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Thousands of fans have gathered in Memphis to pay tribute to Elvis on the fortieth anniversary of his untimely death.

The best way to remember Elvis is through his superb music. The temptation is to highlight this via a career overview, but there are few better examples of Elvis’ brilliance than what he achieved in one evening/overnight session on 3rd/4th April, 1960. During that single session, Elvis recorded two of his most well-known and successful recordings, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” and “It’s Now or Never”, as well as fan favourites such as “The Girl of My Best Friend”, “Fever”, “Such a Night”, “Like a Baby” and, perhaps best of all, “Reconsider Baby”. A number of the songs would feature on the great album “Elvis is Back”.

The re-release of 2000’s “Fifty Greatest Hits” will give Elvis another impressive chart placing in the UK this week, following number ones in 2015 and 2016. “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” and “It’s Now or Never” are among the classic recordings on that two-CD collection.

Elvis endures because he created wonderful music. Here’s just three examples.

Elvis Presley – “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”

Elvis Presley – “It’s Now or Never”

Elvis Presley – “Reconsider Baby”

Legendary guitarist, Scotty Moore, sadly passed away on Tuesday (June 28th) in Nashville, aged 84. Scotty was one of the pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll guitar, playing on many classic Elvis Presley hits, beginning with “That’s All Right” in 1954. His innovative guitar work would influence generations of performers, including Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Keith Richards, who once said “Everyone else wanted to be Elvis – I wanted to be Scotty.”

We pay tribute to the great Scotty Moore by remembering his guitar work on eight classic recordings.

Elvis Presley – “Good Rockin’ Tonight”

Elvis Presley – “That’s All Right”

Elvis Presley – “Baby Let’s Play House”

Elvis Presley – “Mystery Train”

Elvis Presley – “Hound Dog”

Elvis Presley – “Heartbreak Hotel”

Elvis Presley – “Blue Suede Shoes”

Elvis Presley – “Too Much”

Elvis Presley’s “If I Can Dream” album continues to achieve impressive sales, retaining the number two spot on the UK album chart on what would have been the late singer’s 81st birthday. The album, which features collaborations with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, originally hit the top spot for a couple of weeks back in November and has now been in the top three for 10 consecutive weeks, selling over 900,000 copies in the UK alone. “If I Can Dream” was the UK’s fourth best selling album of the year in 2015 and Elvis’ first number one album since “The King” in 2007.

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A selection of Elvis Presley’s recordings have been reconstructed with the help of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the forthcoming album “If I Can Dream: Elvis Presley With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra”.

The album includes some of Elvis’ best known hits, including “Burning Love”, “Can’t Help Falling In Love” and “Love Me Tender”, as well as some great lesser known performances, such as “There’s Always Me” and the Neil Diamond-penned “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”. There are also guest appearances from Michael Buble on “Fever”, operatic group Il Vivo on “It’s Now or Never” and guitar legend Duane Eddy on “An American Trilogy” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.

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Elvis Presley’s iconic pink Cadillac is the latest of the temporary exhibits to arrive at the “Elvis at The O2” exhibition in London. The huge exhibition features around 300 items from Graceland, many of which have never been seen before. Some of the most high profile items, such as the Cadillac, appear for two-month intervals before being returned to their Memphis home.

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