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Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley helped make the Las Vegas residency a defining form of popular entertainment. His relationship with the city included an early engagement that met a cool reception, a famous wedding, and a triumphant return to live performance at the International Hotel in 1969.

Presley emerged from the musical world of Memphis, where country, gospel and rhythm and blues overlapped. His 1954 recording of “That's All Right,” a song by Arthur Crudup, helped launch a career that soon moved from regional audiences to national television, records and films. By the time he first appeared in Las Vegas in 1956, he was already provoking strong reactions across the country. The New Frontier engagement introduced him to a casino audience different from the young fans who had helped make his name. It did not establish the enduring Las Vegas success that would come later.

During the 1960s, films occupied much of Presley's working life. Las Vegas also became the setting for a personal milestone: he and Priscilla Beaulieu married at the Aladdin on May 1, 1967, before a small gathering of family and friends. The ceremony was followed by a press conference and breakfast reception. The wedding belongs to the earlier Aladdin property, a distinction worth remembering when following the later histories of the resorts on that site. A year later, Presley's television special restored the force of his live performance to a broad audience and helped prepare the way for a major stage return.

On July 31, 1969, Presley opened at the new International Hotel. His show brought together the earlier rock-and-roll hits, a substantial supporting band and vocal ensemble, and more recent material. The engagement's success led to repeated Las Vegas appearances through the 1970s. Recordings and filmed performances preserved the energy as well as the elaborate presentation associated with that period. Presley died in 1977, but the city continued to carry his image in entertainment and popular memory. His Las Vegas story is most useful when its separate places and moments remain visible: the young singer at the New Frontier, the bridegroom at the Aladdin, and the established star rebuilding his concert career at the International.

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