Welcome to Graceland mansion!

Every king has his castle! So it was with Elvis. He purchased his castle in 1957, and moved there with his mother Gladys and father Vernon.

Graceland is a large white-columned mansion estate that was home to Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee. It is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard. It was built in 1939. In early 1957, Elvis bought Graceland for $102,000 from Ruth Moore. He was 22 years old at the time. Graceland was Elvis' final home in Memphis and it is where he died in 1977. Elvis lived there for 20 years with his daughter Lisa Marie, wife Priscilla since 1963 until they divorced in 1972 and his father. Elvis also lived there with his girlfriend Linda Thomson in 1973. Elvis died on August 16th 1977 in his bathroom upstairs on Graceland. His ex-wife, Priscilla, opened Graceland to the public as a museum in 1982. Lisa Marie inherited Graceland when she was 25 years old. Today, Graceland is a museum, but family Presley comes back to Graceland to celebrate Christmas.

Photos by: Photobucket

Everybody loved him tender

For twenty-one year old Elvis, 1956 was a year like no other. By January he was a national sensation and by December of the same year, he was an international phenomenon. He was at the beginning of his remarkable career. He recorded his first two albums for RCA, on which were his biggest hits as Heartbreak hotel and Blue Suede Shoes. He appeared 11 times on national television, signed a seven- year contract with Paramount Pictures, and stared in his first movie Love me tender.

In August, he started to shoot his debut movie "Love me tender" with co-star Debra Paget.

Before success as a singer, Elvis had shown interest in becoming an actor. His screen idols were James Dean, Marlon Brando and Tony Curtis.When he first met his future manager, Colonel Tom Parker, he expressed an interest in the movies and his desire to be an actor. His wish came true, with this upcoming movie. As a movie itself, a song "Love me tender", which Elvis preforms in a movie, became a huge hit. That was only an introduction of what is going to happen in his career later in life.