TUPELO, Miss. (WJTV) – August 16 is a significant date in entertainment history, as well as Mississippi history. It was on this date in 1977 that Elvis Presley died. He was a giant in the music industry, and what he became started in Tupelo.
Of all of the old mansions we have in Mississippi in Natchez, Vicksburg, Columbus, and Holly Springs, the little shotgun house in Tupelo is easily visited by as many and more tourists as they are. Elvis Presley was born in the house in 1935. He only lived in Tupelo until he was 13, when his family moved to Memphis to make a living and that’s where his singing career budded.
However, the upbringing he got in Tupelo as a boy was the foundation of who Elvis became as a man. There is a statue on the overlook hill up behind the birthplace called ‘Beginnings.’ It’s a young 11-year-old Elvis sitting on an apple crate with his new guitar overshadowed by a larger than life Elvis in one of his performance jump suits.
“And that’s when he got his guitar. His mother bought his guitar for $7.75 at the Tupelo Hardware Store. Once he got that guitar, that’s such a significant beginning point for Elvis the entertainer, although it’s embedded in Elvis the boy,” one person stated.
Elvis is way more than just and entertainer. Now 44 years after his death, he is as popular as he ever was, and you see him everywhere. There are Elvis Tribute Artists, as the call themselves. There are all sorts of Elvis collectables you can buy, even an Elvis Christmas Village.
He passed away in 1977 at the age of 42, but Elvis will outlive all of us.
