Elvis Presley and Casinos: A Legendary Story That Continues to This Day

Elvis Presley and Las Vegas casinos go hand in hand; both are intertwined deeply within the legend of the famous Nevada city.

It’s hard to go too far in Las Vegas without stumbling upon one of the numerous Elvis impersonators that roam the city giving photos, autographs, performances and, of course, celebrating weddings.

ELVIS, ICON OF LAS VEGAS

Let’s take online casino players on a journey to look back at the King’s legacy and how he left such an indelible mark on Sin City for generations.

While some of the casinos of Las Vegas are almost shrines to the King of Rock n’ Roll, his fame extends far beyond casinos, embracing movies, an incredible personal life, complete with love, loss and everything in between.

Since he died (of did he…) Las Vegas has cradled Elvis Presley close to its bosom and the King has become Sin City’s very own son.

Throughout his career, the King of Rock gave numerous performances in casino exhibition halls. An extended series of concerts at the International Hotel in Las Vegas attracted large numbers of fans and set new box office records for a single artist in a casino.

Then there was the other long series of concerts known as “Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii”, some of which were broadcast live via satellite even around the world.

This was followed by concerts at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, “The Elvis Presley Special”, which were a commercial and critical success.

Before his Vegas casino fame, The King become famous off the back of a string of global music and film successes that were a turning point at the beginning of his career and set up a solid foundation for his status as an icon of rock and roll.

HIS FIRST PERFORMANCE IN A CASINO

Elvis’ storied career combined rock innovations with casino halls. His first official performance in a Las Vegas hotel dates back to 1969, although his first real appearance for a residency at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas dates back to 1956.

Legend has it that a few days before the performance Elvis heard for the first time a song that left him bewitched and that he immediately wanted to play at the New Frontier, it was the iconic ‘Hound Dog’.

Surprisingly, this first performance was not a cast iron success. The casino audience, much more accustomed to familiar rhythms and melodies, struggled to warm to this new propulsive style. They were mostly stunned or perplexed by the performance, with Newsweek going so far as to calling his concert a bottle of corn liquor at a champagne party.

While this early performance for Elvis Presley was underwhelming, that first appearance marked the beginning of a long love story between Las Vegas and the King.

CASINOS WHERE HE PERFORMED

Coming off the back of a string of hit singles, Elvis triumphantly returned to Las Vegas and the International Hotel and Casino 13 years later in 1969.

Although his name was already associated with numerous successes in music and cinema, The King returned to Sin City full of tension and still felt burned by his first experience.

That tension, however, soon proved unjustified with crazed crowds welcoming him from the stands, corridors and even from the balconies for the next four weeks of his residency.

Following that, a constant series of invitations to perform in more and more halls and hotels in the city followed, with some series of concerts later becoming milestones in the history of music.

The concert series “Aloha from Hawaii” and “the Elvis Presley Special” marked the culmination of his career that ended tragically in 1977 at the age of only 42 years old.

Among the various casinos that studded his career there was the previously mentioned New Frontier and the International, but also the Hilton, the Lake Tahoe and even The Orleans

LAS VEGAS LEGACY

The magic of Elvis in Sin City is not limited to concerts and his music.

In 1957 he shot the film “Jailhouse Rock” in Las Vegas. The plot of the movie concerned an ex-convict who once released from prison tries to rebuild his life by embarking on a career as a musician.

1964 saw the release of “Viva Las Vegas”, a musical film that saw The King play the role of a car racing driver.

In 1966 he played the role of a singer who falls in love with a singer played by the beautiful Shelley Fabares.

Subsequently, both in 1968, “Stay away Joe” was released, which saw Elvis play a cowboy who moves to Las Vegas and “Speedway” which saw him again step into the role of car racing driver.

To secure his legendary status in Las Vegas even further, Elvis chose Las Vegas as the city to marry his first and only wife Priscilla Ann Wagner in 1967. The marriage lasted until 1973 during which they had a daughter – Lisa Marie Presley, who died suddenly on January 12, 2023.

After the singer’s death in 1977 due to cardiac arrest, the city of Las Vegas began to be populated by clones and imitators of the star who reproduced his movements, style and even voice.

Official impersonators can now be easily found and hired for private parties, cover concerts, official ceremonies and even weddings.

Although he has not been with us for more than forty years, the figure of Elvis is still very much present throughout Sin City on a daily basis.