King Kong and the Empire State Building. Abe Lincoln and Illinois. Stephen King and Maine. Some personalities and places are just synonymous with each other.
It’s like that with Elvis Presley and Las Vegas.
And now we have the bombastic Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs to further memorialize this connection at the end of Super Bowl LVIII.
More on Kelce in a moment, but first, Elvis.
His role in reinventing the Las Vegas show is documented in an excellent book from 2019 titled, Elvis in Vegas. He did 636 Vegas shows over seven years. Each one a sold out performance.
Elvis is the undisputed catalyst for the Vegas reinvention of the 1980s and beyond. From Cher to Cirque du Soleil, to Celine Dion, to Adele and Usher, every Las Vegas performer, every “artist in residence” that came after him, borrows from what Elvis originated and owes him a debt of gratitude.
Read into this what you will, but supposedly, one night during his run at the Hilton, Wayne Newton–while singing Are You Lonesome Tonight–claimed to see Elvis’ ghost looking down at him from the balcony!
Back to Kelce
Look, I’m no Travis Kelce fan. I’m Team Jason.
Still, you gotta give the guy props for paying homage to the King after the big game. Even if there are far better renditions. Bruce Springsteen, for instance.
But the point is, there’s always an Elvis angle. Deal with it.