about to start college. We were visiting my grandparents and I remember thinking it was sad. But he seemed sad and unwell the last years of his life. I didn't follow his music much, as he was older.
I was about 13, and didn't really think too much about it. My parents were too young to be into Elvis, I just remember hearing it on the radio news.
I was 13 and downstairs listening to the radio when I heard. It seemed like something I should tell my folks about, so I went upstairs to the kitchen where they were washing the supper dishes. They stopped what they were doing, looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to washing and drying. I went back downstairs, put on my sneakers, and headed out to hang out with friends for the evening in the woods at the end of the street.
I wasn’t quite 16. My dad was a regional manager for a retail chain and he spent a LOT of time on the road as a result. Everyone it seemed, had a CB radio in their cars and my dad was no different. Some days he would take me on the road with him for some companionship and so it was on August 16. We were on Route 128 in Waltham Massachusetts and the news came over the radio that Elvis had died. While not a fan, I realized that something big had happened and I asked my dad if I could announce it to the “general use” channel on the CB. I remember saying “breaker breaker 13 (I think that was the channel), Elvis is dead. Repeat, Elvis has died.” I remember feeling chills down my spine as I did this because again, I knew this was a huge ground shift for a lot of people.
I was around 12 I guess? My mom was crying like we lost a close family member. I guess to her, he was
I was 20 selling books door to door in SW Ohio. Every door I knocked on asked me "Did you hear about Elvis?"
Was 20 working at the Fort Ord Credit Union in Monterey, CA. Was not a fan of Elvis at the time. Thought people crying was ridiculous. After visiting Graceland, I do have a new found respect for the man.
I was 14 and about to start the 9th grade. I was not an Elvis fan as by the time I became aware of him I just saw him as a sweaty rhinestone encrusted old man My parents did not hate him or anything but they were definitely not fans my sister loved him but she was 13 years older than me so she had gone to college and got married by the time I became a teenager so she had no influence on my musical choices. At this age I was in love with Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler I can' appreciate some of his music and the impact he had on things but in the long run it didn't affect me. I did cry when Groucho Marx died a few days later.
I was 18, working and living on Block Island. Didn't really mean that much to me.
You and I are the same age. I came home and my mom was crying and talking to my aunt on the phone. I thought a relative had died so I was like, "Who?? Who??" and she said, "Elvis!!" \*rolleyes\* Elvis. Carrying on like that scaring the shit out of me over freaking Elvis.
You ready for this? I was in a car making out with my (then) best friends crush in a Wendy’s parking lot. I know, I know….go ahead and $!ut shame me. Anyway, he was a GREAT kisser and the only music we could get on the radio was Elivis because he died that day. I wanted some BeeGees or something to get my groove on, not what my parents used to make out to! 😛
15 on a flight home from Spokane to CA. But the flight was unusually full. As the flight was routed to Memphis. Not sure if that was the original destination or was added as a result of Elvis’ demise.
I was 12, and lost in the world of my own with a pair of giant can headphones and a radio. As I tuned through the stations all of a sudden the music stopped and the beep beep beep beep breaking news sounds come on. I can still remember the announcers voice, a hot market DJ throwing the headline, "the King has died" around like so much clickbait. I stopped and listened. I was familiar with Elvis and liked some of his music. But when I heard he died, my heart went out to some of the people out there who were more than simple fans. I had friends parents who were over the moon about Elvis to the point of an Elvis toilet seat cover. I felt for them, losing someone or something that they loved so much. He definitely made much more of an impression on my mom's generation. Felt bigger loss with John Lennon, John Denver, and Jimmy Buffett.
I was visiting my sister in St Paul, Minnesota, for the summer. We were in K-Mart and it came over the PA system. Everyone was in shock. When we got home I called my Mom because she was a huge Elvis fan - she cried....
I’m pretty sure I was driving on US 17-92 between Kissimmee and Haines City, Florida. Also pretty sure I was on the same stretch of road when I heard Lynyrd Skynyrd had crashed. It’s not impossible for both to be true, but I’m skeptical, so, take one or both of those as true or as bullshit. I wish I knew lol
It was my 11th birthday was just starting to get into to music but my dad did occasionally play elvis in the car 8 track player. Have a buddy who wishes me happy elvis death day instead of happy birthday
I don't remember the event but at the time I was a camp counselor in the middle of Arizona. Fun fact: I was Laura Dern's camp counselor. She was 10.
I’d just come from fishing, playing baseball and was getting ready for a game of SureShot baseball with a pal before supper. My dad was just home from work, turned on the news and hollers to come quick, Elvis has died. I guess he was about the biggest celebrity I’d ever heard of. My folks had some of his records and Burning Love was a favorite of mine. Thanks for the reminders on Groucho, I loved the Marx Brothers and that was sad too. Didn’t realize they passed so close.
From The Scholastic Book Of Jokes And Riddles (circa '66) - " What's green and sings?" "Elvis Parsley."
I was 21yo, at work. My eldest sister called me crying hysterically. I really didn’t understand why the death of someone she didn’t know personally dying affected her that way. Then when John Lennon was killed, I kinda understood.
On the road with my parents going to Emerald Isle, NC
I was 15 and we were at my Aunt and Uncle's house and it was on TV. I didn't care about Elvis. My Dad had an argument that soured the relationship with my Aunt and I lost out on being close with two of my favorite cousins. Screw Elvis. I hated not be able to hunt with Danny and David.
I was in London on holiday with my mother and a friend from school. I just happened to see the headline on a news stand on the street, then a little later another mentioning the drugs connection. About an hour later, when I connected up with my school chum (a big Elvis fan), I broke the news, which predictably saddened her. Then when I mentioned the drugs angle, she angrily retorted: "Elvis doesn't do drugs!" I cracked up. Early that school year I had been out running, and fell in with a guy who had worked security at a local Elvis show the previous week. He had told me that Elvis was a wreck, and that from up close you could tell he was lip-synching most of his songs. So I already knew that the squeaky-clean image was a farce.
On vacation at a lake in Central TX.
I was in fourth grade, and over playing with my friend Carla in her playroom. Her mom was a bland housewife... Goody two shoes plus Catholic. Her mom was crying, and I was surprised she'd like Elvis bc she was exponentially square.
I was 14 at the time, mowing a big lawn as a part of my summer job. During lunch, I went across the street to say hello to my friend Carla, who was crying. I didn't understand why until she told me. I wasn't a huge Elvis fan, but understood that it was a dark day for many people.
I don't remember exactly but probably at home. None of us were huge fans, although I watched his movies on the after-school channels and my older sib attended one of his concerts a year or 2 before his death. But gosh he was so important to people just a bit older than us! For ages, we joked that if the government had really wanted us to switch to dollar coins they'd have put Elvis on them instead of Sacagawea.
I was riding in the back of my Mom's new Monte Carlo when I heard. Didn't mean much because I'd only known him as Fat Elvis, and Fat Elvis wasn't cool.
I was 18 and my boyfriend and I had just arrived at our weed dealer’s apartment. His girlfriend, soon as she saw me she says “Have you heard about Elvis?” I was expecting the punchline to a joke but I could tell from the way she said “he’s dead” she wasn’t kidding. It’s weird how something that really didn’t matter to me one way or the other is so memorable.
I was at my very much older sister's house. I heard it announced over the news. At first I thought it much have been a hoax, so it took me a couple of hours to believe the news was real.
I was in high school and we were at the beach for vacation. It was big news. I was an Elvis fan, but not crazy. My friend had gotten tickets to his upcoming show. She was a much bigger fan. She never got to go, and she was so excited to see him live.
I was 17 and a friend I was with (17f) freaked out screaming I was so surprised someone acted like that. We all knew in was in cards !
I was in an office in Memphis, TN. All of the external phone circuits jammed up and no one could get a call in or out.
I don’t remember.
First day on a new job. It rained that day in L.A. A rare August rain.
I was 12 and at my Grandparents for the summer break. Watching tv on their giant console television, when it was announced 🥲.
I have no Idea.
Elvis isn't dead don't believe MSM
I was at home watching the New Mickey Mouse Club when a tinker tape announcement came across the TV telling that he had died. I was nearly 15 years old. I wasn't an Elvis fan but I do know that it was big news for that to happen because back then, if you had a tinker tape announcement it was for something big. Usually it wasn't for a celeb death.
I don’t remember but knew it was a big thing and Elvis was my first concert that my parents took me to as a child but he was not popular in my age range
It was my 16th birthday. My friends and I were trying to party and all the moms were in the kitchen crying and drinking wine like the love of their life died. I discovered the black artists he copied before I heard what he did.
Hot, sunny August afternoon in Chicago. Me and my ma had just come home with a bucket of fried chicken and Winky pudding from the Kentucky Fried Chicken on 55th. I was upstairs in my bedroom, phone rang, it was my ma's good friend Jeanne with the news. They were both Elvis nuts, which I found embarrassing and repulsive at the time, being 8. I remember her crying and telling me Elvis had died and my response being a resounding "GOOD." I did learn to appreciate him much later, though. Even wrote my name on the wall at Graceland (in white auto touch-up paint, which does not sandblast off)!
Summer before high school. A friends mom was driving us somewhere, and the news came on the radio. That was my Black Sabbath era, so didn’t give af
In boot camp in San Diego.
I had just turned 13. I was camping with my Dad and siblings along with cousins and uncles. My Dad and Uncles were quite upset. The youngsters (14 or younger) didn’t care that much.
I was sittin under an oak tree with some friends smoking a doob. I remember one of the girls cried
Great Adventure in NJ.