On a Monday night in October 1977, millions of families turned on CBS to watch Elvis Presley in concert.
By then he’d been dead for seven weeks.
The show was called “Elvis in Concert.” When it was filmed that summer, nobody had any idea it would be the last time most people ever saw him on a stage.
CBS had offered Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, $750,000 for a TV special. Since Elvis was out on tour, the network sent a crew of 35 people with seven cameras to catch two shows that June.
The first was in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 19, and it didn’t go well. Elvis was heavy and in poor health, and you could see it. He reportedly apologized to the producers afterward, and only three songs from that night made the final cut.
Two nights later in Rapid City, South Dakota, he came out in the same white jumpsuit with its Aztec designs and put on a stronger show.
Then on August 16, 1977, Elvis died at Graceland, his home in Memphis. He was 42.
The network could have shelved the special, but it kept its date and aired it on October 3.
It opened with fans buying souvenirs and talking about what Elvis meant to them. Then the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey boomed out, and there he was on the screen again.
Near the end, he sang a song Frank Sinatra had made famous, about a man looking back on his life. A lot of people found it hard to watch after his death.
My Way | Elvis Presley (Live Music Video) Elvis In Concert 1977
The critics were split. John J. O’Connor of The New York Times called Elvis “almost a grotesque parody of his former self.” Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times called it “mercilessly strong viewing.”
Viewers tuned in anyway. About 24 million people watched, which made it the most-watched show in the country that week.
The ending held one more surprise.
During the Rapid City show, Elvis had stopped to introduce someone in the audience, his father, Vernon Presley, who often traveled with him. The special showed that moment along with a short interview with Vernon.
The final scene came from somewhere else entirely, though.
After Elvis died, the cameras went to Graceland. Vernon sat surrounded by piles of fan mail and spoke straight to the people watching at home, thanking them for loving his son.
He did get one thing wrong. He told viewers they had just seen Elvis’s last performance, but Elvis actually played five more concerts after Rapid City, and his final show was in Indianapolis on June 26, 1977.
I doubt many people at home noticed or cared that night.
You can hear Vernon’s full message below.
Vernon Presley Message recorded in September 1977 4K
The soundtrack album came out that same month. Fans bought it so fast it went platinum in less than two weeks and climbed to No. 1 on the country albums chart.
The TV special itself has never been officially released on home video. Elvis Presley Enterprises has said he was “far from his best” in it, though the company admits the special has some brilliant moments.
Vernon’s message was also used as the closing track on that record, so after the band played its last notes, fans heard his voice.